Staff Network Engineer

GEICO; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 100,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

GEICO Flex program

401K with 6% match

Tuition assistance

Total Rewards program

Mental healthcare

Job summary

GEICO is seeking a Staff Engineer to lead the strategy and execution of a network roadmap. You will design and maintain large-scale IP fabrics, five-stage Clos architectures, and cloud connectivity across Azure and AWS.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate with security and product teams, and drive observability and automation using Python and Ansible to reduce toil and improve reliability. The role requires deep technical expertise in data center networking, incident response, and performance

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional experience in network engineering or operations.
• Experience designing, implementing, and troubleshooting large-scale IP fabrics, including Clos/spine-leaf designs.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain network infrastructure, including five-stage Clos data center fabrics, routers, switches, Palo Alto next-generation firewalls, VPN, hybrid connectivity to Azure and AWS.
• Implement network policies and security measures to protect against cyber threats and ensure compliance with standards.
• Design, deploy, and support Azure network infrastructure and private connectivity patterns with emphasis on performance and reliability.
• Develop observability for the network platform with metrics, alerts, and dashboards to drive proactive response.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to align network designs with business outcomes and risk tolerance.
• Mentor team members and educate executives on network strategy and roadmaps.

Skills

Five-stage Clos fabric design

WAN & data center interconnects

Azure networking

VPN & firewall management

Python/Ansible automation

Network security principles

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Palo Alto NGFW

Azure networking tooling

Ansible

Terraform

Job description

At GEICO, we offer a rewarding career where your ambitions are met with endless possibilities.
Every day we honor our iconic brand by offering quality coverage to millions of customers and being there when they need us most. We thrive through relentless innovation to exceed our customers’ expectations while making a real impact for our company through our shared purpose.
When you join our company, we want you to feel valued, supported and proud to work here. That’s why we offer The GEICO Pledge: Great Company, Great Culture, Great Rewards and Great Careers.
At GEICO, we offer a rewarding career where your ambitions are met with endless possibilities.
Every day we honor our iconic brand by offering quality coverage to millions of customers and being there when they need us most. We thrive through relentless innovation to exceed our customers’ expectations while making a real impact for our company through our shared purpose.
When you join our company, we want you to feel valued, supported and proud to work here. That’s why we offer The GEICO Pledge: Great Company, Great Culture, Great Rewards and Great Careers.
Position Summary
GEICO is seeking an experienced Engineer with a passion for building high-performance, low maintenance, zero-downtime platforms, and applications. You will help drive our insurance business transformation as we transition from a traditional IT model to a tech organization with engineering excellence as its mission, while co-creating the culture of psychological safety and continuous improvement.
Position Description
Our Staff Engineer works with our Distinguished Engineer and Sr. Engineers to innovate and build new systems, improve, and enhance existing systems as well as identify new opportunities to apply your knowledge to solve critical problems. You will lead the strategy and execution of a technical roadmap that will increase the velocity of delivering products and unlock new engineering capabilities. The ideal candidate has deep technical expertise in designing, implementing, and maintaining overall network infrastructure.
Position Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain network infrastructure, including five-stage Clos data center fabrics, routers, switches, Palo Alto next-generation firewalls, VPN, hybrid connectivity to Azure, AWS and supporting services such as enterprise DNS
• Implement network policies and security measures to protect against cyber threats and ensure compliance with industry standards
• Design, deploy, and support Azure network infrastructure (for example, VNets, hybrid connectivity, routing, network security, and private access patterns), ensuring performance, security, and reliability
• Implement and maintain observability for the network platform, including metrics, alerts, and dashboards, and use that visibility to drive proactive detection and faster incident response
• Configure and optimize routing and switching behavior across WAN, and data center environments, including traffic engineering, resiliency, and operational guardrails
• Configure and maintain firewall policy, segmentation, and secure connectivity patterns in partnership with security and platform teams
• Collaborate with stakeholders and team members to develop customized network designs and configurations aligned to business outcomes, risk tolerance, and reference architectures
• Monitor network performance and proactively identify and resolve issues to minimize impact and ensure maximum uptime
• Be a role model and mentor, helping to coach and strengthen the technical expertise and know-how of our engineering and product community
• Influence and educate executives
• Consistently share best practices and improve processes within and across teams
• Determine and support resource requirements, evaluate operational processes, measure outcomes to ensure desired results, demonstrate adaptability, and sponsor continuous learning
• Participate in on‑call rotation for after‑hours support and maintenance activities
• Develop and maintain automation using Python and Ansible (and related tooling) to standardize changes, reduce toil, improve quality, and accelerate safe delivery across routers, switches, firewalls, and cloud network constructs
• Create new and re‑engineer existing processes, workflows, scripts, and automation to improve quality and efficiency
• Understand and promote network standards, reference architectures, and frameworks; develop and maintain strategic roadmaps for network platforms and services
  

Qualifications

• Experience designing, implementing, and troubleshooting large-scale IP fabrics, including Clos/spine‑leaf designs (five‑stage Clos experience preferred where applicable)
• Strong understanding of WAN and data center interconnect technologies, including MPLS, VPN, BGP‑based designs, and diverse carrier circuits
• Knowledge of network security principles and best practices, including firewalls, VPN, and intrusion detection/prevention concepts as implemented on enterprise platforms
• Expertise in configuring and troubleshooting VPN technologies
• Strong understanding of L2/L3 switching, routing, and high availability patterns in enterprise and data center networks
• Expertise in network routing protocols, such as BGP and OSPF (and related data center routing constructs as used in your environment, for example EVPN where applicable)
• Strong experience with Core, Distribution, Access, VPN, Firewalls, and data center fabric architectures
• Hands‑on experience with Palo Alto NGFW platforms and operational patterns (policy lifecycle, segmentation, HA, and ecosystem integration)
• Hands‑on experience with Microsoft Azure networking (for example, VNets, ExpressRoute/VPN, hub/spoke, Private Link, load balancing, NSGs, route tables, and DNS integration)
• Experience supporting enterprise DNS (design, operations, migrations, and troubleshooting across on‑premises and cloud)
• Experience building or improving observability for networks, including alert design and dashboards tied to operational outcomes
• Programming experience with at least one programming language such as Go, Java, C++, Python, or C#, including object‑oriented design where applicable
• Experience with network technology vendors such as Arista, Azure, AWS, GCP, Cisco, IBM, Megaport, Zscaler, and Palo Alto
• Excellent problem‑solving skills with the ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Ability to excel in a fast‑paced, startup‑like environment
• In‑depth understanding of cloud service models: PaaS, IaaS, SaaS
• One or more of the following active certifications are highly desired:
• Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) or equivalent expert‑level routing/switching depth
• Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) or willingness to pursue within 12 months
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate or equivalent demonstrated Azure networking depth
• Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE) or equivalent demonstrated NGFW depth
  

Experience

• 6+ years of professional experience with network engineering or operations
• 4+ years of experience with automation, tooling, or open‑source frameworks relevant to network operations (for example, Ansible, Terraform, Git‑based workflows, or similar)
• 3+ years of experience with architecture and design for production networks
• 3+ years of experience with Azure (or another major cloud provider, with Azure strongly preferred for this role)
  

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent education or work experience
  

Annual Salary
$100,000.00 - $230,000.00
The above annual salary range is a general guideline. Multiple factors are taken into consideration to arrive at the final hourly rate/ annual salary to be offered to the selected candidate. Factors include, but are not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the role, the selected candidate’s work experience, education and training, the work location as well as market and business considerations.
GEICO will consider sponsoring a new qualified applicant for employment authorization for this position.
The GEICO Pledge
Great Company: At GEICO, we help our customers through life’s twists and turns. Our mission is to protect people when they need it most and we’re constantly evolving to stay ahead of their needs.
We’re an iconic brand that thrives on innovation, exceeding our customers’ expectations and enabling our collective success. From day one, you’ll take on exciting challenges that help you grow and collaborate with dynamic teams who want to make a positive impact on people’s lives.
Great Careers: We offer a career where you can learn, grow, and thrive through personalized development programs, created with your career – and your potential – in mind. You’ll have access to industry leading training, certification assistance, career mentorship and coaching with supportive leaders at all levels.
Great Culture: We foster an inclusive culture of shared success, rooted in integrity, a bias for action and a winning mindset. Grounded by our core values, we have an an established culture of caring, inclusion, and belonging, that values different perspectives. Our teams are led by dynamic, multi-faceted teams led by supportive leaders, driven by performance excellence and unified under a shared purpose.
As part of our culture, we also offer employee engagement and recognition programs that reward the positive impact our work makes on the lives of our customers.
Great Rewards: We offer compensation and benefits built to enhance your physical well‑being, mental and emotional health and financial future.

• Comprehensive Total Rewards program that offers personalized coverage tailor‑made for you and your family’s overall well‑being.
• Financial benefits including market‑competitive compensation; a 401K savings plan vested from day one that offers a 6% match; performance and recognition‑based incentives; and tuition assistance.
• Access to additional benefits like mental healthcare as well as fertility and adoption assistance.
• Supports flexibility- We provide workplace flexibility as well as our GEICO Flex program, which offers the ability to work from anywhere in the US for up to four weeks per year.
  

The equal employment opportunity policy of the GEICO Companies provides for a fair and equal employment opportunity for all associates and job applicants regardless of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, familial status, disability or genetic information, in compliance with applicable federal, state and local law. GEICO hires and promotes individuals solely on the basis of their qualifications for the job to be filled.
GEICO reasonably accommodates qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to receive equal employment opportunity and/or perform the essential functions of the job, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship to the Company. This applies to all applicants and associates. GEICO also provides a work environment in which each associate is able to be productive and work to the best of their ability. We do not condone or tolerate an atmosphere of intimidation or harassment. We expect and require the cooperation of all associates in maintaining an atmosphere free from discrimination and harassment with mutual respect by and for all associates and applicants.