Senior Lead Engineer – SDN & Network Automation

Nightwing Group; Annapolis (MD); On-site; USD 122,000 - 253,000; Full time

Job summary

Nightwing Group is seeking a Senior Lead Software Engineer to architect and deliver scalable network infrastructure and automation solutions at our Maryland site. You will drive SDN initiatives, develop automation platforms, and implement AI-assisted analytics within a DevSecOps framework.

You will mentor engineers, influence technical direction, and work in an Agile environment to ensure reliability and security for critical missions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in STEM or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years in network infrastructure development and DevOps networking engineering.
• Experience with Python and Shell scripting for network automation.
• Strong knowledge of networking protocols (BGP, VRF, MPLS, IP, TCP/UDP).

Responsibilities

• Lead SDN solutions design and delivery for scalable networks.
• Develop network automation and infrastructure-management platforms.
• Create APIs and tooling to integrate devices, controllers, and monitoring.
• Integrate AI-driven analytics for performance and predictive maintenance.
• Mentor engineers in network automation and IaC practices.

Skills

Python

Shell scripting

Linux

Distributed systems

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Tools

VMware NSX-T

Kubernetes

Docker/Podman

Ansible

Terraform

Git

Jenkins

GitLab CI

Job description

Nightwing Group is seeking a Senior Lead Software Engineer to architect and deliver scalable network infrastructure and automation solutions at our Maryland site. You will drive SDN initiatives, develop automation platforms, and implement AI-assisted analytics within a DevSecOps framework.

You will mentor engineers, influence technical direction, and work in an Agile environment to ensure reliability and security for critical missions.