WAN Engineer

SMS is seeking a highly experienced Senior WAN Engineer to design, engineer, and sustain enterprise WAN architectures supporting mission-critical network operations. This role supports AFCENT’s mission to deliver combat-ready air, space, communications, and cyberspace capability for USCENTCOM, helping maintain security and stability throughout Southwest Asia. The AFCENT NOSC program focuses on running and protecting a 24/7 enterprise network and systems operations, including cybersecurity, engineering, maintenance, and technical support.

About the Role

The Senior WAN Engineer will focus on configuring, monitoring, and troubleshooting National IP/MPLS backbone networks; implementing advanced routing protocols such as BGP, OSPF, and MPLS; analyzing network performance; and resolving complex Quality of Service challenges involving policing, shaping, and queuing. The ideal candidate will bring strong WAN enterprise, LAN, and general networking expertise, along with the ability to support datacenter modernization efforts, produce technical reports and trend analysis, brief stakeholders, provide functional training, and deliver reliable O&M support in both CONUS and OCONUS mission environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and engineer enterprise WAN architecture.
• Configure, monitor, and troubleshoot National IP/MPLS backbone networks.
• Configure and implement internal, external, and service provider routing protocols including Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), and Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS).
• Analyze networking metrics and recognize sub-par network performance.
• Configure and troubleshoot Quality of Service (QoS) involving policing, shaping, and queuing from partner-owned routers.
• Develop reports and trend analysis documentation on bandwidth and network security incidents.
• Perform analysis for collaboration of network/system needs and participate in planning, designing, upgrading, and deployment of enterprise datacenter hardware and software using a project-based timeline.
• Provide general IT management, networking, LAN, and WAN enterprise support.
• Provide technical and general O&M support as required.
• Provide documentation and reports support.
• Support meetings and briefings.
• Provide functional training.
• Support OCONUS deployment/TDY travel and CONUS TDY as required.

Requirements

• B.S. in a related field and 5+ years of relevant IT experience; or 7+ years of relevant IT experience.
• Knowledge of network threats and skill in providing feedback to enhance future collection and analysis.
• Experience with Microsoft server installation, roles, Active Directory, storage, performance management, and maintenance.
• Experience designing, engineering, implementing, and troubleshooting enterprise WAN architectures using External Gateway Protocols (EGPs) such as BGP and OSPF, and Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs) such as Cisco’s Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP).

Qualifications

• CCNP certification (required).
• ITIL Foundation certification (candidate has up to 60 days to acquire).
• Department of Defense Secret security clearance or the ability to obtain an Interim Secret clearance.