Network Specialist

Siddons-Martin Emergency Group; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical (PPO & HDHP)

HSA match

Dental

Vision

Short-Term Disability

Long-Term Disability

401K with Employer Match

Employee Stock Ownership Program

Paid Holidays & PTO

4 Weeks Paid Parental Leave

Paid Training & Safety Equipment

Verizon Wireless Discount

Employee Assistance Program

Job summary

Siddons-Martin Emergency Group is seeking a Network Specialist to manage day-to-day network operations across multiple locations. You will monitor LAN/WAN, Wi‑Fi, SD‑WAN, firewall, VPN, and related services, with on-site work and regular travel across sites.

Primary responsibilities include troubleshooting outages, maintaining device firmware, and documenting configuration and network changes. Experience with Cisco Meraki and strong routing/switching skills are required.

Qualifications

• 3-5+ years of practical network or infrastructure support experience, preferably in a multi-site environment.

Responsibilities

• Administer and monitor LAN, WAN, wireless, SD‑WAN, VPN, switching, and firewall environments within approved standards.
• Troubleshoot site outages, latency, packet loss, DHCP/DNS problems, routing/VLAN issues, wireless issues, and connectivity failures.
• Own first-line ISP and carrier troubleshooting, escalation, and service-restoration validation.
• Manage firmware lifecycle for security appliances, switches, access points, and gateways; ensure maintenance windows outside local business hours.
• Administer Cisco Meraki dashboard, including accounts, 2FA, API keys, and inventory accuracy.
• Coordinate after-hours maintenance windows and on-call incident response as scheduled by leadership.

Skills

Switching

VLANs

Routing

TCP/IP

DHCP

DNS

Wi-Fi

VPNs

Firewalls

SD-WAN

Meraki

Tools

Cisco Meraki

Meraki Dashboard API

Job description

Siddons-Martin Emergency Group Benefits

Employee-owned company!

Monday-Friday schedule

Company Sponsored Benefits:

• Medical (PPO & HDHP options), Company
• HSA match, Dental, Vision, Short-Term
• Disability, Accident and Hospital Indemnity
• Insurance, Telehealth, Voluntary Life
• Insurance, Voluntary Critical Illness
• 401K with Employer Match
• Employee Stock Ownership Program
• Paid Holidays and Paid Time Off
• 4 Weeks Paid Parental Leave
• Paid Training & Safety Equipment

Company Paid Benefits:

• Basic Life & AD&D, Critical Illness
• Insurance, Long-Term Disability
• Employee Assistance Program
• Verizon Wireless Company Discount (eligibility requirements)

Summary

The Network Specialist is the company's primary internal hands‑on resource for day‑to‑day network operations across distributed company locations. The position monitors, troubleshoots, maintains, documents, and improves LAN/WAN, Wi‑Fi, SD‑WAN, firewall, VPN, ISP/circuit, and supporting network services. Regular travel and onsite work are essential functions of the role, as well as operational support for building access control and security camera systems.

Duties and Responsibilities

Network Operations & Troubleshooting

• Administer and monitor LAN, WAN, wireless, SD‑WAN, VPN, switching, and firewall environments within approved standards.
• Troubleshoot site outages, latency, packet loss, DHCP/DNS problems, routing/VLAN issues, wireless issues, and connectivity failures.
• Own first‑line ISP and carrier troubleshooting, escalation, and service‑restoration validation.
• Manage the firmware lifecycle for security appliances, switches, access points, and gateways: review vendor‑scheduled upgrades, confirm each maintenance window falls outside local business hours at the site, and keep the fleet on consistent, supported versions.
• Administer the cloud network‑management platform (Cisco Meraki dashboard), including administrator accounts and access levels, two‑factor authentication, API keys, and configuration hygiene such as site time zones, naming standards, and device inventory accuracy.
• Participate in after‑hours maintenance windows and on‑call incident response as scheduled by the Director of Technology, and coordinate backup coverage with the approved network vendor during planned absences.

Site Travel & Hands‑On Support

• Perform scheduled site network health assessments on a tiered annual schedule covering all company locations (approximately 50 sites across nine states) in addition to incident‑driven travel.
• Inspect network closets, racks, UPS equipment, switches, firewalls, access points, ISP equipment, cabling, labeling, and physical conditions.
• Install or replace supported network equipment and validate vendor/carrier work at company locations.
• Maintain current site diagrams, rack photos, asset information, circuit records, and remediation lists.

Network Security & Change Control

• Implement approved firewall, VLAN, VPN, segmentation, firmware, and network‑security remediation changes.
• Follow documented change‑control, validation, and rollback procedures for production network changes.
• Identify suspicious network activity and escalation according to cybersecurity and CIRP procedures.

Vendor Partnership & Knowledge Transfer

• Use the approved network vendor for advanced engineering and complex troubleshooting when appropriate.
• Provide complete technical evidence before escalation and remain engaged through resolution.
• Document vendor findings, root causes, fixes, and repeatable procedures to reduce unnecessary future dependency.

Documentation & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain accurate diagrams, VLAN/subnet records, circuit information, device inventories, configuration references, support contacts, and runbooks.
• Track network hardware lifecycle, warranties, platform licensing and renewal dates, vendor end‑of‑support dates, capacity constraints, and replacement needs, and maintain a rolling hardware refresh plan.
• Create HelpDesk troubleshooting guidance for recurring network issues.

Building Access & Security Cameras

• Manage day‑to‑day operational support for company building access control and security camera systems, including the Eagle Eye Cloud VMS environment where applicable.
• Perform or coordinate approved badge/cardholder, door access, and user access changes according to documented authorization procedures.
• Troubleshoot access controllers, readers, door interfaces, IP cameras, Eagle Eye bridges/gateways, PoE/network connectivity, and related device issues.
• Monitor device health and coordinate firmware updates, replacements, installations, and advanced vendor support as needed.
• Include access‑control and camera equipment in scheduled site health assessments and maintain accurate device inventories, diagrams, vendor contacts, and issue/remediation records.
• Support the preservation of access logs and surveillance‑system evidence during incidents when requested under CIRP procedures.
• Follow Security & Compliance requirements for access authorization, surveillance privacy, retention, audit logging, and evidence handling.

Role Boundaries

This role is intentionally separate from Infrastructure/Cloud management. It is not expected to replace the former combined Infrastructure/Network Manager position. The Director of Technology retains accountability for major network architecture and high‑risk changes while the infrastructure leadership model is evaluated. The approved network vendor provides advanced engineering support. Security governance remains with the Security & Compliance function. One shared boundary is defined explicitly: for the Azure‑hosted virtual appliance that serves as the company's site‑to‑site VPN hub, the Network Specialist owns its network configuration, monitoring, and first response, while Infrastructure/Cloud owns the underlying Azure resources.

Qualifications

• Working knowledge of switching, VLANs, routing, TCP/IP, DHCP, DNS, NAT, Wi‑Fi, VPNs, firewalls, and SD‑WAN concepts.
• Comfort performing hands‑on work in network closets/racks and traveling regularly to company locations.
• Strong troubleshooting, documentation, communication, and vendor‑coordination skills.
• Basic scripting or API automation skills (PowerShell or Python; Meraki Dashboard API) are preferred for fleet‑wide reporting and consistent bulk changes.
• Cisco CCNA or equivalent networking knowledge (preferred).
• Relevant Cisco/Meraki training or certification (for example, Engineering Cisco Meraki Solutions, ECMS) (preferred).
• Microsoft AZ‑104 (preferred).

Education and/or Experience

• 3-5+ years of practical network or infrastructure support experience, preferably in a multi‑site environment.
• Degree not required; equivalent hands‑on experience and relevant certifications are accepted.
• Hands‑on experience administering Cisco Meraki (dashboard, MX security appliances, MS switches, and MR access points) is required; experience with other cloud‑managed networking platforms is a plus.
• Experience supporting building access control, IP security cameras, or cloud‑managed VMS/access systems is preferred.

Performance Expectations

Primary measures include network availability, incident response/MTTR, completion of scheduled site assessments, documentation accuracy, preventive maintenance, firmware currency, license and renewal continuity, safe change success, security remediation, and measurable knowledge transfer from the network vendor, plus building access/security camera system health, timely incident response, and completion of physical‑security preventive checks.

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand and walk. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.