Network Automation Engineer – Configuration Management (w/ active Secret)

Critical Solutions•Norfolk, VA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Critical Solutions is hiring a Network Automation Engineer focused on configuration management to ensure the stability, consistency, and compliance of enterprise network infrastructure. The role manages the lifecycle of configurations across routers, switches, firewalls, and load balancers, using network management systems and infrastructure-as-code automation to reduce manual errors and configuration drift. The engineer establishes and maintains configuration baselines, detects drift, manages backups and rollback procedures, and enforces compliance through automated remediation. The role also administers and optimizes network management systems, synchronizes them with source-of-truth systems, configures alerts, and produces compliance reports. The position develops network automation and CI/CD workflows, maintains infrastructure-code repositories and reviews, validates changes before deployment, and provides Tier-3 support for complex network issues. It also reviews high-impact changes and coordinates large-scale patching campaigns. The job is full-time and onsite in Norfolk, Virginia, and requires an active DoD Secret clearance and U.S. citizenship. Candidates must also undergo the specified federal background investigation and fingerprinting and pass the investigation.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline.
Experience or proficiency with network automation tools and languages, including Ansible, Terraform, Python, and Jinja2 or other template modeling.
Experience or proficiency with NMS and related tools, including Cisco Catalyst Center, OpenText Network Automation, Nautobot, Infoblox IPAM, and Wireshark.
Experience or proficiency with DevOps workflows and tools, including Git, GitLab CI/CD, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and Docker.
Solid understanding of BGP, OSPF, VLANs, VRFs, ACLs, and SSH/SNMP protocols.
Fluency with Cisco IOS/IOS-XE/XR, Juniper JunOS, and Arista EOS.
Active DoD Secret clearance.
U.S. citizenship.
Must undergo and successfully pass the federal agency background investigation and fingerprinting process.
Data-driven analytical skills, including the ability to investigate anomalies in large configuration text files.
Detail-oriented planning skills and ability to coordinate large-scale automated deployments across global time zones.

Responsibilities

Establish official configuration baselines for production network node types across the global footprint.
Perform drift detection by auditing real-time configurations against approved standards.
Manage configuration backups and rollback procedures for disaster recovery.
Enforce compliance standards through automated remediation of non-compliant network nodes.
Administer and optimize NMS platforms, including Cisco Catalyst Center, OpenText NNMi, and OpenText Network Automation, for inventory discovery and configuration storage.
Integrate Nautobot with the NMS to synchronize network topology and IPAM data.
Configure NMS alert thresholds to identify unauthorized manual configuration changes.
Generate compliance reports for leadership and audit teams covering network patch levels and vulnerabilities.
Write automation playbooks using Ansible, Terraform, Python, and related tools to deploy network changes safely.
Maintain Git repositories for network infrastructure code, including pull requests and peer configuration reviews.
Build CI/CD pipelines to validate, lint, and dry-run network changes before deployment.
Develop automated workflows to check network health before and after change windows.
Review high-impact modifications for alignment with standard architecture templates.
Provide Tier-3 troubleshooting for complex network outages caused by configuration discrepancies or failed software upgrades.
Coordinate mass patching campaigns to address vendor software vulnerabilities across network nodes.