Commissioning Network Engineer I

gFiber

1d•$72,100 - $116,500

About The Position

At gFiber, we believe that great internet has the power to drive innovation, strengthen communities, enable the impossible, and do all the everyday things that make all of our world go round. And the job of creating better internet is never done - so we’re growing! Our team is committed to building a place where people who want to make a difference can grow their careers and find their spot to belong. This role is not eligible for immigration sponsorship. We are seeking a detail-oriented and technical Commissioning Network Engineer to execute the direct provisioning, testing, and operational validation of our growing network infrastructure. In this role, you will be responsible for translating network designs into live operational environments—working directly with routers, switches, optical gear, and firewalls. As an L2 Commissioning Engineer, you will bridge the gap between physical installation and high-level architecture. You will perform pre-flight configuration loads, execute standardized post-deployment testing protocols, troubleshoot turn-up anomalies, and ensure clean operational handoffs to our 24/7 Network Operations Center (NOC).

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
2 years of experience in network operations, deployment, field engineering, or technical support (NOC/SOC).
Experience executing scheduled network maintenance windows and following strict change management procedures.
Experience with IPv4/IPv6 addressing, VLANs, LACP, Static Routing, and OSPF.
Practical experience staging and configuring enterprise or service-provider network gear (e.g. NX-OS, Juniper Junos, Nokia SR-OS/OLT, or Arista EOS).
Experience with network utilities (Ping, Traceroute, MTR) and basic ethernet/optical test sets.
Experience running pre-built Ansible playbooks, or Jinja2 templates for bulk provisioning and automated health checks.

Nice To Haves

High discipline in following step-by-step method-of-procedure (MOP) documents and change control windows without taking unapproved shortcuts.
Clear verbal and written communication skills for coordinating with field technicians, project managers, and operational teams.
Willingness to work scheduled off-peak maintenance windows (typically midnight to 6:00 AM) and occasional regional travel to site locations as needed.

Responsibilities

Apply baseline configurations, update firmware, and initialize new network elements (routers, switches, firewalls, and optical equipment) across data centers, regional POPs, and subscriber access sites.
Perform link integrity checks, fiber light-level checks (optical power meters/OTDR review), and RFC 2544 / EtherSAM (Y.1564) throughput testing for newly turned-up circuits.
Complete detailed site acceptance forms, update asset management tools (e.g., NetBox, IPAM), and document final physical and logical topologies.
Resolve immediate Level-2 commissioning failures, such as misconfigured optics, duplex/speed mismatches, incorrect VLAN assignments, or broken routing adjacencies.
Direct on-site field technicians through physical cabling checks, serial console connections, transceivers replacements, and patch panel mapping.
Clearly document and escalate complex architectural, multi-vendor software, or upstream carrier issues to Level 3 engineers or vendor TAC teams.