Network Engineer (Senior)

Overview

DecisionPoint seeks a Senior Network Engineer to support data-center networking, software-defined networking, enterprise connectivity, infrastructure modernization, and outage restoration for the USMEPCOM ENLIST program. 

The Network Engineer will provide hands-on engineering support for Cisco Nexus and Application Centric Infrastructure environments, software-defined networking, top-of-rack switching, and data-center connectivity. This role will support network installations, technology refreshes, maintenance activities, service outages, and equipment-relocation cutovers. 

The successful candidate will work with network leadership, infrastructure teams, cybersecurity personnel, Government stakeholders, vendors, and the Outage Response Team to maintain secure, reliable, and resilient network services. 

This is a hybrid position based in N. Chicago, Illinois. The role may require after-hours availability during outages, maintenance windows, installations, equipment refreshes, and relocation cutovers. 

Note: By applying to this position, you acknowledge and consent to having your resume included in an active competitive government contract bid. 

Duties & Responsibilities

The Network Engineer will: 

• Engineer, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot Cisco Nexus data-center switching environments. 

• Support Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure fabrics and associated policy-based network configurations. 

• Configure and support Application Policy Infrastructure Controllers, tenants, virtual routing and forwarding instances, bridge domains, endpoint groups, contracts, and external connectivity. 

• Support software-defined networking configurations across data-center network infrastructure. 

• Install, configure, maintain, refresh, and troubleshoot top-of-rack switches, data-center switches, network appliances, and related connectivity. 

• Support physical and logical connectivity among servers, storage platforms, virtualization environments, appliances, cloud services, and enterprise networks. 

• Configure and troubleshoot VLANs, trunks, port channels, virtual port channels, routing, access controls, and redundant network paths. 

• Support network architecture planning, integration, implementation, testing, and performance analysis. 

• Gather and document technical requirements for data-center connectivity, network installations, equipment refreshes, and relocation activities. 

• Develop implementation procedures, migration plans, cutover plans, validation steps, rollback procedures, and outage contingencies. 

• Execute approved network installations, technology refreshes, configuration changes, and equipment replacements. 

• Support relocation cutovers for network equipment and associated infrastructure at USMEPCOM and MEPS locations. 

• Coordinate pre-cutover preparation, equipment staging, configuration validation, connectivity testing, implementation, and post-cutover verification. 

• Support the physical relocation of network equipment and related supplies to new or modified facilities. 

• Coordinate with cabling personnel on rack layouts, patching, fiber, copper cabling, network drops, and equipment interconnections. 

• Support site surveys and maintain accurate physical and logical network diagrams, rack layouts, as-built documentation, and equipment inventories. 

• Test network devices and configurations before installation in production environments. 

• Apply approved firmware, operating-system, vendor, security, and configuration updates to network devices. 

• Configure network devices in accordance with applicable security requirements and DISA Security Technical Implementation Guides. 

• Monitor network availability, performance, utilization, capacity, faults, interfaces, and data-center connectivity. 

• Diagnose and resolve complex Layer 2, Layer 3, fabric, switching, routing, latency, packet-loss, and connectivity issues. 

• Support WAN, LAN, circuit, SD-WAN, firewall, VPN, wireless, and cloud-connectivity troubleshooting when issues affect data-center services. 

• Participate in Outage Response Team activities involving network degradation or service outages. 

• Provide technical diagnosis, corrective actions, workarounds, restoration support, and root-cause-analysis input. 

• Coordinate technical escalation and troubleshooting with Cisco, DISA, telecommunications providers, equipment vendors, cloud providers, and other external support organizations. 

• Support remote locations with network connectivity, router, circuit, firewall, VPN, ISP, and cloud-service issues. 

• Follow approved incident, change, configuration, release, and service-transition processes. 

• Maintain network configurations, implementation records, change documentation, test results, troubleshooting procedures, and technical knowledge articles. 

• Identify recurring network problems, capacity constraints, points of failure, and modernization opportunities and recommend corrective actions. 

• Provide technical guidance to network administrators, support specialists, and other infrastructure personnel. 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications 

• Active Secret clearance or higher. 

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Networking, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. 

• Minimum of 8 years of relevant network engineering, network administration, data-center networking, or enterprise infrastructure experience. 

• Current Cisco Certified Network Professional certification. 

• Ability to work a hybrid schedule in N. Chicago, Illinois. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Hands-on experience supporting Cisco Nexus switches and Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure. 

• Experience configuring ACI tenants, VRFs, bridge domains, endpoint groups, contracts, Application Policy Infrastructure Controllers, and external network connectivity. 

• Experience with software-defined networking and policy-based data-center network architectures. 

• Experience configuring and troubleshooting top-of-rack switching, virtual port channels, port channels, VLANs, trunks, routing, and redundant network paths. 

• Experience supporting data-center connectivity among compute, storage, virtualization, security, cloud, and network platforms. 

• Experience completing network installations, equipment refreshes, migrations, maintenance activities, and relocation cutovers. 

• Experience developing method-of-procedure documents, implementation plans, test plans, rollback procedures, and cutover checklists. 

• Experience supporting network-related outages, service restoration, vendor escalation, and root-cause analysis. 

• Experience with Cisco routing and switching technologies, including EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, VLAN routing, and Quality of Service. 

• Experience supporting WAN, LAN, SD-WAN, circuits, firewalls, VPNs, wireless infrastructure, load balancers, and cloud connectivity. 

• Experience with network-monitoring, configuration-management, performance-management, and observability platforms. 

• Experience applying DISA STIGs and supporting DoD RMF, ATO, IAVA, CND Directive, and POA&M requirements. 

• Experience producing network diagrams, rack layouts, as-built documentation, equipment inventories, and configuration records. 

• Familiarity with structured cabling, patch panels, fiber connectivity, inside-plant infrastructure, and network-drop planning. 

• Additional certifications such as CCNP Data Center, CCNP Enterprise, CCNP Security, Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert, CompTIA Security+, or equivalent credentials. 

• ITIL Foundation or higher certification. 

• Experience working in a federal or Department of Defense network environment. 

• Strong troubleshooting, analytical, documentation, change-management, and stakeholder-coordination skills. 

• Ability to support after-hours outages, maintenance windows, installations, equipment refreshes, and relocation cutovers when required. 

Our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

• EEO and Affirmative Action Policy: DecisionPoint Corporation is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. It is the policy of DecisionPoint Corporation to provide equal employment opportunity in accordance with all applicable Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action laws, directives and regulations to all employees and qualified applicants without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other protected status under Federal, State or Local laws.
• Pay Transparency Policy: In accordance with Presidential Executive Order 13665, DecisionPoint Corporation will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information.
• Authorization to Share Resume and Personal Information: By expressing your interest and submitting your resume for this position, you authorize DecisionPoint Corporation to share your resume, as well as personal information included on the resume, with its subsidiaries, affiliates and teaming partners for the purpose of considering you for this position and other available positions requiring comparable skills, education and experience. Should DecisionPoint Corporation. or its affiliates and teaming partners wish to initiate pre-employment discussions, you will be asked to complete an employment application and related employment documents.