Senior Network Engineer

The University of Pennsylvania, a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation, is the largest private employer in Philadelphia. Consistently ranked among the top 10 universities, Penn offers a unique working environment with 12 highly-regarded schools and a distinctive interdisciplinary approach. The university provides a competitive benefits package, including excellent healthcare, tuition benefits, generous retirement plans, professional development opportunities, and a wide range of health and wellness programs.

About the Role

The Senior Network Engineer plans, designs, installs, and manages a complex, multi-vendor, dual-stack enterprise network. This role works with internal teams, Internet service providers, and external partners to define technical requirements for network infrastructure, resolves complex networking issues, and provides high-level support to IT staff. The position requires a regular on-campus presence and participation in an on-call rotation, with the ability to respond to incidents within one hour. The engineer leverages network management tools, evaluates new technologies, and may supervise staff or lead major network projects.

Responsibilities

• Maintain performance and capacity of a large-scale, multi-vendor network by monitoring, troubleshooting, and resolving problems as they occur.
• Design, implement, and support enterprise routing and switching solutions using Cisco Catalyst and Nexus platforms and Juniper routing and switching devices in campus, data center, and WAN environments.
• Define standards, methods, and best practices for network routing, switching, automation, and monitoring across a heterogeneous infrastructure.
• Engineer and support dual-stack (IPv4 and IPv6) routing using dynamic routing protocols such as BGP, OSPF, and IS-IS, including policy design and integration with external peers and service providers.
• Plan, implement, and maintain network overlays and related technologies (e.g., MPLS, VXLAN, and similar encapsulation/overlay mechanisms) to support multi-tenant and segmented services in both campus and data center environments.
• Build automation using Python and related tools to improve network deployment, configuration management, and operational workflows.
• Work closely with campus partners and internal teams to plan projects, integrate services, and resolve complex network problems.
• Provide daily maintenance, including changes, modifications, or improvements, as part of the ongoing administration of the network.
• Plan for growth in throughput and overall capacity, and adapt to technological advances and evolving requirements.
• Stay current with networking technologies, industry best practices, and emerging standards through research and training.
• Bridge the gap between design and operations to ensure solutions are scalable, supportable, and aligned with business needs.
• Provide technical leadership and participate in strategy planning.
• Demonstrate strong verbal presence in meetings, contributing perspectives, asking questions, and driving technical discussions forward.
• Build trust quickly with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Participate in a shared after-hours on-call rotation for critical network incidents, including occasional early-morning, evening, or weekend work as required to support maintenance and incident response.
• Mentor, collaborate with, and train operations staff and junior engineers.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science and 3 to 5 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Expert knowledge of networking: IPv4 & IPv6, dynamic routing protocols such as BGP & OSPF, overlay technologies such as MPLS & VXLAN.
• Experience with network management and monitoring tools, specifically Cisco Catalyst Center.
• Proven experience managing large enterprise networks.
• Experience with Linux administration and Python scripting skills.
• Experience with open-source tools and automation frameworks (Nautobot, Netbox).
• Experience with Cisco and Juniper enterprise-grade networking equipment.
• Ability to define and enforce standards, methods, and best practices.
• Ability to take ownership of initiatives from concept through implementation and operational support.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills for cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with network automation tools such as Nautobot or Netbox.
• Experience with Solidserver, Cisco Catalyst Center (DNA center), DX NetOps (Spectrum), Akips, Kentik.
• Experience with optical equipment, such as Ciena WaveserverAI.
• Experience working in higher education.

About the Department

Information Systems & Computing (ISC) is the University of Pennsylvania’s central IT organization, providing core network, data, voice, video, and enterprise application infrastructure and services. ISC’s 300-plus employees work closely with the University’s IT organizations to create, deliver, and support products and services that help Schools and Centers operate efficiently and effectively. ISC focuses on customer service and high-quality, cost-effective implementation of modern IT solutions to advance the University’s mission.

Pay

$84,961.00 - $125,000.00 Annual Rate. Salary offers are made based on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, and in alignment with salary ranges based on external market data for the job’s level.

Benefits

• Health, Life, and Flexible Spending Accounts: Comprehensive medical, prescription, behavioral health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits. Flexible spending accounts for eligible health care and dependent care expenses with pre-tax dollars.
• Tuition: Exceptional tuition benefits for you, your spouse, and dependent children at Penn and other institutions.
• Retirement: Generous retirement plans (Basic, Matching, and Supplemental) allowing pre-tax or Roth savings with investment options through TIAA and Vanguard.
• Time Away from Work: Substantial paid time off for vacations, personal affairs, illness, or injury.
• Long-Term Care Insurance: Coverage for long-term care services at home, in the community, or in a nursing facility. New hires are not subject to underwriting requirements.
• Wellness and Work-life Resources: Programs and resources to support health, family, and work-life balance.
• Professional and Personal Development: Resources to advance personally and professionally.
• University Resources: Access to libraries, athletic facilities, arboretum, art galleries, and cultural and recreational activities, often at no cost.
• Discounts and Special Services: Savings on arts and entertainment, transportation, mortgages, new cars, cellular phone service plans, movie tickets, and theme park admissions.
• Flexible Work Hours: Options to support work-life balance.