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 engineering support for a mission-critical naval transport network in Suffolk, VA. The role focuses on high-availability, advanced troubleshooting, and architectural direction across a globally distributed environment.

You will mentor Tier 2 staff, oversee upgrades, and drive improvements to network visibility, security standards, and disaster recovery testing. A Secret clearance and relevant certifications are required.

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
• 5+ years supporting large-scale enterprise or service provider networks.
• Additional experience may substitute for degree.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Tier 3 escalation 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 validate network architecture including routing, switching, firewalls, VPN, SD-WAN, Spine-Leaf.
• Provide guidance to Tier 2 teams and improve SOPs and operational efficiency.
• Oversee upgrades, major configurations, and technology integration.
• Validate disaster recovery strategies and lead failover testing.
• Develop and enforce enterprise-level configuration and security standards.
• Lab-validate and simulate new deployments and architectural changes.
• Support long-range capacity planning and modernization.
• Lead evaluation and adoption of emerging network technologies.
• Improve incident, problem, and change management processes.

Skills

OSPF/BGP routing

Layer 2/3 design

Packet analysis

Troubleshooting

Networking theory (TCP/IP)

Education

Bachelor of Science in CS/IT or related field

Tools

Arista switches

Palo Alto firewalls

Cisco ISE TACACS+

IPSEC tunnels

Gigamon/NetScout

Job description

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 Secret clearance.

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.