Network Operations Watch Officer

Piper Companies; Camp Springs (MD); On-site; USD 55,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401k Plan

PTO

Holidays

Sick Leave

Job summary

Piper Companies seeks an experienced Network Operations Watch Officer for a mission-critical U.S. Air Force program at Joint Base Andrews, MD. This fully onsite role requires an active Secret clearance and adherence to a Sunday–Thursday, 6am–2:30pm EST shift.

The incumbent will monitor classified and unclassified networks, perform incident management, and coordinate with CFP and partners using Cisco Prime, SolarWinds, and SCOM. DoD 8570 IAT Level II certification is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 2+ years of relevant experience.
• 2+ years hands-on experience with enterprise routers and switches.
• Hands-on NX-OS administration for Cisco Nexus (5K/7K/9K) including VLANs, trunking, STP, LACP/vPC, OSPF, EIGRP, BGP, VRF, and subnetting.
• Experience with TACLANE encryption devices, including SKL key loading and EKMS/KMI procedures.
• Experience with Cisco Prime or similar network monitoring tools (SolarWinds, SCOM).
• Ability to support a 24/7 network operations environment.
• Active Secret clearance and DoD 8570 IAT Level II (CompTIA Security+) certification.
• Willingness to work fully onsite at Andrews AFB, MD on a Sunday-Thursday shift.

Responsibilities

• Monitor and maintain enterprise WAN infrastructure across classified and unclassified networks.
• Identify, triage, and troubleshoot network alerts, connectivity issues, outages, and events.
• Perform incident management, service restoration, and escalate to Tier 3 engineering teams.
• Conduct advanced log analysis to support proactive threat identification and remediation.
• Utilize monitoring tools (Cisco Prime, SolarWinds, SCOM) to maintain network availability.
• Coordinate incident response with CFP, mission partners, technicians, and carriers.
• Provide proactive problem management, technical documentation, and customer reporting.

Skills

Enterprise networking

Network security

Cisco NX-OS

TACLANE (KG-175)

Clearance readiness

24/7 operations support

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Cisco Prime

SolarWinds

SCOM

Job description

Zachary Piper Solutions is seeking an experienced Network Operations Watch Officer to join a leading federal technology and defense contractor on a mission-critical U.S. Air Force program at Joint Base Andrews, MD.This a fully onsite role at Joint Base Andrews, MD, requires an active Secret security clearance, and requires adherence to the Sunday - Thursday, 6am - 2:30pm EST Shift*

The Operations Watch Officer will support mission-critical network infrastructure and continuous network operations across classified (SIPRNet) and unclassified (NIPRNet) environments at Joint Base Andrews. The role combines hands‑on Cisco network engineering, network security, infrastructure monitoring, incident response, and service restoration to maintain operational readiness across DoD enterprise networks.

Responsibilities of the Network Operations Watch Officer:

• Monitor and maintain enterprise WAN infrastructure across classified and unclassified networks.
• Identify, triage, and troubleshoot network alerts, connectivity issues, outages, and system events.
• Perform incident management, service restoration, and escalation to Tier 3 engineering teams.
• Conduct advanced log analysis to support proactive threat identification and incident remediation.
• Utilize Cisco Prime, SolarWinds, SCOM, and other monitoring tools to maintain network availability.
• Coordinate incident response with the Communications Focal Point (CFP), mission partners, technicians, and telecommunications carriers.
• Provide proactive problem management, technical documentation, and customer reporting.

Qualifications for the Network Operations Watch Officer:

• Bachelor's degree with 2+ years of relevant experience; additional experience may substitute for a degree.
• 2+ years of hands‑on experience with enterprise routers and switches.
• Cisco Nexus (Layers 1-3): Hands‑on NX-OS administration (5K/7K/9K), VLANs, trunking, STP, LACP/vPC, OSPF, EIGRP, BGP, VRF, subnetting, and physical network connectivity.
• TACLANE (KG-175): Hands‑on encryption device maintenance, troubleshooting, zeroization, SKL key loading, EKMS/KMI procedures, and red/black interface fault isolation.
• Experience with Cisco Prime or comparable network monitoring platforms, including SolarWinds and SCOM.
• Experience reviewing network events, troubleshooting enterprise incidents, and producing technical triage documentation.
• Ability to support a continuous 24/7 network operations environment.
• Active Secret clearance*
• Active DoD 8570 IAT Level II certification (CompTIA Sec+)*
• Ability and Willingness to work fully onsite at Andrews AFB in MD, in accordance with the Sunday - Thursday, 6am - 2:30pm EST shift*
• Preferred:
  • CCENT or CCNA certification.
  • Experience configuring and tuning SolarWinds, SCOM, or similar network monitoring platforms.
  • Experience with ITSM tools, particularly BMC Remedy.
  • Experience supporting military command centers, network operations centers, or Air Force Communications Focal Point (CFP) environments.

Compensation for the Network Operations Watch Officer:

• Salary Range: $55,000 - $70,000 *depending on experience*
• Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k Plan, PTO, Holidays, Sick Leave if required by law

This job opens for applications on 11/9. Applications for this job will be accepted for at least 30 days from the posting date.

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Keywords: Network Operations Watch Officer, Network Operations Specialist, Network Operations Engineer, Network Engineer, Network Administrator, Network Operations Center, NOC, Enterprise Networking, Network Infrastructure, Network Monitoring, Network Security, Cisco, Cisco Nexus, NX-OS, Nexus 9000, Nexus 7000, Nexus 5000, Cisco Routing and Switching, Layer 1, Layer 2, Layer 3, VLAN, Trunking, STP, LACP, vPC, OSPF, EIGRP, BGP, VRF, Subnetting, TCP/IP, WAN, LAN, Network Connectivity, Fiber Optics, Transceivers, TACLANE, KG-175, HAIPE, NSA Type 1 Encryption, Cryptographic Equipment, Encryption Devices, SKL, Simple Key Loader, EKMS, KMI, Cryptographic Key Management, Zeroization, Red/Black Interfaces, NIPRNet, SIPRNet, Classified Networks, Unclassified Networks, Cisco Prime, SolarWinds, SCOM, Network Monitoring Tools, Network Performance Monitoring, Network Troubleshooting, Network Diagnostics, Network Outages, Incident Management, Incident Response, Incident Triage, Service Restoration, Tier 1 Support, Tier 2 Support, Tier 3 Escalation, Log Analysis, Event Monitoring, Threat Detection, Network Availability, Cisco ISE, Identity Services Engine, 802.1X, Network Access Control, NAC, RADIUS, TACACS+, Endpoint Profiling, Posture Assessment, F5 BIG-IP, F5 LTM, Load Balancing, Virtual IPs, Health Monitors, SSL Offloading, iRules, High Availability, Cisco DNA Center, Cisco Catalyst Center, Network Automation, Network Provisioning, Network Telemetry, SWIM, RSA SecurID, Authentication Manager, Multi-Factor Authentication, MFA, Token Provisioning, BMC Remedy, BMC Helix, ITSM, Technical Documentation, Communications Focal Point, CFP, Military Network Operations, DoD 8570, IAT Level II, IAT Level III, CompTIA Security+, CCNA, CCNP, DoD Secret Clearance