Sr. Network Engineer

Prairie Consulting Services; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Prairie Consulting Services is seeking a Sr. Lead Network Engineer for a hybrid role with 3 days on-site at our Chicago office.

Local candidates who reside in Chicago are required. The position involves supporting and enhancing complex enterprise networks across global data centers, colocation facilities, and hybrid cloud environments, with leadership in migrations and migrations and troubleshooting of mission-critical infrastructure.

Qualifications

• 10+ years hands-on enterprise network engineering experience.
• Strong Cisco Nexus and Catalyst routing and switching experience, including BGP, OSPF, and Layer 2/Layer 3 networking.
• Experience deploying, migrating, and troubleshooting enterprise WAN and SD-WAN environments. Prisma SD-WAN strongly preferred.
• CCNP-level knowledge preferred; Cisco certifications are a plus.
• Azure ExpressRoute and/or AWS Direct Connect experience.
• Palo Alto firewalls, Infoblox, F5 and network security services experience a plus.
• Terraform, Ansible, Python, GitHub, and network automation practices.

Skills

Network engineering

Leadership

Troubleshooting

WAN/SD-WAN expertise

Tools

Cisco Nexus

Cisco Catalyst

Azure ExpressRoute

AWS Direct Connect

Palo Alto

Terraform

Ansible

Python

GitHub

Job description

Hybrid role – 3 days on-site in the Chicago office – Not negotiable

Looking for local candidates only – that live here in Chicago

We are seeking an experienced, hands‑on Sr. Lead Network Engineer to support and enhance complex enterprise network environments across global data centers, colocation facilities, and hybrid cloud environments. This role requires strong technical expertise, the ability to lead complex network implementations and migrations, and the confidence to independently troubleshoot mission‑critical infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities & Qualifications

• 10+ years of hands‑on enterprise network engineering experience.
• Strong Cisco Nexus and Catalyst routing and switching experience, including BGP, OSPF, and Layer 2/Layer 3 networking.
• Experience deploying, migrating, and troubleshooting enterprise WAN and SD-WAN environments. Prisma SD-WAN strongly preferred.
• Cisco NDFC experience strongly preferred; Catalyst Center is a plus.
• Hands‑on experience with Azure ExpressRoute and/or AWS Direct Connect.
• Proven ability to lead complex network migrations, production cutovers, testing, and troubleshooting.
• Experience with Palo Alto firewalls, Infoblox, F5, and network security services is a plus.
• Familiarity with Terraform, Ansible, Python, GitHub, and network automation practices.
• CCNP-level knowledge preferred; Cisco certifications are a plus.