Network Engineer, Expert

CHS, Inc.•Inver Grove Heights, MN

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

CHS is seeking an expert-level Network Engineer in its Information Technology group to provide advanced technical leadership across the enterprise core network, cloud connectivity, and WAN in a complex, multi-site environment. The position focuses on establishing engineering standards, architecture patterns, and repeatable practices that improve reliability and reduce reliance on individual subject-matter experts. The engineer works with technical leaders and cross-functional IT teams to strengthen engineering practices, prioritization, and decision-making, supporting a secure, scalable, and highly available network. The role is hybrid, with at least three days per week in the corporate office in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Candidates must currently reside in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. The position participates in an on-call rotation approximately once every seven weeks.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology Management, or a related field, or equivalent years of work experience, education, and training.
At least 7 years of enterprise network engineering experience, including ownership of engineering standards, architecture patterns, and process improvement.
Advanced hands-on Cisco routing, switching, core network engineering, and troubleshooting experience.
Advanced enterprise WAN routing and design experience, including BGP, OSPF, and underlay/overlay concepts.
AWS or Azure cloud networking experience.
Working knowledge of network automation using Python, APIs, and Infrastructure as Code, with judgment to distinguish sound production automation from fragile automation.
Must currently reside in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota metro area to work at least three days per week in the Inver Grove Heights corporate office.

Nice To Haves

At least 10 years of enterprise network engineering experience, including ownership of engineering standards, architecture patterns, and process improvement.
Experience leading technical resolution of major incidents.
Demonstrated ability to establish engineering standards and drive cross-team process improvement.
Collaborative, low-ego communication style, with confidence to defend technical positions and curiosity to learn from others.
Ability to negotiate and influence across teams without direct authority.
CCNP Enterprise, legacy CCNP Routing & Switching, or equivalent demonstrated experience.
Hands-on Cisco SD-WAN experience.
Experience with operational technology or industrial networking, including IT/OT segmentation and secure connectivity to plant or facility networks.
Azure networking experience and familiarity with cloud management platforms such as Aviatrix.
Working familiarity with firewall and security architecture sufficient to partner with a dedicated Palo Alto firewall team.
Experience supporting major incidents or high-severity outage response.
Experience with ITIL-aligned service management frameworks and ServiceNow.
Familiarity with SolarWinds Orion or similar network monitoring tools, and network packet capture analysis.

Responsibilities

Serve as a hands-on technical leader who tests, proves, automates, and implements complex network solutions with supporting design documentation.
Use engineering judgment to resolve ambiguity and recommend technical priorities, standards, and tradeoffs.
Help the team and leadership focus on priorities by negotiating scope, sequencing work, and communicating tradeoffs.
Identify systemic operational issues and drive improvements through standards, automation, and process improvements.
Provide informed vendor feedback when product limitations affect enterprise outcomes.
Provide expert engineering and troubleshooting support for Cisco core networking, routing, switching, enterprise WAN, and SD-WAN.
Support AWS and Azure cloud networking, including connectivity patterns and standards.
Apply network automation skills using Python, APIs, and Infrastructure as Code, maintaining high production quality.
Build working depth in Cisco SD-WAN and cross-train and document knowledge for the team.
Partner with security, cloud, and operational technology teams on standards, designs, incidents, and problems.
Participate in an on-call rotation approximately once every seven weeks.
Act as a technical escalation point for high-severity network incidents, providing hands-on troubleshooting, remediation, and validation.
Provide timely, accurate technical updates during active incidents.
Lead post-incident reviews and translate root causes and corrective actions into standards, documentation, and automation.
Develop and champion network engineering standards and architecture patterns, including WAN and core design standards.
Review significant designs and changes for alignment with standards and provide constructive recommendations.
Create and maintain operational documentation, runbooks, and knowledge articles.
Drive repeatable engineering processes that reduce manual work and strengthen institutional knowledge.
Work within ITIL-aligned Incident, Request, Change, and Problem Management processes, using ServiceNow or similar ITSM tools to document work and corrective actions.
Partner with enterprise architecture to align designs with strategic direction.
Raise team capability through standards, architecture patterns, documentation, and operational readiness.
Build trust and communicate constructively with peers, architects, operations teams, IT leadership, and technologists.
Promote and uphold a strong safety culture and follow safety policies.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Wellness programs
Life insurance
Health and dependent care spending accounts
Paid time off
401(k)
Pension
Profit sharing
Short- and long-term disability
Tuition reimbursement
Adoption assistance
Depending on the position, compensation may include bonuses, incentives, or commissions.