Network Engineer

Montclair State University•Montclair, NJ

About The Position

Reporting to the Director of Networking and Telecommunications, the Network Engineer installs, configures, maintains, and upgrades campus wired and wireless network infrastructure equipment and related security services. The role also performs analytical, technical, and administrative work in planning, designing, and implementing network-based services and tools, and implements programs and functions related to enterprise security and network operations. The Network Engineer audits and analyzes network performance and stability, recommends hardware and software upgrades, and works with Information Security to develop and enforce network-related security policies, access control lists, and threat mitigation measures that support the security, availability, and performance of network services.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related discipline; relevant IT certifications or equivalent experience supported by completed industry-recognized networking certifications (CCNA preferred) and/or fiber-optic technology certifications may be considered instead.
Minimum four years of professional experience in network administration, engineering, and support.
Experience in cleaning fiber-optic technologies, including SM/MM experience.
Working knowledge of Cisco ISE, Cisco Catalyst Center, Cisco StackWise Architecture, Cisco Prime, Infoblox (IPAM/DNS), NGFW, ASA, and Firepower.
Extensive knowledge of network protocols, products, and services, including Ethernet, 802.1Q, 802.1X, TCP/IP, UDP, DNS, BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, PBR, VRF, VLAN, STP, SVI, LACP, EtherChannel, DHCP, VTP, HSRP, VRRP, SNMP, Netflow, IPSec, EAP, TLS, QoS, Wireshark, OTDR, UPoE, PoE+, PoE++, Etherscope, LinkSprinter, Syslog, multicast, and unicast.
Strong working knowledge of fiber-optic design and operations, including multimode (OM3/OM4/OM5) and single-mode (OS1/OS2) fiber, optical budgets, attenuation calculations, splice and patch management, polarity, MPO/MTP high-capacity trunks, and 10G/25G/40G/100G+ uplink optics.
Ability to evaluate strand availability, pathway diversity, and high-availability routing in campus environments.
Working knowledge of radio frequencies and wireless technologies, including wireless surveying tools, Ekahau, spectrum analyzers, NetAlly AirCheck, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz, RF tuning and optimization, RADIUS, WPA2/WPA3, CAPWAP, and HA SSO.
Working knowledge of data communications hardware and software, including Cisco Catalyst 96xx, 95xx, 93xx, and 92xx; IOS-XE 17.x; 3850; routing hardware; FirePower; and IDS/IPS services.
Knowledge of NIST, Internet, and local-area-network security practices and procedures.
Working knowledge of middleware or scripting languages such as Python, Ruby, bash, C, Perl, PHP, and/or AppleScript.
Proven ability to implement industry best practices for deployment, operation, and security of enterprise data communications systems in a production environment.
Proven ability to establish productive partnerships and align cross-departmental initiatives that influence or depend on the unit’s services.
Ability to lift, rack, mount, and cable network equipment, including switches and related hardware, and safely operate standard and power installation tools.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting and securing enterprise operating systems, including Red Hat Linux, Windows, and macOS, and understanding common vulnerabilities and secure configuration practices.
Experience with production systems and network auditing and scanning tools such as Nmap, Tripwire, and Nessus.
Working knowledge of StatSeeker, NetDisco, CheckMK, Splunk, Scrutinizer, and other monitoring tools.
Working knowledge of data encryption technologies and secure communication protocols.
Understanding of the higher education environment and the institution’s operational needs.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear, concise, and detailed documentation and correspondence.
Ability to professionally represent the university at conferences and seminars.

Responsibilities

Design, install, and configure wired and wireless network services, Internet connectivity, Network Access Control, and related services.
Work collaboratively with the campus community and departments within the Information Technology division.
Identify network security threats and proactively minimize their impact, including through firewall rule changes, packet shaping, packet analysis, and client-side mitigation.
Manage device registration systems for access to campus network resources and monitoring systems to identify potentially malicious internal and external network activity.
Serve as a subject matter expert on network and security threat detection tools and services.
Design methods and metrics for measuring wireless performance, analyze results, and propose solutions to improve performance.
Develop programs and command procedures to improve the functionality and manageability of supported systems.
Maintain accurate system change logs covering device patch levels and network security policy changes.
Evaluate program goals, operations, and performance, and develop and implement alternative procedures to improve performance and meet objectives.
Identify and follow open systems standards where applicable.
Perform pre- and post-installation wireless site surveys to identify and correct performance inefficiencies.
Maintain system and network logs to help identify potential security threats or attacks and probes; serve as a subject matter expert for the threat and vulnerability platform and metrics reporting.
Consult with the Director of Networking and Telecommunications on unusual problems and policy matters.
Maintain integrity and appropriate confidentiality in institutional and program operations.
Contribute to studies and reports with findings and recommendations for implementing network performance monitoring, security, and application software to meet user needs.
Establish and maintain effective communication and cooperative working relationships with university administrators, faculty, staff, government, and private agencies.
Communicate operational, procedural, and policy information to the user community.
Evaluate and recommend hardware and software to meet current and future needs on supported campus platforms.
Represent the university at conferences, seminars, or meetings and serve on committees as required.
Participate in operational support to ensure uninterrupted service delivery and timely resolution of incidents affecting core infrastructure.
Perform other duties as assigned; management may add or change duties.