active Secret)

Critical Solutions•Norfolk, VA

2d•$112,000 - $144,000•Onsite

About The Position

Critical Solutions is seeking a VPN/Firewall Network Engineer to support a federal customer as part of its Transport Operations team. The role provides VPN, DMZ, and firewall network engineering expertise for a large agency intranet, including the modification, operation, integration, maintenance, security, and implementation of services for the as-fielded network. The engineer designs, implements, and maintains network security solutions; configures Juniper firewalls; manages DMZ environments; engineers secure firewall and VPN solutions; and administers Cisco network appliances. The engineer works with cross-functional engineering and project management teams and collaborates with the Network Operations Center, Network Administrators, and Network Engineering Team. The role supports incident response, change and problem management, operations and maintenance, ITSM, and DevSecOps initiatives, while contributing to network security, service improvement, system performance, automation, and operational integrity. The position is onsite in Norfolk, Virginia, with other acceptable work locations listed as Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; San Diego, California; Washington, DC; or Pensacola, Florida. The schedule is 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with weekend on-call duties as needed.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship and an active DoD Secret security clearance.
Bachelor of Science degree with relevant prior experience; work experience may be substituted for the degree at the hiring manager's discretion.
An active DoD 8570.01 IAT Level III certification, such as CCNP Security, CISSP, or CASP+.
An active associate-level network vendor certification from Cisco, Juniper, Palo Alto, or F5 Networks.
Ability to work or be called in during off-hours to meet customer mission support requirements.
Extensive experience engineering and troubleshooting networks, including routing, switching, MPLS, VPNs, routing protocols such as BGP, OSPF, and IS-IS, switching protocols such as Spanning Tree Protocol, VLANs, LLDP, and VoIP, multicast protocols, and emerging network technologies.
Strong understanding and in-depth knowledge of IP network and subnet addressing.
Extensive knowledge of defense-in-depth principles, network architecture, modern network topologies, network appliance integrity, and common networking security elements.
Experience with Ansible, Python, and infrastructure-as-code network automation.

Responsibilities

Provide VPN, DMZ, and firewall network engineering subject matter expertise for agency current operations.
Modify, operate, integrate, maintain, secure, and implement services for the as-fielded agency network.
Collaborate with the Network Operations Center, Network Administrators, and Network Engineering Team to define and continuously improve network security appliances, including DMZ, VPN, and firewalls.
Test and validate automation and identify opportunities to insert best practices.
Lead development of network standard operating procedures (SOPs) and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).
Contribute to continuous service improvements and system performance tuning and enhancements.
Create and maintain Engineering Implementation Plans (EIPs).
Plan and execute network upgrades and maintenance activities with the Operations Manager, NOC Lead, Release Management team, and other stakeholders.
Provide Tier III escalation support and engage vendors for Incident Management activities.
Participate in root cause analysis for Problem Management activities.
Provide Tier III operational support to NOC watch staff as a network subject matter expert.
Perform highly technical maintenance and configuration of firewalls, VPNs, and DMZ appliances.
Participate in the Transport Operations team's on-call rotation and support off-hours customer mission requirements.