Mission Network Engineer

Metrea•Annapolis Junction, WA

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

Metrea delivers effects-as-a-service to national security partners across five domains and more than a dozen mission areas. These include airborne ISR, electronic warfare, secure communications, aerial refuelling, special air missions, aerial firefighting, and advanced simulation. We own the whole stack: designing, building, and operating turnkey capabilities that give our partners decisive, asymmetric advantage against rapidly evolving threats. Our operating model is built around three interlocking pillars. The Support Groups provide a global shared-service – spanning people, finance, platform, operations, legal, and engagement. This frees up our Core Groups, who develop and own mission capabilities end-to-end, to focus entirely on delivery. The Market Groups apply a regional lens, ensuring that our agile and adaptable capabilities remain aligned to the wicked problems that matter most to our partners across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific. At the heart of our model is a simple but powerful idea: be a true partner with skin in the game. Our partners need effects, not just equipment. By owning the full stack – from the lab to the field – we are able to drive a continuous cycle of innovation that keeps our partners ahead. It's a fast-moving, intellectually demanding environment where talented people are given real responsibility, work on problems that matter, and contribute to an enterprise that is growing quickly and deliberately. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with facilities across the United States, the United Kingdom, as well as Continental Europe and Asia-Pacific. The Electromagnetic and Cyber Group (EM&C) is responsible for developing flexible and survivable advanced electronic warfare and secure communications equipment while providing the industry’s leading signals intelligence, electronic warfare, and cyber experts. Metrea specializes in signal classification, direction finding, advanced geolocation techniques, and waveform development including waveforms for MANET and LPI/LPD applications. Metrea also develops special purpose radios for government customers and licenses DF and geolocation solutions to multiple OEMs. The Mission Network Engineer is responsible for maintaining, securing, and evolving complex network environments that support enterprise information systems, remote ISR systems, research and development activities, and mission-specific operations. These environments include physical and virtual infrastructure, Linux-based systems, multiple network paths, secure remote access, overlay networks, layered security controls, and unique communications architectures. This role requires more than traditional enterprise network administration. The ideal candidate has a broad technical foundation across networking, Linux, virtualization, secure communications, systems integration, and special or non-standard communications TTPs. The Mission Network Engineer will support secure connectivity, segmentation, traffic protection, low-signature communications, obfuscation, anonymity, and resiliency techniques in accordance with authorized requirements, applicable policy, export control requirements, access management procedures, and operational security standards.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Network Engineering, Communications Systems, or related discipline. Relevant military, government, or industry experience may be considered in lieu of degree
Minimum 7 years of experience designing, administering, securing, and troubleshooting complex network environments in secure, classified, mission-critical, operational, or highly technical settings
Broad hands-on knowledge across networking, Linux, virtualization, secure communications, systems integration, and operational infrastructure
Strong experience with TCP/IP, routing, switching, VLANs, subnetting, DNS, DHCP, NAT, firewalls, VPNs, wireless networking, secure remote access, Linux networking, and command-line troubleshooting
Experience designing and supporting physical, virtual, cloud, hybrid, distributed, Linux-based, or mission-specific network architectures
Experience with network, firewall, VPN, and routing technologies such as Cisco, Juniper, Palo Alto, Fortinet, Aruba, Ubiquiti, MikroTik, pfSense, OPNsense, WireGuard, NetBird, Tailscale, OpenVPN, IPsec, or equivalent tools
Experience with secure tunneling, overlay networks, mesh VPNs, redundant connectivity, failover, virtual appliances, and resilient communications architectures
Experience supporting remote systems, distributed infrastructure, fielded technical systems, ISR systems, tactical networks, expeditionary networks, or other non-standard communications environments preferred
Understanding of OPSEC-informed network design, traffic protection, infrastructure concealment, anonymity, obfuscation, low-signature communications, and secure communications techniques
Experience with network monitoring, packet capture, logging, SIEM, IDS/IPS, vulnerability remediation, scripting, automation, technical documentation, and compliance frameworks such as NIST 800-171, DFARS 252.204-7012, CMMC, or RMF
Strong communication skills and ability to work independently in ambiguous environments while developing practical solutions for unique operational requirements
Must be a U.S. citizen with the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.
Experience supporting U.S. Government, DoD, military, intelligence, SOF, ISR, EW, cyber, or other national security environments
Experience supporting classified, compartmented, protected, or controlled network environments such as SIPR, JWICS, SAP, SCI, or equivalent environments
Previous military, defense, government, or operational experience involving secure communications, mission networks, tactical networking, remote ISR systems, or non-standard communications architectures
Experience developing or supporting incident response playbooks, internal security audits, vulnerability management activities, inspections, or accreditation efforts

Nice To Haves

Previous military, defense, government, or operational experience involving secure communications, mission networks, tactical networking, remote ISR systems, or non-standard communications architectures
Experience with SOF, JSOC, Special Operations, intelligence, U.S. National Laboratories, protected research environments, restricted engineering environments, or similar security-sensitive technical organizations preferred
Familiarity with zero-trust architecture, cross-domain solutions, network segmentation, secure transport, tunneling, overlay networks, mesh VPNs, traffic shaping, network obfuscation, anonymity, and low-signature infrastructure concepts
Experience supporting networks with unique OPSEC, access control, attribution-management, export control, or infrastructure protection requirements
Completion of relevant operational network and secure communications training preferred, including operational infrastructure, remote bridging, network analysis, Linux for operators, digital signature reduction, tunneling, secure transport, and operational network infrastructure
Certifications such as CCNA, CCNP, CompTIA Network+, Security+, CySA+, CISSP, Palo Alto, Fortinet, Juniper, Linux+, cloud networking, or equivalent certifications in networking, security, cloud, or infrastructure engineering
Active Secret, Top Secret, or TS/SCI clearance preferred

Responsibilities

Design, build, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot complex commercial, classified, controlled, and mission-specific network environments
Support network infrastructure for enterprise information systems, remote ISR systems, and distributed operational environments
Configure and manage routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs, secure remote access, wireless networking, virtual networking, Linux networking, and network security appliances
Implement secure tunneling, remote access, mesh VPN, site-to-site VPN, overlay networking, and resilient communications solutions using technologies such as WireGuard, NetBird, Tailscale, OpenVPN, IPsec, or equivalent tools
Develop and maintain secure network architectures that support segmentation, access control, traffic protection, low-signature communications, obfuscation, monitoring, and operational security requirements
Troubleshoot complex connectivity and performance issues across physical networks, virtual networks, Linux systems, VPNs, cloud services, endpoints, servers, security tools, ISR systems, and mission applications
Monitor network performance, analyze traffic, conduct packet capture, and provide recommendations for reliability, capacity, security, and quality of service
Plan and execute network upgrades, expansion, lifecycle management, configuration changes, and technical improvements to support evolving mission and enterprise requirements
Evaluate, test, and integrate new network technologies, communications tools, open-source platforms, appliances, and services
Support network security, compliance, and incident response activities, including firewall policy management, segmentation, logging, IDS/IPS integration, vulnerability remediation, documentation, and audit support
Create and maintain network diagrams, technical documentation, configuration baselines, standard operating procedures, implementation guides, records, and reports
Coordinate with systems administrators, cybersecurity teams, vendors, cross-functional technical teams, and mission stakeholders to resolve issues and support project delivery
Provide technical guidance to less-experienced staff as needed.