Network Engineer

City of Durham; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 87,000 - 122,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Durham Technology Solutions Department is seeking a skilled Network Engineer to design, implement, and support secure, scalable network infrastructure. You will maintain day-to-day operations, resolve outages, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure reliable connectivity across the City's systems.

Ideal candidates will have 5+ years of hands-on networking experience, strong TCP/IP knowledge, Cisco and Fortinet equipment expertise, and certificates such as CCNA/CCNP or

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a directly related field.
• Five years of experience in advanced engineering and administration of multiprotocol routers, multilayer switches, network security devices, network management systems, network design and documentation.
• Preferred certifications: CCNA/CCNP, Fortinet NSE‑3/4, or CompTIA Network+ and ITIL foundation.
• Knowledge of TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, OSPF, BGP, and subnetting.
• Hands-on troubleshooting experience for layers 1–3.
• 3–5 years hands-on experience with Cisco switches and Fortinet equipment (FortiGate/FortiOS/FortiManager).
• Experience with Meraki Wi‑Fi or other vendors.
• CWNA/CWNP certification desirable.
• Strong leadership and problem-solving skills.
• Proficient written and verbal communication; MS Office 365.

Responsibilities

• Carry out routine checks and apply updates/patches to networking equipment.
• Minimize downtime by responding to, fixing, or escaping network outages.
• Coordinate with Managed Services Network Operations Center on tickets and resolutions.
• Update network documentation including configurations and SOPs.
• Design and implement LAN/MAN/WAN, cloud, and wireless networking solutions.
• Install and configure switches, wireless APs, SD‑WAN/firewalls, and load balancers (Cisco/FortiNet).
• Analyze network traffic using Wireshark and monitoring tools.
• Implement network security policies on access control devices for secure connections.
• Collaborate with other departments for system integrations.

Skills

Leadership

Problem-solving

Written & verbal communication

Python/Ansible/Terraform

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science

5 years of advanced network engineering experience

Tools

Cisco switches

Fortinet equipment

Wi‑Fi (Meraki)

SD-WAN devices

Job description

Work, Serve, Thrive. With the City of Durham Advance in your career while making a realdifferencein the community you serve.

Hiring Range: $87,367 - $122,000 Annually

Work Day/Hours: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm M-F

The City of Durham’s nationally recognized, award-winning Technology Solutions Department builds and aligns the City’s information technology infrastructure so that departments can deliver a superior level of public service. Our team is recognized nationally by the Public Technology Institute, ICMA Center for Performance Measurement and Digital Cities Survey. If you can offer the skills to innovate and the passion to serve, bring your talent to Durham.

The City of Durham Technology Solutions Network Infrastructure And Operations Center Team needs to add an experienced and self-motivated Network Engineer. This key member will be responsible for life cycle management of the network environment which includes designing, building, and supporting network systems that are both secure and scalable. This position involves resolving organizational network problems and learning how to optimize them at different levels, having developed expertise in network problem-solving, performance optimization, and security protocols will be beneficial.

• Carry out routine checks and apply necessary updates and patches to all networking equipment.
• To minimize user downtime, respond to, fix, or escape issues related to network outages.
• Work with the Managed Services Network Operations Center to review/update tickets/work on ticket resolution, communicate with stakeholders.
• Update all network-related documentation, including configurations, modifications, troubleshooting and standard operating procedures.
• Design and implement LAN/MAN/WAN as well as cloud and wireless network solutions.
• Design, installation and configurations of switches, wireless access-points, SD-WAN/firewall devices, load balancers from Cisco and Fortinet.
• Analyze network traffic using Wireshark alongside other performance monitoring tools like LiveNX/Netflow.
• Implement network security policies on access control systems, such as SD-WAN devices, to ensure secure connections.
• Work with other departments for smooth system integrations.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a directly related field
• Those assigned to network engineeringrequire five years of experience in advanced engineering and administration of multiprotocol routers, multilayer switches, network security devices, network management systems, network design, and documentation and implementation.

• Preferred Certifications are CCNA/CCNP, Fortinet NSE-3/4, or CompTIA Network+ and ITIL foundation
• Having sound knowledge of TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, OSPF, BGP, and subnetting
• Hands on network troubleshooting experience for layers 1-3
• Having minimum 3-5 years hands-on experience with Cisco switches, Fortinet equipment (FortiGate/FortiOS/FortiManager)
• Experience with Wi-Fi systems from Meraki Wi-Fi and/or other vendors
• Desirable CWNA/CWNP certification
• Strong leadership and problem-solving skills
• Professional and fluent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Microsoft Office 365 (Outlook, Word, Excel)
• Network automation using Python/Ansible/Terraform is desirable