Senior Network Engineer

SAIC; Suffolk (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

SAIC is seeking a Senior Network Engineer to provide Tier 3 advanced engineering support for a mission-critical naval enterprise transport network, ensuring continuous availability, resilience, and scalability. This role serves as the highest level of operational escalation, diagnosing and resolving the most complex network issues while guiding Tier 2 personnel and shaping long-term architecture.

The engineer will support end-to-end visibility, advanced troubleshooting, change control, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor of science in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
• 5+ years supporting large-scale enterprise or service provider network infrastructure.
• Additional experience may substitute for degree.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Tier 3 escalation point for complex outages and root-cause investigations.
• Analyze network performance, routing behavior, and security events with packet-level tools.
• Lead cross-functional troubleshooting with network, systems, cybersecurity, and vendor teams.
• Design and enhance network architecture including routing, switching, firewalls, VPN, SD-WAN, and Spine-Leaf environments.
• Provide guidance to Tier 2 teams, improving SOPs and operational efficiency.
• Oversee hardware/software upgrades, major configuration changes, and technology integration.
• Validate disaster recovery strategies and lead failover testing.
• Develop and enforce enterprise-level configuration and security standards.
• Conduct lab validation and simulation for new deployments and architectural changes.
• Support long-range capacity planning and modernization initiatives.
• Lead evaluation and adoption of emerging network technologies.
• Improve incident, problem, and change management processes including major incident reporting.

Skills

OSPF/BGP routing

L2/L3 design (Spine-Leaf)

Packet analysis & visibility

Arista switches

Palo Alto firewalls

TACACS+ on Cisco ISE

IPSEC tunnels

TCP/IP & subnetting

Root-cause analysis leadership

Education

Bachelor of science in Computer Science / IT or related field

Tools

Gigamon

NetScout

Arista

Palo Alto

Cisco ISE TACACS+

Job description

Job ID 2617816

Location

Suffolk, VA, US

Date Posted

2026-10-12

Category

Information Technology

Subcategory

Network Engineer

Schedule

Full-Time

Shift

Day Job

Travel

Yes - 25% of the time

Minimum Clearance Required

Top_Secret

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain

TS/SCI

Potential for Remote Work

ORA_ON_SITE

Description

SAIC is looking for a Senior Network Engineer to provide Tier 3 advanced engineering support for a mission-critical naval enterprise transport network, ensuring continuous availability, resilience, and scalability. This role serves as the highest level of operational escalation, responsible for diagnosing and resolving the most complex network issues, guiding Tier 2 personnel, improving network reliability, and contributing to long-term architectural direction. The engineer supports end-to-end network visibility, advanced troubleshooting, optimization, change control, and integration of new capabilities across a globally distributed environment. This position is onsite in Suffolk, VA.

Primary Responsibilities

• Serve as the Tier 3 engineering escalation point, handling complex outages and deep root-cause investigations
• Perform advanced analysis of network performance, routing behavior, and security events using packet-level tools
• Lead cross-functional troubleshooting efforts with network, systems, cybersecurity, and vendor teams
• Design, validate, and enhance network architecture including routing, switching, firewalls, VPN, SD-WAN, and Spine-Leaf environments
• Provide guidance and oversight to Tier 2 teams, improving SOPs and operational efficiency
• Oversee hardware/software upgrades, major configuration changes, and technology integration
• Validate disaster recovery strategies and lead failover testing
• Develop and enforce enterprise-level configuration and security standards
• Conduct lab validation and simulation for new deployments and architectural changes
• Support long-range capacity planning and modernization initiatives
• Lead evaluation and adoption of emerging network technologies
• Improve incident, problem, and change management processes including major incident reporting

Qualifications

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelor of science in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
• Five (5) or more years supporting large-scale enterprise or service provider network infrastructure
• Additional experience may substitute for degree

Required Security Clearance

• Active Top Secret clearance with the ability to obtain a TS/SCI

Required Technical Skills

• Expert-level proficiency with OSPF, BGP, route redistribution, and routing policy
• Deep understanding of Layer 2/Layer 3 enterprise network design and Spine-Leaf architecture
• Mastery of packet analysis and network visibility (Gigamon, NetScout, etc.)
• Hands-on experience with Arista switches, Palo Alto firewalls, TACACS+ on Cisco ISE, and IPSEC tunnels
• Strong troubleshooting capability for complex routing, QoS, multicast, and transport-layer issues
• Advanced understanding of TCP/IP, subnetting, and protocol behavior
• Proven ability to lead technical investigations and root-cause analysis

Required Certifications

• IAT Level II (Security+) required
• CCNA/CCNP required; CCIE preferred

Desired Skills

• Experience with SVLAN configuration and management
• Familiarity with Arista CloudVision Portal
• Experience in high-availability, fully redundant enterprise environments

Working Environment

• Must be able to support a 24x7 operational environment, including escalations, major outages, maintenance windows, and upgrade events

Target salary range $120,001 - $160,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.