Senior Network Engineer
Florida Polytechnic University
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
Florida Poly is seeking a Senior Network Engineer to join the IT Infrastructure team. You will design, implement, and optimize campus, data center, and WAN networks, including spine‑leaf EVPN/VXLAN fabrics and wireless.
You’ll lead projects, mentor staff, and work with partner institutions to deliver resilient, secure networking services. You will collaborate with security and systems teams, develop standards, and contribute to automation efforts while supporting after‑hours on-call rotations.
Qualifications
- Associate degree or higher with relevant IT networking skills.
- CCNA and/or CCNP certifications or equivalent experience.
- Strong knowledge of campus and data center networks.
Responsibilities
- Lead design, implementation, and optimization of network solutions.
- Plan changes and upgrades with minimal user impact.
- Act as escalation point for complex incidents and perform root cause analysis.
- Mentor engineers, technicians, and student workers.
- Collaborate with security, systems, and vendor teams; document standards.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
Senior Network Engineer
Make a difference at one of Florida’s premier institutions for education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Florida Polytechnic University, ranked the No. 1 public college in the region by U.S. News and World Report, offers a unique working environment that encourages faculty and staff to be part of a culture that prizes collaboration, innovation, and the willingness to go above and beyond to ensure our students and University succeed. Florida Poly offers a small campus academic environment where students form connections with their faculty and peers as they pursue high-value degrees in engineering and applied sciences. The University is equipped with cutting‑edge facilities and equipment and two award‑winning, architecturally distinct academic buildings. Its evolving curriculum, designed to meet the needs of industry and provide a life‑long educational foundation for students, has helped the institution grow in prominence since its opening in 2014. Florida Poly’s deliberately small classes, affordability, and outstanding graduate outcomes have helped it earn recognitions such as being named a top value school, in the top 25 nationally for affordability, and in the top five best universities in the South for tech students. Accredited by ABET and SACSCOC, Florida Poly is educating some of the brightest minds in Florida and attracting standout talent from across the nation.
The Information Technology Services (ITS) division at Florida Poly is dedicated to positioning the University as a leader among STEM institutions through the innovative use of information technology. Our mission is to transform teaching and learning, empower cutting‑edge research, enhance the student experience and success, enable data‑driven decision‑making, and optimize University operations and services. Staffed by a team of energetic professionals, we prioritize service excellence, foster innovation, and pursue continuous improvement in a highly collaborative environment. Currently, we are driving a major transformation of IT infrastructures, architectures, and service delivery models to align with Florida Poly’s new five‑year strategic plan and support its ambitious goals. Reporting to the Vice President and CIO, ITS is organized into six teams, including Technology Support, IT Security, IT Infrastructure Services, DevOps, Enterprise Solutions, and Business Services.
The Senior Network Engineer serves as a member of the IT Infrastructure team, reporting to the Director of IT Infrastructure Services and working with the Lead Network Engineer. This role performs advanced engineering, design, implementation, optimization, and complex troubleshooting of wired, wireless, and wide area network infrastructure. Responsibilities include designing and implementing complex solutions, leading assigned projects and technical workstreams, improving network performance and resiliency, and establishing standards and documentation. The Senior Network Engineer participates in an on‑call rotation, plans and performs after‑hours maintenance to minimize impact to users, and mentors Network Engineers, Technicians, and student workers. A significant portion of this role is dedicated to delivering network engineering services to external partner institutions, working on site and remotely alongside their IT staff, in addition to supporting ITS auxiliary services such as residence halls and dining. This role is ideal for a highly technical, self‑motivated, and experienced engineer with a strong passion for networking and a drive to build infrastructure that is stable, secure, and well documented. A positive attitude, sound judgment, and taking pride in the quality of your work are essential, along with the professionalism to represent the University with partner institutions. If you enjoy leading complex projects, mentoring others, and continuously expanding your skills in enterprise networking, security, and automation, this position offers significant opportunity to make a tangible impact across the University and beyond.
- Lead the design, implementation, and optimization of complex network solutions, including campus core, data center, spine‑leaf (EVPN/VXLAN) fabrics, WAN, and wireless.
- Plan, test, and implement changes and upgrades, scheduling user‑impacting work after hours.
- Serve as an escalation point for complex, multi‑layer network incidents; lead root cause analysis and drive permanent corrective actions.
- Participate in a rotating on‑call schedule to respond to after‑hours incidents and outages.
- Lead assigned network projects and technical workstreams from planning through deployment, including new construction and renovations.
- Develop standards, roadmaps, and capacity plans, and evaluate risk and tradeoffs in design decisions.
- Engineer and improve network security, including segmentation, 802.1X/NAC, next‑generation firewall policy, VPN, and vulnerability remediation, in partnership with IT Security and in alignment with frameworks such as CIS, NIST, and PCI.
- Establish and maintain network documentation, configuration standards, and procedures, including diagrams, IP address management, and source of truth (e.g., NetBox).
- Develop automation using scripting, AI, and network automation tools.
- Mentor Network Engineers, Network Technicians, and student workers, and review engineering work for quality and standards.
- Collaborate with systems, security, and application teams, vendors, and contractors; evaluate products and recommend improvements.
- Deliver network engineering services through ITS auxiliary operations and external partnerships, including on‑site and remote engineering, advisory, training, and knowledge transfer for partner institutions’ IT staff.
- Proactively pursue opportunities to learn new systems and technologies, share knowledge, and partner with team members to continually enhance departmental expertise and effectiveness.
- Perform all other duties assigned to support department and University objectives.
- Advanced knowledge of enterprise, campus, and data center network design, including LAN/WAN, VLANs, Spanning Tree, wireless (802.11), high availability, and routing protocols such as OSPF and BGP.
- Working knowledge of EVPN, VXLAN, and Clos (spine‑leaf) fabric architectures, with hands‑on design or implementation experience preferred.
- Expert hands‑on experience configuring, optimizing, and troubleshooting enterprise switching, routing, and wireless platforms (e.g., Cisco, Arista) using the command line interface (CLI).
- Experience designing and administering next‑generation firewalls (e.g., Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet), VPN, and 802.1X/network access control solutions.
- Working knowledge of core network services (DNS, DHCP, NTP, RADIUS/TACACS+, QoS) and cloud networking in Microsoft Azure and/or AWS.
- Experience with network monitoring, management, and documentation tools (e.g., Zabbix, SNMP, syslog, and NetBox).
- Demonstrated ability to develop scripts and automation (e.g., Python, Ansible, or PowerShell) for configuration, compliance, and operational tasks.
- Ability to effectively utilize artificial intelligence (AI).
- Ability to lead projects and workstreams, mentor technical staff, and drive complex problems to resolution.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to present recommendations clearly to technical staff, partner institutions, and non‑technical stakeholders.
- Ability to work outside normal business hours to implement changes and solutions to limit impact/exposure to users.
- Associate’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
- Four (4) or more years of experience as a network engineer or in a similar role supporting enterprise or campus networks.
- A current Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) or equivalent vendor certification may be substituted for one (1) year of experience.
- A current Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) or equivalent vendor certification may be substituted for two (2) years of experience; certification credit is not cumulative.
- Up to two (2) years of extensive, documented home lab experience with enterprise‑class networking equipment may be considered as work experience.
- Equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
- Six (6) or more years of network engineering experience, preferably in higher education.
- Hands‑on experience designing or deploying EVPN/VXLAN spine‑leaf fabrics and campus core replacements.
- Experience leading projects or providing engineering services for external customers or partner institutions.
- Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) or equivalent vendor certification.
Physical requirements include occasional lifting and carrying of 5 to 70 pounds and occasional use of ladders and lifts. This role requires sitting, standing, reaching, walking, twisting, and kneeling, as well as the visual acuity, speech, hearing, hand‑eye coordination, and manual dexterity needed to operate a computer and basic office equipment. Work is performed primarily in an office, with regular work in data centers and telecommunication rooms.
Must possess a valid driver’s license. This position requires a criminal background check, which will include a Level II screening as required by Florida Statute §435.04. This position is subject to federal and state privacy regulations.
This position is salaried and exempt. The normal work schedule is Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; however, occasional after‑hours work (evenings, weekends, and holidays) may be required. Local travel between university locations and local vendors may be required. Occasionally, travel to professional events and conferences may be required. This position may be eligible for a flexible work schedule.
$85,000-$93,600. Benefits include medical, personal, and parental leave, paid holidays, State of Florida health insurance and retirement plans.
Full-time/On‑site.
This is a time‑limited position for up to two (2) years, contingent upon the continued availability of funding, and may be eligible for extension. Note: Employment‑based visa sponsorship will NOT be considered for this position.
Review of applications will commence immediately. Please check to top right corner of the ad for information on post end dates.
Florida Polytechnic University is an equal opportunity/equal access institution. It is the policy of the Board of Trustees to provide equal opportunity for employment and educational opportunities to all (including applicants for employment, employees, applicants for admission, students, and others affiliated with the University) without regard to race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or genetic information. Employment is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US. An appointment is not final until proof is provided.
Florida Poly qualified employees have the opportunity to take advantage of a variety of health benefits (through the State of Florida) to help meet their specific needs, as well as the needs of their family. This comprehensive coverage includes flexible spending accounts, medical and life insurance, and worker's compensation. Health benefits are administered through People First, on behalf of the State of Florida, as pre‑tax insurance plans. People First handles all new hire enrollments, coverage changes, premium administration, and dependent eligibility. Their Service Center is staffed Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m.–6 p.m. EST, at 1-866-663-4735.
Florida Poly offers great options for retirement. From the required selection of a state plan to additional voluntary retirement plans, our employees have many opportunities to save and prepare for their future.
- Annual Leave: Qualified employees may accrue 22 days of annual leave. In addition, the University observes the holidays listed in our University Holidays policy FPU-1.008.
- Sick Leave: Qualified employees may also accrue 12 days of annual sick leave and participate in our Sick Pool Program.
- Employee Assistant Program (EAP)
Conveniently located along I-4 between Tampa and Orlando, Lakeland is home to Florida Polytechnic University and many other businesses and attractions.
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