Network Systems Engineer - Secret Cleared

Zachary Piper Solutions; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 104,000 - 127,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

PTO

Sick Leave

Flexible schedule

Growth opportunities

Job summary

Zachary Piper Solutions is seeking a Network Systems Engineer to join a federal program located in Pearl Harbor, HI. You will support a large-scale, geographically dispersed network with LAN/WAN/WLAN expertise and a focus on boundary engineering, routing, switching, and security.

The role requires 8–12 years of relevant DoD experience or 6–10 years with a Master's, active Secret clearance, and IAT Level III certification. Expect on-site work with VMW, vendors, and extensive SAFe/Agile practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree with years of relevant experience or DoD equivalent.
• Active Secret Security Clearance required.
• IAT Level III certification or equivalent recognized security credential.
• CCNA/CCNP/CCIE or equivalent vendor certification.

Responsibilities

• Lead efforts to troubleshoot and resolve complex network issues in a large enterprise environment.
• Configure and maintain switches, routers, VLANs, APs, firewalls, and sensors.
• Provide Tier III escalation support and coordination with vendors for incident resolution.
• Serve as SME for multi-discipline troubleshooting and SAFe/ Agile ceremonies.
• Maintain network documentation, baselines, and change management in a controlled repository.
• Ensure STIGs and cybersecurity policies are followed across the network.
• Participate in pre-production validation and lab testing of upgrades.

Skills

Network engineering

LAN/WAN/WLAN

Tier III troubleshooting

SAFe Agile/JIRA

DoD/program experience

Security clearance

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Active Secret Security Clearance

DoD 8570.01 IAT Level III cert (e.g., CASP+, CISSP, CCNP Security)

Cisco CCNA/CCNP/CCIE

Tools

JIRA

Ansible

Python

Arista networking

Job description

Zachary Piper Solutions is seeking a Network Systems Engineer to join a Federal Program located in Pearl Harbor, HI. The Network Systems Engineer will support a large-scale, geographically dispersed enterprise network environment. The ideal candidate will bring strong expertise across LAN/WAN/WLAN, network boundary engineering, routing, switching, network security, and Tier III troubleshooting.

Responsibilities of the Network Systems Engineer:

• Lead efforts to identify, troubleshoot, analyze, and resolve complex network issues in a dynamic enterprise environment.
• Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot network infrastructure, including switches, routers, VLANs, wireless access points (APs), firewalls, and network sensors.
• Provide engineering expertise and operational support for one of the world's largest intranet environments.
• Serve as a Tier III escalation resource for complex incidents, including coordinating with vendors as necessary for incident resolution.
• Serve as an SME and technical backstop for troubleshooting efforts involving multiple network disciplines and teams of CCNP/CCIE-level engineers.
• Troubleshoot technologies and protocols including routing, switching, SD-WAN, WLAN, MPLS, VPNs, OSPF, BGP, EIGRP, switching protocols, and multicast.
• Develop and maintain Engineering Implementation Plans (EIPs) supporting network changes and deployments.
• Create and manage change management tickets for deployments, maintenance activities, upgrades, and other network changes.
• Conduct Root Cause Analysis (RCA) in support of problem management activities and recurring incident resolution.
• Participate in engineering, architecture, and project meetings to design and develop future enterprise network solutions.
• Track engineering and operational work within an Agile/SAFe framework using JIRA.
• Participate in Daily Stand-Ups (DSUs), retrospectives, Program Increment (PI) activities, and other Agile ceremonies.
• Configuration Management Responsibilities
• Configuration Baseline Management
• Maintain version-controlled configuration baselines for network infrastructure devices, including routers, switches, firewalls, and sensors.
• Ensure configuration changes are properly documented, peer-reviewed, approved, and backed up to a centralized repository.
• Maintain change-tracking and rollback capabilities to support operational resilience and configuration recovery.
• Ensure network configurations remain compliant with applicable DISA Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) and organizational cybersecurity policies.
• Lab Testing & Pre-Production Validation
• Conduct pre-production validation testing for firmware upgrades, configuration changes, and security patches before deployment to production networks.

Qualifications of the Network Systems Engineer:

• Bachelor's degree with 8–12 years of relevant professional experience; or
• Master's degree with 6–10 years of relevant professional experience.
• Active Secret Security Clearance
• DoD 8570.01 IAT Level III certification, such as CASP+, CISSP, CCNP Security, or another qualifying certification.
• A recognized network vendor certification, such as Cisco CCNA, CCNP, or CCIE.
• Subject Matter Expertise in BAN/LAN/WAN/WLAN and Network Boundary engineering.
• Extensive experience performing highly technical network maintenance, configuration, troubleshooting, and engineering activities.
• Experience providing Tier III escalation support in large-scale enterprise environments.
• Experience supporting networks of comparable scale to 16,000+ devices across 450+ geographically dispersed locations.
• Demonstrated ability to serve as an SME and escalation backstop for troubleshooting across multiple network disciplines.
• Extensive hands‑on troubleshooting experience with routing, switching, SD-WAN, WLAN, MPLS, VPNs, OSPF, BGP, EIGRP, switching protocols, and multicast.
• Experience with SAFe Agile methodologies and JIRA.
• Willingness and ability to participate in an on-call rotation.
• Previous experience supporting Department of Defense (DoD) programs and environments.
• Experience with network automation and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) technologies and practices.
• Hands‑on experience with automation technologies such as Ansible and Python.
• Experience with Arista networking technologies.
• Advanced Cisco networking certifications, including CCNP or CCIE, are highly desirable.

Compensation for the Network Systems Engineer:

• Salary Range: $115,000+ *flexible based on experience*
• Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, PTO, and Sick Leave as required by law
• Flexible working schedule
• Unlimited opportunities for growth

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