Network Engineer – NMS and Automation (w/ active Secret)
About The Position
Critical Solutions is seeking a Network Engineer specializing in Network Management Systems (NMS) and automation to support a federal customer. The role administers the Linux-based infrastructure and enterprise NMS platforms used to monitor, manage, and automate multivendor networks. The position is 100% onsite in Norfolk, Virginia; Jacksonville, Florida, and Pearl Harbor are also listed as acceptable work locations. The engineer will provision and maintain RHEL 8 servers across physical, virtual, and air-gapped environments; tune system performance and storage; manage patching and security compliance; and automate operational work with Ansible and scripts. The role also deploys and supports enterprise NMS applications, integrates monitoring platforms with asset and ITSM systems, configures polling and telemetry, and develops alerting that identifies critical faults while reducing alert fatigue. The NMS environment supports fault and performance monitoring, configuration and change control, and traffic analytics and planning. The role requires an active DoD Secret clearance and U.S. citizenship. The selected candidate must undergo the federal agency’s background investigation and fingerprinting and successfully pass the investigation.
Requirements
- Active DoD Secret clearance.
- U.S. citizenship; selected candidate must complete and pass the required federal background investigation and fingerprinting.
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, IT, Network Engineering, or an equivalent technical field.
- Hands-on experience administering RHEL 8 environments.
- Advanced knowledge of systemd, rsyslog, journald, and RHEL troubleshooting utilities such as top, iotop, netstat, and tcpdump.
- Deep knowledge of SNMP v3, Syslog, SSH, ICMP, NetFlow, and TACACS+/RADIUS.
- Proficiency in Ansible and scripting languages such as Python and Bash for infrastructure-as-code configuration.
- Functional understanding of advanced multivendor routing and switching environments, including Cisco, Arista, Brocade, Juniper, and McAfee equipment.
- Functional understanding of enterprise firewalls and access control lists.
- Experience with lifecycle management and administration of diverse network nodes.
- Proficiency in modern scripting languages such as Python, PowerShell, and YAML for network task automation.
- Proficiency in developing, testing, and deploying Ansible playbooks.
- Hands-on experience with network-node configuration management and automated provisioning.
- Ability to design and deploy automated policy-enforcement mechanisms across network infrastructure.
- Expert-level administration, configuration, and end-to-end support of complex NMS platforms, including Cisco Catalyst Center, OpenText Network Automation, OpenText NNMi, and Arista CloudVision.
- Hands-on Red Hat 8 administration, support, and Kubernetes orchestration for modern NMS deployments.
- Advanced problem-solving skills for complex, ambiguous technical situations and root-cause resolution.
- Ability to synthesize complex technical data into concise, high-level summaries for executive decision-making.
- Experience working effectively with distributed, cross-functional teams across the United States.
- Ability to use collaboration tools to bridge geographical gaps and maintain project alignment.
- Reliability and productivity while managing a flexible 40-hour workweek schedule.
Nice To Haves
- RHCSA or RHCE certification is preferred.
Responsibilities
- Provision, configure, and maintain RHEL 8 servers hosting core NMS applications in physical, virtual, and air-gapped environments.
- Tune Linux kernel parameters, memory allocation, and storage subsystems to support high-volume telemetry and configuration data intake without data loss.
- Manage package rollouts and apply security errata and operating system updates using Red Hat Satellite or custom repositories.
- Write and maintain Ansible playbooks and scripts to automate server provisioning, user management, and recurring NMS operational tasks.
- Enforce Linux security policies, access rules, and STIG compliance for the monitoring platform.
- Configure and expand LVM structures for high-write NMS databases and syslog storage needs.
- Deploy, upgrade, and troubleshoot enterprise NMS applications, including OpenText NNMi, OpenText Network Automation, Cisco Catalyst Center, Arista CloudVision, and Aruba AirWave.
- Architect and maintain integrations between NMS engines, CMDB asset databases, and ITSM platforms such as ServiceNow through APIs.
- Configure polling intervals, SNMP MIBs and traps, and NetFlow collectors to build network matrices.
- Develop alerting logic, thresholds, and notification profiles to reduce alert fatigue while surfacing critical outages promptly.
- Support monitoring, configuration and change control, and traffic analytics and planning capabilities.
- Monitor and proactively tune network nodes for performance.
- Analyze complex technical issues and communicate concise technical summaries for executive decision-making.
- Collaborate with distributed cross-functional teams across the United States and use collaboration tools to maintain project alignment.
Benefits
- 100% premium coverage for medical, dental, vision, and life insurance.
- Supplemental insurance.
- 401(k) matching.
- Flexible Time Off (PTO and holidays).
- Higher education and training reimbursement.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
