Network Engineer - Project Lead W-2 ONLY

Gilder Search Group; Columbia, Northern (SC, KY); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Gilder Search Group is seeking a Network Engineer for on-site work in South Carolina. The role emphasizes enterprise network operations, incident response, and ongoing maintenance across campus environments, with field deployment responsibilities including cabling and equipment testing.

Preferred candidates hold a Bachelor's degree or equivalent, with 2+ years in configuring Cisco/Juniper/Aruba/Fortinet products, plus strong documentation and routing protocol knowledge.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of enterprise network experience.
• Experience configuring Cisco, Juniper, Aruba, and Fortinet devices.
• Experience diagnosing connectivity, performance, and security issues.
• Experience with firewalls, VPNs, and access controls.
• Experience with field deployment: racking, stacking, cabling, testing.
• Strong documentation and diagramming skills.
• Experience with routing protocols and high-availability architectures.
• Candidate must be a SC resident or willing to relocate to SC prior to starting.

Responsibilities

• Network Operations and Infrastructure Support across campus environments.
• Incident Response and problem resolution with on-call participation.
• Maintenance and service improvement with upgrades and patching.
• Documentation, runbooks, and collaboration with multiple teams.
• Network security administration including firewalls and VPNs.

Skills

Networking fundamentals

Device configuration

Troubleshooting

Network security

Field deployment

Documentation

Routing protocols (OSPF/BGP/VLANs)

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience

Job description

W-2 ONLY NO SUBS, NO SPONSORSHIP

ONSITE ONLY no remote

Daily Duties / Responsibilities:

• Network Operations and Infrastructure Support
  Monitor, maintain, and support enterprise wired and wireless network infrastructure, including switching, routing, and connectivity services across campus environments to ensure availability, reliability, and performance. Perform field installation and deployment of network equipment, including configuring, racking, stacking, cabling, and testing switches.
• Incident Response and Problem Resolution
  Diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve network issues through monitoring, analysis, and root cause investigation. Investigate and resolve network incidents through remote analysis and field-based troubleshooting, including testing network equipment, validating configurations, and coordinating repairs to maintain service availability. Escalate complex issues as appropriate and participate in on-call support activities to ensure continuity of services.
• Network Maintenance and Service Improvement
  Perform routine maintenance activities, including system upgrades, patching, configuration changes, and performance optimization efforts while minimizing service interruptions and adhering to operational best practices.
• Documentation, Collaboration, and Customer Support
  Maintain accurate operational documentation, network diagrams, incident records, and runbooks. Collaborate with network engineering and architecture, security, infrastructure teams, vendors, and stakeholders to support reliable technology services and communicate technical information effectively.
• Network Security and Access Services Administration
  Support and maintain network security technologies, including firewalls, VPNs, and related security controls. Assist with troubleshooting and responding to security-related incidents in accordance with established procedures and standards.

(3) Network Engineer - Project Leads

Work Location: Role is fully onsite

Candidate MUST be a SC resident or willing to relocate to SC prior to starting the role at their own expense.

Additional details: Candidates must be US Citizen or Legal Resident.

Required Skills (rank in order of Importance):

1. 2+ years of experience with enterprise network technologies, including switching, routing, wireless networking, and TCP/IP protocols.
2. 2+ years of experience configuring, monitoring, and troubleshooting Cisco, Juniper, Aruba, AND Fortinet network devices.
3. 2+ years of experience diagnosing and resolving network connectivity, performance, and security-related issues using standard troubleshooting methodologies and tools
4. 2+ years of experience with network security, including firewalls, VPNs, access controls, and security best practices
5. 2+ years of experience installing, configuring, and supporting network infrastructure equipment, including field deployment activities such as racking, stacking, cabling, and testing.
6. 2+ years of experience maintaining technical documentation, network diagrams, and operational records
7. 2+ years of experience with routing protocols and technologies such as OSPF, BGP, VLANs, spanning tree, and high-availability architectures.

Required Education/Certifications:

Requires a bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.

Additional Skills:

1. Strong analytical, problem-solving, and customer service skills.
2. Ability to communicate technical information effectively and work collaboratively with technical teams, vendors, and stakeholders
3. Ability to work independently, prioritize tasks, and respond effectively in a fast- paced operational environment.
4. Experience mentoring junior technical staff and providing technical leadership during operational incidents.

Preferred Skills (rank in order of Importance):

1. Experience supporting large-scale enterprise or higher education network environments.
2. Experience with wireless network administration and troubleshooting in dense-user environments.
3. Experience supporting network security technologies, including firewalls, VPNs, network access control (NAC), and multi-factor authentication solutions.
4. Familiarity with network monitoring, logging, and performance management tools.
5. Experience with network automation, scripting, or infrastructure management tools (e.g., Python, Ansible, APIs).
6. Experience performing network upgrades, migrations, and lifecycle replacement projects.
7. Experience working in ITIL-based operational environments, including incident, problem, and change management processes.

Preferred Education/Certifications:

CCNA, CCNP, JNCIA, JNCIS/JNCIP, ACNT, ACSA, ACMA, FCA, FCP