Network Engineer

mcfa•Middle River, MD

13d•$105,000 - $130,000•Hybrid

About The Position

MCFA is partnering with a defense research organization to hire a Network Engineer supporting its research site in Middle River, Maryland. The role designs, implements, and maintains wired and wireless infrastructure, including Wi-Fi, wired LAN, point-to-point and tactical mesh radios, and 5G cellular networks. It also administers Linux-based network services, servers, and robotic platforms in laboratory and field environments and supports researchers integrating networks with autonomous platforms and field experiments. The position is hybrid, with three days per week on-site and additional on-site presence for projects, experimentation, and testing events. Work may occasionally take place outdoors in varying terrain and weather. Travel is required two to three times per year for up to two weeks. The listed salary is $105,000–$130,000, depending on experience, plus bonus.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems, Systems Administration, Network Engineering, or a related technical field.
3–5 years of network engineering and/or systems administration experience.
U.S. citizenship and an active U.S. SECRET clearance, or the ability to obtain one.
DoD 8140-aligned certification, at minimum CompTIA Security+ CE or equivalent; legacy DoD 8570 IAT II is acceptable, or the ability to obtain the certification within three months of starting.
Linux+ or RHCSA certification, or equivalent, or the ability to obtain it within three months of starting.
Hands-on Linux system administration with Ubuntu and/or RHEL, including shell scripting, command-line tools, and troubleshooting.
Solid networking fundamentals, including TCP/IP, routing, switching, VLANs, VPNs, segmentation, traffic analysis, performance monitoring, and common protocols including multicast and broadcast.
Proficiency with troubleshooting tools such as ping, traceroute, SSH, SCP, tcpdump, and Wireshark, and network device command-line interfaces such as Cisco IOS, Juniper JUNOS, or equivalent.
Working understanding of network security standards and practices, including STIGs, CIS benchmarks, firmware management, and patch management.

Nice To Haves

Cisco CCNA certification or Cisco training.
Experience with configuration management and automation tools such as Ansible, Puppet, or Chef.
Experience supporting autonomous vehicles, robotic platforms, or field experimentation environments.
Tactical, mesh radio, or 5G network experience.
Strong communication, presentation, and customer-service skills.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and maintain wired and wireless network infrastructure at the R2C2 site, including Wi-Fi, wired LAN, point-to-point radios, tactical mesh radios, and 5G cellular networks.
Administer Linux-based network services, servers, and robotic platforms in laboratory and field environments using Ubuntu and/or RHEL derivatives.
Gather requirements from researchers, design practical network solutions, and present recommendations to colleagues and leadership.
Work with robotics researchers to integrate networks for autonomous platform operation, communications, telemetry, and field experimentation.
Support high-bandwidth data transfer using command-line tools, live analytics, and modeling systems.
Configure, troubleshoot, and support Cisco, Juniper, Fortinet, or equivalent network equipment.
Implement and maintain network monitoring using SNMP, NetFlow, syslog, and related tools for proactive troubleshooting and performance analysis.
Develop and maintain SOPs, operating policies, user guides, network architecture diagrams, and performance reports.