Sr. Staff Software Engineer - Network

UKG; Lowell (MA); On-site; USD 151,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

UKG is seeking a Senior Staff Software Engineer, Network, in Lowell, MA. You will provide technical leadership across complex network engineering and automation initiatives, shaping architecture, standards, and production operations for scalable, secure network services.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate with Architecture, Security, Cloud Infrastructure, Product, and Operations, and drive CI/CD for infrastructure code.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of professional network engineering experience.
• 7+ years developing or operating network automation or infrastructure as code using Terraform, Ansible, and Python.
• Experience leading the design and delivery of network solutions across multiple teams or complex environments.
• Strong knowledge of routing protocols including BGP and OSPF; HS/VRRP familiarity.
• LAN/WAN design and troubleshooting incl. VLANs, trunking, spanning tree.
• Experience building or leading CI/CD workflows for infrastructure code or network configs.
• Public cloud networking experience (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Experience with highly available production infrastructure and formal change management.
• Hands-on experience with Cisco, Juniper, F5, Palo Alto or equivalent.
• Strong troubleshooting, communication, and technical decision-making skills.
• Willingness to participate in on-call and after-hours work.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, automation, and operation of network infrastructure across data centers and cloud environments.
• Set technical direction for complex network initiatives and ensure long-term maintainability.
• Apply expertise in routing, switching, segmentation, and high availability.
• Develop and maintain infrastructure as code and network automation (Terraform, Ansible, Python).
• Design and improve CI/CD pipelines for network configurations and infrastructure code.
• Drive automation for provisioning, config management, and compliance validation.
• Lead investigation and resolution of high-impact network issues using diagnostic tools.
• Establish and improve network engineering standards, patterns, and documentation.
• Review designs and code; provide clear technical recommendations.
• Partner with Architecture, Security, Cloud Infra, Product Eng, and Operations to align solutions.
• Mentor engineers and promote knowledge sharing in networking and automation.
• Ensure changes meet governance and security requirements.
• Participate in on-call rotations and after-hours work.

Skills

Network engineering

Terraform

Ansible

Python

BGP

OSPF

LAN/WAN

CI/CD

Public cloud networking

On-call readiness

Troubleshooting

Technical leadership

Tools

Terraform

Ansible

Python

Cisco

Juniper

F5

Palo Alto

Job description

Why UKG:

At UKG, the work you do matters. The code you ship, the decisions you make, and the care you show a customer all add up to real impact. Today, tens of millions of workers start and end their days with our workforce operating platform. Helping people get paid, grow in their careers, and shape the future of their industries. That's what we do.

We never stop learning. We never stop challenging the norm. We push for better, and we celebrate the wins along the way. Here, you'll get flexibility that's real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Because at UKG, your work matters-and so do you.

About the team

UKG's Cloud Infrastructure team designs, builds, and operates the network services that support our products across data centers and public cloud environments. The team is responsible for routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, network automation, monitoring, and related services.

About the role

As a Senior Staff Software Engineer, Network, you will provide technical leadership across complex network engineering and automation initiatives. This role combines deep networking expertise with strong infrastructure-as-code skills. You will shape network architecture and standards, lead solutions from design through production operations, and help make network services more secure, reliable, and scalable.

You’ll work across Engineering, Architecture, Security, Product, and Business teams to translate complex requirements into practical network solutions. You’ll also mentor engineers, guide technical decisions, and improve how UKG designs, automates, deploys, and operates network infrastructure.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead the design, implementation, automation, and operation of network infrastructure across data centers and public cloud environments.
• Set technical direction for complex network initiatives, including architecture, implementation patterns, operational readiness, and long-term maintainability.
• Apply deep expertise in routing, switching, segmentation, hybrid connectivity, traffic management, and high availability.
• Develop and maintain infrastructure as code and network automation using tools and languages such as Terraform, Ansible, and Python.
• Design and improve continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines that test, validate, secure, and deploy network configurations and infrastructure code.
• Drive automation for network provisioning, configuration management, compliance validation, and operational processes.
• Lead the investigation and resolution of complex, high-impact network issues using packet captures, protocol analyzers, logs, monitoring platforms, and other diagnostic tools.
• Establish and improve network engineering standards, design patterns, operational practices, and technical documentation.
• Review network designs and code, identify risks and dependencies, and provide clear technical recommendations.
• Partner with Architecture, Security, Cloud Infrastructure, Product Engineering, and Operations teams to align solutions with business and service requirements.
• Mentor engineers and support knowledge sharing to strengthen the team's networking and automation capabilities.
• Ensure network changes meet change management, security, governance, and compliance requirements.
• Participate in an on-call rotation and support planned work outside normal business hours when required.

About you

Basic qualifications:

• 12+ years of professional network engineering experience, including extensive hands‑on experience with complex production networks.
• 7+ years of experience developing or operating network automation or infrastructure as code using tools and languages such as Terraform, Ansible, and Python.
• Experience leading the design and delivery of network solutions across multiple teams or complex environments.
• Strong knowledge of routing protocols and concepts, including Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), route redistribution, and first-hop redundancy protocols such as Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) or Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP).
• Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and troubleshooting local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN) environments, including virtual LANs (VLANs), trunking, spanning tree, link aggregation, and network segmentation.
• Experience building or leading CI/CD workflows to test, validate, or deploy infrastructure code or network configurations.
• Experience with public cloud networking in at least one major cloud platform: Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), or Microsoft Azure.
• Experience supporting highly available production infrastructure and working within formal change management practices.
• Experience in a distributed, mult-data-center, or software-as-a-service (SaaS) environment.
• Hands‑on experience with Cisco, Juniper, F5, Palo Alto Networks, or equivalent network technologies.
• Strong troubleshooting, communication, and technical decision‑making skills, including the ability to explain tradeoffs to technical and nontechnical partners.
• Willingness to participate in on‑call support and planned after‑hours work.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with Google Cloud networking, including routing, load balancing, network address translation (NAT), firewalls, or hybrid connectivity.
• Experience with virtual private network (VPN) and tunneling technologies, including IPsec, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN, or Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE).
• Familiarity with SSL certificate lifecycle management, network monitoring, protocol analysis, or WAN and Internet service provider (ISP) connectivity.
• Experience establishing network automation standards, reusable tools, or CI/CD practices adopted by multiple teams.
• Relevant certifications such as Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), Juniper Networks Certified Internet Associate (JNCIA), Juniper Networks Certified Internet Specialist (JNCIS), or a public cloud networking certification.
• Experience with infrastructure security, compliance, or Agile practices.

Company Overview:

UKG is the Workforce Operating Platform that puts workforce understanding to work. With the world's largest collection of workforce insights, and people‑first AI, our ability to reveal unseen ways to build trust, amplify productivity, and empower talent, is unmatched. It's this expertise that equips our customers with the intelligence to solve any challenge in any industry - because great organizations know their workforce is their competitive edge. Learn more at ukg.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer

UKG is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, disability, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.

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UKG participates in E-Verify. View the E-Verify posters here.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process

For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email [e-mail].

The pay range for this position is $150,500 to $214,500. The actual base pay offered may vary depending on skills, experience, job‑related knowledge and work location. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible to participate in a performance‑based bonus plan and to receive restricted stock unit awards as part of total compensation. Learn more about UKG's benefits and rewards at https://www.ukg.com/about-us/careers/benefits