Network Engineer II

About the role

The Network Engineer plays a crucial role in designing, implementing, and managing the bank’s LAN/WAN and voice network infrastructure. This position supports overall IT strategy, provides technical leadership, and ensures regulatory, audit, and security compliance.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, support, and optimize Nicolet’s LAN/WAN and voice network infrastructure, including devices and services from Cisco, Arista, Cato, and other OEMs.
• Plan and coordinate network architecture, configuration standards, and lifecycle activities, including modifications, implementations, and upgrades across all locations and systems.
• Develop and maintain network-related disaster recovery capabilities, including design documentation and routine testing.
• Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot Microsoft Teams Phone, including PSTN connectivity (Direct Routing, Operator Connect, and Calling Plans) and related voice services.
• Design, upgrade, monitor, and validate network and perimeter security controls (e.g., firewalls, URL filtering, anti-malware, email security/spam filtering) to support continuous, uninterrupted processing and compliance with network policy.
• Review and maintain network procedures and policies to ensure regulatory, audit, and security compliance.
• Serve as an internal escalation resource for complex network and voice incidents, performing root-cause analysis and coordinating resolution with stakeholders.
• Maintain professional vendor relationships and evaluate technologies, tools, and services to ensure solutions align with strategic and operational needs.
• Uphold Nicolet’s philosophy and policies by maintaining appropriate controls to ensure full compliance with applicable laws and regulations, thereby fulfilling legal responsibilities and enhancing the quality of services provided by Nicolet.
• Understand and communicate the value of diversity within the workplace and to work successfully with others without regard to age, gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, culture, religion, disability status, socioeconomic status, or other non-job-related classification, including a commitment to Nicolet’s policies on equal employment opportunities and non-discrimination with a willingness to pursue efforts of inclusion and respect toward different perspectives.
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• 5+ years' experience as a Network Engineer required.
• Technical Degree / Bachelor’s Degree in technology or related field.
• Strong understanding of enterprise networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, VLANs, STP, OSPF/BGP, QoS) and network design best practices.
• Hands-on experience with Arista Networks switching, including Arista EOS configuration, operations, and troubleshooting.
• Experience implementing and supporting Cato Networks (SASE/SD-WAN), including site turn-ups, policy management, and connectivity troubleshooting.
• Knowledge of firewall and perimeter security concepts (segmentation, VPNs, NAT, IDS/IPS) and secure network operations.
• Experience with network monitoring/telemetry and troubleshooting tools (e.g., SNMP, syslog, flow data) and incident/root-cause analysis.
• Network automation experience using Ansible and/or PowerShell to standardize configurations, reduce manual effort, and improve repeatability.
• Familiarity with APIs and scripting concepts (e.g., REST/JSON) and source control practices to support infrastructure automation.
• Strong documentation, communication, and cross-team collaboration skills.
• Able to plan, prioritize, and organize work effectively, work effectively under pressure and time deadlines, analyze problems, propose solutions, make logical decisions, carry out decisions made, and follow up with feedback.
• Must be able to work fully in-office.