Network Automation Engineer - TS/SCI clearance - Chantilly, VA

PGTEK•Chantilly, VA

4h•$155,000 - $200,000•Onsite

About The Position

PGTEK is seeking a Network Automation Engineer to support a federal customer in Chantilly, Virginia. The role designs, deploys, automates, maintains, and optimizes enterprise network infrastructure for mission-critical IT workloads. The engineer works onsite five days per week in a secure environment alongside network architects, software engineers, and platform engineering teams to build scalable, reliable, and automated networking solutions. The position combines enterprise networking and software development. Work includes managing switches, routers, firewalls, and network appliances; developing automation with Python, Go, and Ansible; supporting enterprise WAN and SD-WAN environments; and integrating network infrastructure with Linux, software-defined networking, and Kubernetes platforms. The engineer also supports network security, connectivity, performance, lifecycle management, documentation, and operational improvement across geographically distributed sites. An active TS/SCI clearance is required. Candidates must be able to work onsite in Chantilly five days per week and lift and carry up to 50 pounds.

Requirements

Active TS/SCI clearance and ability to maintain access as required by the program.
Ability to work onsite five days per week in Chantilly, Virginia.
Extensive experience designing, deploying, configuring, and troubleshooting large-scale enterprise WAN architectures.
Strong understanding of BGP, OSPF, and EIGRP; experience with MPLS, overlay networks, and geographically distributed enterprise connectivity.
Proficiency with enterprise network topologies, including VLAN, LAN, and WAN environments.
Hands-on experience configuring, maintaining, and troubleshooting enterprise SD-WAN platforms; understanding of centralized policy enforcement, zero-touch provisioning, and dynamic path selection.
Proficiency developing production automation scripts and configuration frameworks using Python and Ansible, and proficiency in either Python or Go.
Practical experience automating network configuration, provisioning, and operational tasks; ability to develop repeatable automation solutions.
Experience working with network REST APIs, NETCONF, and/or RESTCONF; familiarity with JSON, YAML, and XML.
Strong experience implementing secure connectivity across WAN boundaries, including configuring and troubleshooting IPsec site-to-site tunnels and MACsec.
Familiarity with next-generation firewall policies, enterprise security controls, network segmentation, routing policies, QoS, and traffic shaping.
Experience with enterprise networking hardware, including switches, routers, and firewalls.
Understanding of Linux systems and network troubleshooting; familiarity with software-defined networking, network APIs, and enterprise networking tools.
Experience with Kubernetes networking concepts and container network interfaces.
Strong communication and collaboration skills; ability to manage competing priorities and deliver solutions in a fast-paced engineering environment.
Ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds.

Nice To Haves

Experience using Terraform to define and manage network infrastructure state.
Familiarity with Git-based version control and GitOps workflows.
Experience with GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, or similar CI/CD platforms.
Ability to automate network configuration validation, linting, testing, and deployment.
Experience implementing infrastructure automation workflows for continuous network deployment.
Experience with model-driven telemetry technologies, including gRPC and gNMI.
Familiarity with YANG data modeling and network configuration standards.
Experience implementing network monitoring and observability pipelines.
Familiarity with Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/OpenSearch, and ThousandEyes.
Ability to analyze network latency, jitter, packet loss, and performance trends; experience developing proactive monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities.
Experience integrating enterprise SD-WAN with public cloud networking platforms.
Familiarity with AWS Transit Gateway and Direct Connect, and Azure Virtual WAN and ExpressRoute.
Understanding of SASE architectures; familiarity with Zscaler, Palo Alto Prisma Access, or comparable enterprise security platforms.
Experience supporting hybrid cloud connectivity and secure enterprise network integration.
Cisco Certified DevNet Professional, Cisco CCNP Enterprise with a network automation focus, Cisco CCIE, or equivalent advanced networking, infrastructure automation, or network engineering certifications.

Responsibilities

Design, deploy, maintain, and optimize enterprise network infrastructure supporting mission-critical IT workloads.
Support network operations, infrastructure deployments, technology refreshes, scaling, and sustaining engineering.
Configure, manage, and troubleshoot switches, routers, firewalls, network appliances, and network infrastructure from Top-of-Rack switching through the network border.
Collaborate with network architects and engineering teams to implement network designs, products, and infrastructure capabilities.
Support network performance, stability, scalability, and operational reliability; identify improvements to architecture and operational efficiency.
Develop and implement automation to deploy, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot network infrastructure.
Create automation scripts and configuration frameworks using Python, Go, and Ansible; automate configuration changes and network provisioning.
Integrate automation with device APIs, software-defined control planes, and infrastructure management tools, including through RESTful APIs, NETCONF, and RESTCONF.
Maintain network automation standards, configuration policies, operational best practices, and infrastructure lifecycle processes.
Design, deploy, configure, and troubleshoot enterprise WAN architectures across geographically distributed sites.
Support BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, MPLS, overlay networks, enterprise connectivity, and SD-WAN platforms, including Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN/Viptela, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, VMware Velocloud, and Silver Peak.
Support centralized policy enforcement, zero-touch provisioning, dynamic path selection, routing, interconnectivity, and WAN performance and reliability.
Implement secure network connectivity, IPsec site-to-site tunnels, MACsec, firewall policies, network segmentation, QoS policies, and traffic shaping.
Troubleshoot Linux-based networking, enterprise network operating systems and platforms such as SONiC and Cumulus Linux, Open vSwitch, and software-defined control planes.
Support network integration across compute, virtualization, and enterprise platform environments; troubleshoot application connectivity and infrastructure performance.
Support Kubernetes connectivity, container networking, CNI network plugins, and MetalLB Operator deployment and maintenance in bare-metal environments.
Collaborate with platform teams to ensure reliable networking across Kubernetes infrastructure.
Work with architects, software engineers, platform teams, vendors, and customers to understand requirements and implement solutions.
Develop and maintain technical documentation, automation procedures, configuration standards, and operational runbooks.
Maintain compliance with networking standards, security policies, and operational procedures; manage priorities and communicate technical issues and findings to stakeholders.

Benefits

Comprehensive PPO medical coverage with access to a Health Savings Account (HSA) option.
Vision plan.
Dental insurance, with the base dental plan option paid for by PGTEK.
Life insurance premiums covered.
Short- and long-term disability insurance premiums covered.
Critical illness insurance premiums covered.
Matching 401(k) plan.
Discount on pet insurance through ASPCA Pet Insurance.
Employee Assistance Program at no cost to all employees.
PTO and holidays.
Education Assistance Program available after 12 months of employment.
Resources for professional and business certifications.