Network Operations Lead

American Systems•Ashburn, VA

About The Position

AMERICAN SYSTEMS is an employee-owned federal government contractor supporting national priority programs in Information Technology, Test & Evaluation, Program Mission Support, Engineering & Analysis, and Training. The company is seeking a senior Network Operations Lead to direct network infrastructure monitoring, operations, maintenance, and operational support in a large, mission-critical enterprise environment. The Network Operations Lead will plan, organize, and direct the Network Operations Team; ensure stable and secure network performance; set monitoring and maintenance priorities; and coordinate timely responses to hardware, software, network, event, incident, and problem conditions. The role supports a 24x7x365 Network Operations Center serving a complex enterprise network that includes LAN, MAN, WAN, WLAN, Internet, intranet, network security, telecommunications, load balancing, wireless, cloud, and related infrastructure.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant technical field or equivalent practical experience.
Ten or more years of senior-level experience administering enterprise infrastructures in large organizations.
Ten or more years of experience leading network operations or network engineering teams.
Working knowledge of networking concepts, infrastructure, and equipment, including routers, switches, firewalls, and load balancers.
Experience implementing and administering enterprise-wide monitoring systems for servers, network devices, applications, and operational events.
Demonstrated ability to lead monitoring, event management, incident response, problem management, network maintenance, and operational reporting.
Ability to analyze network performance and operational data and convert findings into corrective actions and recommendations.
Ability to work effectively in a 24x7x365 operations environment and support additional hours or surge activities when required.
Ability to obtain and maintain required Government facility access, suitability, background investigation, and identification credentials.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to brief Government supervisors and senior stakeholders.
Ability to obtain a Public Trust security clearance.
CCNP, CCDP, or CCIE certification, or routing and switching and/or firewall expertise with six years of experience.

Nice To Haves

Secret or Top Secret security clearance.
ITIL certification.
Other relevant network, security, monitoring, or service-management credentials.

Responsibilities

Plan, organize, direct, and prioritize Network Management Operations Team activities to ensure reliable, secure, and continuous operation of enterprise network infrastructure.
Oversee real-time monitoring of network infrastructure and service-affecting events; analyze trends, capacity, availability, utilization, latency, errors, dropped packets, and other indicators to identify current or potential issues.
Ensure event-generation rules, filtering, correlation, categorization, review, response, closure, and reporting processes are documented, maintained, tested, and aligned with approved procedures.
Direct monitoring and response to network incidents and problems, coordinating escalation, restoration, diagnosis, workarounds, corrective actions, closure, and lessons learned in accordance with established processes and SLAs.
Coordinate routine testing, analysis, maintenance, scheduling, and operational support for network-performance management tools, real-time reporting engines, and related Government-furnished equipment.
Provide leadership across routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, wireless infrastructure, network security, telecommunications, servers, applications, and other enterprise network components.
Ensure monitoring and operations personnel are trained in required tools, processes, procedures, and reporting practices, and verify adherence to agency SOPs and operational controls.
Prepare and deliver daily, weekly, and monthly operational status reports covering network events, outages, anomalies, ticket metrics, bandwidth trends, risks, issues, actions, and recommendations.
Support Government end users, operations personnel, program managers, and technical stakeholders; participate in operational meetings, briefings, reviews, and escalation activities.
Recommend enhancements to monitoring tools, event rules, documentation, processes, procedures, reporting, and operational capabilities to improve network reliability, efficiency, and mission support.
Coordinate with technical and change-management teams on approved changes, maintenance windows, technology refreshes, configuration updates, testing, implementation, and lifecycle planning.