Lead Network Engineer

Duties and Responsibilities

• Network Engineering & Architecture
  • Establishes and evolves network design direction and engineering approaches for routing, switching, wireless, and connectivity services.
  • Led major network engineering initiatives while remaining directly involved in hands-on design and implementation work.
  • Develops and refines network design patterns that balance current operational realities with forward-looking technical solutions.
  • Applies hands-on engineering experience and awareness of emerging technologies to evolve network design approaches in response to operational needs.
  • Designs and evolves network architectures that support current enterprise and campus operations while enabling future hybrid and cloud connectivity needs.
• Operational Excellence & Lifecycle Management
  • Independently leads hands-on resolution of complex and high-impact network issues affecting service availability.
  • Guides lifecycle strategy, reliability improvements, and continuity planning to ensure consistent connectivity and service resilience across campuses.
  • Leverages automation and AI-enabled operational tools to support monitoring, diagnostics, and routine network administration tasks, improving response time and operational consistency.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Network Enablement
  • Acts as a senior technical partner across IT domains to align network engineering efforts with institutional priorities and emerging needs.
  • Collaborates closely with peers to ensure network solutions support broader enterprise capabilities.
  • Partners across application, security, and infrastructure teams to align network engineering decisions while remaining directly engaged in technical work.
• Perform other duties and assist with projects as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Formal Education: Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Networking, Computer Science, or a related technical field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Work Experience: Ten or more years of progressive experience in network engineering roles supporting enterprise network environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex network engineering initiatives, including design, implementation, modernization, and sustained operational support.
• Experience applying network engineering practices to improve scalability, resiliency, security, and long-term sustainability of network services in large or distributed environments.
• Work Skills: Strong technical leadership skills, excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, clear written and verbal communication skills, ability to balance immediate operational needs with longer-term engineering considerations and design direction, ability to apply emerging technologies ethically and responsibly.
• Specific Job Knowledge: Deep expertise in enterprise network engineering and design, advanced knowledge of network protocols and services, strong understanding of network security design considerations, knowledge of how to evolve network design approaches based on hands-on operational experience, emerging technologies, and changing requirements.
• Equipment Knowledge: Knowledge of enterprise network infrastructure components, network monitoring platforms, and diagnostic and troubleshooting tools commonly used in large-scale environments.
• Other: Provides flexibility to support critical network operations, including participation in off-hours maintenance windows and incident response, to ensure continued availability and reliability of network services.

Preferred Qualifications

• Formal Education: Advanced degree in Information Technology, Networking, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• Relevant professional certifications (e.g., CCNP, JNCIS, or equivalent enterprise networking certifications).
• Experience in environments where networking supports business-critical or institutional operations, rather than customer-premises or residential services.
• Experience working in higher education or similarly complex institutional environments.
• Experience designing or supporting networks spanning multiple buildings, sites, or locations, including core, distribution, and access layer architectures.
• Exposure to hybrid or cloud-connected networking environments.
• Deeper knowledge of cloud and hybrid networking concepts, including how enterprise networks integrate with cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure.
• Understanding of how network architecture must evolve to support future platform adoption, integrations, and service delivery models.