Lead Network Engineer - Routing and Switching
Location: Ft. Meade, MD
Work Type: Full Time
Clearance: Secret
Position Summary: GridIron IT is seeking a Principal Network Engineer specializing in routing and switching to serve as the senior technical authority for the routed and switched enterprise. The role is responsible for advancing network innovation through strategic design and implementation efforts that improve the security, scalability, resiliency, and performance of the enterprise network.
This position provides overall network engineering support across a broad range of efforts, including planning, designing, and evaluating network components. Duties include providing specifications for network architecture, evaluating and recommending new technologies, performing needs assessments, and directing the installation, modification, testing, and servicing of network infrastructure.
The successful candidate sets technical direction for routing and switching across the enterprise, defines standards, resolves complex architecture questions, and directs the work of other engineers against designs they own.
Primary Responsibilities
Architecture and Design Authority
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Own the enterprise routing and switching architecture, including core, distribution, access, WAN edge, and data center interconnect designs.
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Define routing architecture and policy standards across BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, and static routing, including addressing strategy, route filtering and summarization, path selection, redistribution boundaries, and convergence targets.
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Define Layer 2 and high-availability architecture, including VLAN and spanning-tree strategy, link aggregation, redundancy models, VRF and segmentation structure, multicast design, and QoS policy architecture.
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Evaluate the current network architecture, identify gaps and improvement opportunities, estimate level of effort, assess implementation risk, and develop practical engineering plans to improve enterprise capabilities.
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Provide specifications for network architecture, evaluate and recommend emerging technologies, and perform needs assessments to inform design and investment decisions.
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Establish and enforce configuration standards, design patterns, and technical baselines that other engineers build against.
Project Execution
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Drive strategic engineering projects from concept through implementation, including architecture evaluation, requirements analysis, dependency identification, design coordination, planning, execution, validation, and transition to operations.
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Develop and manage implementation plans, schedules, cutover strategies, contingency plans, rollback procedures, validation steps, stakeholder communications, and change documentation for mission-critical network changes.
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Lead network modernization efforts such as segmentation, IPv4/IPv6 transition, network optimization, connectivity consolidation, lifecycle replacement, automation, and software-defined networking adoption.
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Coordinate change windows, maintenance activities, test validation, and rollback procedures for high-impact network activities.
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Partner with architecture, cybersecurity, operations, project management, and technical SME teams to resolve blockers, manage dependencies, and reduce delivery risk.
Technical Leadership
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Serve as the final technical escalation point for complex routing, switching, transport, and performance problems spanning multiple domains and vendors.
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Provide technical direction, mentoring, and day-to-day guidance to network engineers, administrators, and analysts; review designs and implementation work for technical quality.
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Organize technical priorities, track details across concurrent efforts, manage competing demands, and maintain accountability against aggressive schedules.
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Continuously improve engineering processes, documentation standards, implementation playbooks, migration runbooks, technical standards, and execution models to accelerate delivery, reduce rework, improve operational handoff, and lower sustainment burden.
Documentation
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Logical and physical network designs and architecture diagrams
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Routing architecture, policy standards, and addressing plans
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Configuration standards, design patterns, and technical baselines
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Implementation and cutover plans with rollback and contingency procedures
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Test and validation plans
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Risk, dependency, and decision registers
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Technical standards, playbooks, and runbooks
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As-built and operations transition documentation
Key Success Factors
This position requires more than a senior engineer executing assigned work. It requires the person who decides what the routing and switching architecture should be, defends that decision in front of leadership and approval boards, and ensures it is built correctly.
The successful engineer is equally credible in the deepest technical detail, such as a BGP path-selection argument or a difficult convergence problem, and in a leadership setting where the question is what the enterprise should do next and why.
Required Qualifications
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Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and 12+ years of prior relevant experience, or Master’s degree with 10+ years of experience. Specific experience, education, and training may be considered in lieu of a degree.
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Expert-level hands-on experience designing, engineering, and troubleshooting enterprise routing and switching infrastructure in large, complex environments.
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Deep knowledge of TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, route policy and redistribution, VLANs, spanning tree, link aggregation, VRFs, MPLS, multicast, QoS, NAT, and high-availability design.
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Experience evaluating enterprise network architectures and developing improvement plans across LAN, WAN, WLAN, routing, switching, firewalls, VPN, proxies, software-defined networking, and cloud-connected environments.
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Experience leading network engineering projects from planning through implementation, including requirements analysis, dependency management, risk reduction, contingency planning, execution oversight, validation, and operational transition.
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Experience serving as a senior technical lead directing the work of other network engineers, administrators, or analysts.
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Hands-on experience with two or more of the following network technologies: Cisco, Aruba, Palo Alto, Dell, Infoblox, and Brocade.
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Experience documenting logical and physical network designs, implementation plans, risks, dependencies, decision points, and technical recommendations using Visio, PowerPoint, Cameo, or similar tools.
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Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting architecture recommendations, implementation plans, risks, and status to technical leadership, stakeholders, and approval boards.
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Current IAT Level II or higher certification, such as Security+ or CISSP.
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Active DoD Secret clearance.
Desired Qualifications
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Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Enterprise, CCIE, or equivalent certification.
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Experience leading enterprise network innovation efforts such as segmentation, enterprise Wi-Fi modernization, IPv6 transition, automation, SDN, cloud connectivity, zero-trust-aligned networking, or security stack modernization.
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Experience with SD-WAN, SD-Access, Cisco Catalyst Center (DNA Center), or similar controller-based network architectures.
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Experience with network automation and infrastructure-as-code using Python, Ansible, REST APIs, or similar.
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Experience integrating enterprise networking with cloud infrastructure, including hybrid connectivity, cloud routing, and secure interconnects.
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Experience developing repeatable engineering execution frameworks, implementation playbooks, migration runbooks, technical standards, and risk-reduction processes.
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Experience with Jira, Confluence, or other project and knowledge-management tools used to coordinate technical work across distributed engineering teams.
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Understanding of Federal Government application, server, and network security requirements such as NIST, FedRAMP, FISMA, RMF, and DoD cybersecurity requirements.
Clearance: Applicants selected will be subject to a security investigation and may need to meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.
Compensation and Benefits
Salary Range: $110,000-$155,000 (Compensation is determined by various factors, including but not limited to location, work experience, skills, education, certifications, seniority, and business needs. This range may be modified in the future.)
Benefits: Gridiron offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision insurance, HSA, FSA, 401(k), disability & ADD insurance, life and pet insurance to eligible employees. Full-time and part-time employees working at least 30 hours per week on a regular basis are eligible to participate in Gridiron’s benefits programs.
Gridiron IT Solutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status or disability status.
Gridiron IT is a Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area that supports our clients' missions throughout the United States. Gridiron IT specializes in providing comprehensive IT services tailored to meet the needs of federal agencies. Our capabilities include IT Infrastructure & Cloud Services, Cyber Security, Software Integration & Development, Data Solution & AI, and Enterprise Applications. These capabilities are backed by Gridiron IT's experienced workforce and our commitment to ensuring we meet and exceed our clients' expectations.