RHEL Network Management Systems (NMS) Engineer

Location: Norfolk, VA | Full‑time, On‑site | Clearance: Secret | Salary Range: $85,000 – $110,000 per year

Role Summary

The Network Management Systems (NMS) Engineer is responsible for the design, deployment, administration, and support of an enterprise network management infrastructure. This role blends Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 back‑end operations with comprehensive application‑level management of NMS tool suites, ensuring high availability, optimization, and security compliance while performing critical network monitoring, fault detection, and performance management utilities.

Key Responsibilities

• RHEL 8 Back‑End Operations & System Administration
  • Provision, configure, and maintain RHEL 8 servers hosting core NMS applications across physical, virtual, and air‑gapped environments.
  • Optimize Linux kernel parameters, memory allocation, and storage subsystems to handle massive telemetry and configuration data intake (SNMP, NetFlow, Syslog, SSH, SCP) without data loss.
  • Leverage Red Hat Satellite or custom repositories to manage package rollouts, applying routine security errata and OS updates.
  • Write and maintain Ansible playbooks and other scripts to automate server provisioning, user management, and repetitive operational tasks related to NMS tool objects.
  • Enforce security Linux policies, access rules, and STIG compliance to ensure the monitoring platform resists compromise.
  • Configure and expand LVM structures to manage high‑write NMS databases and syslog partition scaling.
• NMS Application & Tool Support
  • Deploy, upgrade, and troubleshoot enterprise‑grade NMS applications (Open Text NNMi, Open Text Network Automation, Cisco Catalyst Center, Arista Cloud Vision, Aruba Airwave, etc.).
  • Architect and maintain integrations between NMS engines, CMDB asset databases, and ITSM platforms like ServiceNow via APIs.
  • Configure polling intervals, customize SNMP MIBs and traps, and set up NetFlow collectors to build clear network matrices.
  • Construct alerting logic, thresholds, and notification profiles to minimize alert fatigue while ensuring critical outages surface instantly.

Required Qualifications & Technical Competencies

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in computer science, IT, Network Engineering, or an equivalent technical field.
• Experience: 3–5+ years of dedicated experience managing enterprise networks and network management platforms.
• OS Specialization: Hands‑on experience administering RHEL 8 environments (RHCSA or RHCE certifications preferred).
• Core Linux Skills: Advanced knowledge of systemd, system logging (rsyslog, journald), and native RHEL troubleshooting utilities (top, iotop, netstat, tcpdump).
• Protocols: Deep knowledge of networking protocols including SNMP (v3), Syslog, SSH, ICMP, NetFlow, and TACACS+/RADIUS.
• Automation: Proficiency in Ansible and scripting languages (Python, Bash) to implement infrastructure‑as‑code.

Pay

Salary range: $85,000 – $110,000 per year. Compensation is based upon responsibilities, education, experience, knowledge, skills, certifications, and other factors.

Benefits

• 100% premium coverage for Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance
• Supplemental Insurance
• 401(k) matching
• Flexible Time Off (PTO/Holidays)
• Higher Education/Training Reimbursement
• Additional benefits as offered by Critical Solutions