Principal Network Engineer

Arctiq is a global, intelligence-driven technology services company delivering professional and managed services across Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure, Networking & Connected Experiences, Cybersecurity, Data & AI, Autonomous Operations & Intelligence, and Enterprise Service Management. We help organizations operate, secure, and modernize complex environments by unifying infrastructure, networking, data, security, automation, and observability under a single, integrated operating model. This is a contract-to-hire opportunity with one of Arctiq's clients, requiring onsite presence in their Charlotte, NC office 5 days/week.

About the Role

This role serves as the senior-most technical authority for enterprise networking, network security, connectivity, and perimeter infrastructure across the organization. You will be responsible for the architecture, engineering, implementation, and lifecycle management of highly available, secure, and scalable network solutions supporting branch locations, data centers, cloud services, contact centers, and digital banking platforms. The position requires deep expertise in Fortinet and Palo Alto technologies and provides strategic and technical leadership for the client's network infrastructure.

The candidate will partner closely with Information Security, Infrastructure Engineering, Application Support, Cloud Operations, and business stakeholders to ensure network performance, operational resiliency, regulatory compliance, and cybersecurity protection. This role also acts as a technical mentor and escalation point for network engineers and operational support teams while driving modernization initiatives aligned with business objectives and regulatory expectations.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain enterprise-class network architectures supporting branch, campus, data center, cloud, and remote workforce connectivity
• Develop strategic network roadmaps aligned with organizational growth, digital transformation, and cybersecurity initiatives
• Architect highly available and redundant routing, switching, wireless, SD-WAN, VPN, and perimeter security solutions
• Lead technology evaluations, proof-of-concepts, and infrastructure modernization efforts
• Develop network standards, reference architectures, engineering guidelines, and operational procedures
• Serve as the subject matter expert for Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet security platforms, designing and managing next-generation firewall architectures
• Implement and maintain Zero Trust network principles and design network segmentation strategies supporting PCI-DSS, FFIEC, NCUA, and NIST frameworks
• Support security assessments, audits, penetration testing, and vulnerability remediation activities
• Design and support secure connectivity solutions for Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, SaaS platforms, and third-party financial service providers
• Architect VPN, ExpressRoute, SD-WAN, and secure cloud interconnect solutions, ensuring optimized performance and security across hybrid environments
• Function as the highest-level escalation point for network-related incidents and complex problem resolution
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action planning for major incidents
• Establish performance baselines and proactive monitoring strategies to ensure network capacity planning, uptime, resiliency, and availability targets
• Participate in disaster recovery and business continuity planning, testing, and validation activities
• Ensure network infrastructure complies with NCUA, FFIEC, GLBA, PCI-DSS, NIST, and CIS Control requirements
• Support internal and external audits and maintain documentation required for regulatory examinations
• Identify and mitigate infrastructure risks through proactive engineering and governance practices
• Mentor network engineers and infrastructure team members, establishing engineering standards and providing technical governance
• Participate in strategic planning and technology budgeting efforts
• Lead major infrastructure projects and vendor engagements
• Collaborate with Information Security leadership on enterprise cybersecurity initiatives

Requirements

• 10+ years of progressive enterprise network engineering experience
• 5+ years designing and supporting large-scale Cisco, Fortinet, or Palo Alto environments
• Advanced knowledge of enterprise routing and switching, including BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, VLANs, VRFs, QoS, and Multicast
• Deep expertise in Palo Alto technologies including NGFW, Panorama, GlobalProtect, WildFire, Threat Prevention, DNS Security, and SD-WAN
• Deep expertise in Fortinet technologies including FortiGate, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, FortiWeb, FortiSwitch, FortiAP, and FortiAuthenticator
• Strong background in network security including microsegmentation, NAC, IDS/IPS, ZTNA, SSL inspection, and MFA integration
• Experience with cloud networking including Microsoft Azure, ExpressRoute, hybrid cloud connectivity, and Microsoft 365 networking
• Experience with enterprise wireless technologies, wireless security, and guest access design
• Experience supporting highly regulated financial services organizations preferred
• Experience supporting multiple branch locations and geographically distributed networks
• Experience designing highly available and fault-tolerant network architectures
• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or equivalent combination of education and experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Cisco Nexus and Catalyst platforms
• Experience with F5 load balancers
• Experience with DNS/DHCP/IPAM, SIEM integrations, SASE architectures, and automation/Infrastructure-as-Code