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

PGTEK•Chantilly, VA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

PGTEK is seeking an experienced 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 with network architects, software engineers, platform teams, vendors, and customers to develop reliable, scalable, secure, and repeatable networking solutions. The position combines enterprise networking and WAN engineering with software development and automation. Work includes configuring and troubleshooting switches, routers, firewalls, network appliances, SD-WAN platforms, Linux and software-defined networking environments, and Kubernetes connectivity. The engineer develops automation using Python, Go, and Ansible; supports network provisioning and lifecycle management; and improves deployment consistency, performance, stability, and operational efficiency. This is an onsite position supporting a secure, mission-critical federal environment in Chantilly, VA, five days per week. An active TS/SCI clearance is required. Candidates must be able to lift and carry up to 50 pounds.

Requirements

Extensive experience designing, deploying, configuring, and troubleshooting large-scale enterprise WAN architectures.
Strong understanding of BGP, OSPF, and EIGRP.
Experience with MPLS, overlay networks, geographically distributed enterprise connectivity, and VLAN, LAN, and WAN topologies.
Experience troubleshooting network routing, interconnectivity, performance, and configuration issues.
Hands-on experience configuring, maintaining, and troubleshooting enterprise SD-WAN platforms; examples include Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN/Viptela, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, VMware Velocloud, and Silver Peak.
Understanding of centralized policy enforcement, zero-touch provisioning, and dynamic path selection.
Proficiency developing network 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.
Experience with network REST APIs, NETCONF, and/or RESTCONF; familiarity with JSON, YAML, and XML.
Ability to develop repeatable automation solutions that improve deployment consistency and operational efficiency.
Strong experience implementing secure network connectivity across WAN boundaries; experience configuring and troubleshooting IPsec site-to-site tunnels and MACsec.
Familiarity with next-generation firewall policies, enterprise network security controls, secure segmentation, routing policies, and enterprise connectivity requirements.
Experience implementing QoS traffic shaping and prioritization for latency-sensitive applications.
Experience with enterprise networking hardware such as switches, routers, and firewalls; familiarity with software-defined networking, network APIs, and enterprise networking tools.
Understanding of Linux systems and network troubleshooting.
Experience with Kubernetes networking concepts and container network interfaces.
Strong communication and collaboration skills, and ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced engineering environment.
Active TS/SCI clearance and ability to maintain access as required by the program.
Ability to work onsite five days per week in Chantilly, VA.
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 that support 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 environments with public cloud networking platforms.
Familiarity with AWS Transit Gateway and Direct Connect, Azure Virtual WAN and ExpressRoute, and 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 activities.
Configure, manage, and troubleshoot switches, routers, firewalls, network appliances, and connectivity from Top-of-Rack switching through the network border.
Collaborate with architects and engineering teams to implement network designs, products, and infrastructure capabilities.
Develop and implement automation to deploy, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot network infrastructure.
Create production-quality automation scripts and configuration frameworks using Python, Go, and Ansible.
Automate network configuration changes and develop repeatable processes that improve consistency and reduce manual effort and operational risk.
Integrate automation with device APIs, software-defined control planes, and infrastructure management tools, including use of RESTful APIs, NETCONF, and RESTCONF.
Maintain network automation standards, configuration policies, and operational best practices; support provisioning, validation, and infrastructure lifecycle management.
Design, deploy, configure, and troubleshoot large-scale enterprise WAN architectures across geographically distributed sites.
Support BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, MPLS, overlay networks, and enterprise network connectivity.
Configure and manage 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, and troubleshooting across WAN infrastructure.
Implement secure connectivity using IPsec site-to-site tunnels, MACsec, firewall policies, network segmentation, and other appropriate transport and security technologies.
Implement and maintain QoS policies and traffic shaping for application performance requirements.
Troubleshoot network infrastructure involving Linux systems, networking applications, software-defined control planes, SONiC, Cumulus Linux, and Open vSwitch.
Support network integration across compute, virtualization, and enterprise platform environments; assist with deployment and sustainment of networking software and tools.
Support Kubernetes networking, container connectivity, CNI network plugins, and the MetalLB Operator for load balancing in bare-metal Kubernetes environments.
Collaborate with platform engineering teams to ensure reliable networking across Kubernetes infrastructure.
Develop and maintain technical documentation, automation procedures, configuration standards, and operational runbooks.
Identify improvements to network architecture, deployment processes, automation frameworks, infrastructure management, and reliability.
Maintain compliance with networking standards, security policies, and operational procedures; communicate technical issues, plans, and findings clearly to stakeholders.
Manage multiple priorities while meeting technical requirements and deployment deadlines.

Benefits

Comprehensive PPO medical coverage with access to a Health Savings Account (HSA) option.
Vision plan.
Dental insurance; the base dental plan option is 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 employees.
Generous PTO and holidays.
Education Assistance Program available after 12 months of employment.
Resources to complete professional and business certifications.