Network Engineer

Summary of Position

Responsible for the engineering, development, maintenance, and repairs to network infrastructure and its monitoring and maintenance components. Implements technical aspects of risk management and technical projects and/or process development.

Documents network infrastructure, operations concepts, specifications, and requirements including resources. Advises management on technical aspects of the strategic network planning process. Coordinates efforts of technicians; mentors, coaches, and guides the team to stay motivated and accomplish tasks.

Provides direction and communicates expectations throughout project life cycle. Performs industry research and maintains extensive knowledge of relevant networking technologies, industry best practices, tools, procedures, and protocols.

Position Information

Essential Functions and Responsibilities: Develops and advocates for networking standards, policies, procedures, best practices, configurations, settings, installation/back-out sequences, etc., regarding network and telecom hardware, software, systems, and services to include technology acquisitions, upgrades, and disposal.

Collaborateswith internal administration, management, faculty, students, and staff toindependentlyadvise, recommend, and implement network systems.

Works with other constituentsto createinnovative solutions regarding wired and wireless connectivity, unified voice and messaging communications, faculty/staff/student questions, assigned work orders, etc.

Executesstrategic decisions for existing and new network technologies.

Leads and mentorsstudent employees and technicians and seeks opportunities to positively affect performance.

Engineers and optimizesautomated methods for service delivery and support in stand-alone, client-server, web-based, hosted, cloud and/or other distributed technology environments.

Serves as escalation point for difficult and/or complex technology issues escalated due to the inability to resolve at technician level; prepares documentation and communicates fix. Responsible for adequately preparing escalation notes and case for receiving by Network Architect.

Installs, configures, andmaintains the physical and logical configuration and administration of current and future network infrastructure including, but not limited to core, building, and edge switches in single and stacked configurations, routers, wireless controllers/thin access points, VoIP infrastructure, networkmonitoring devices/servers, DHCP Management, Syslog and TFTP servers, IDF/MDF locations, access points, and switch stacks.

Responds to inquiries/tickets/projects in a timely manner. Provides technical network assistance and root cause analysis for incidents such as, network-related hardware/software failures/misconfigurations, VoIP/analog telephones, power/cooling assistance for network IDF/MDF rooms, some copper cabling installation/assessment.

Maintains a security-minded approach to networking. Embraces a structured/organized physical and logical environment.

Collaborates with IT department staff, providing occasional assistance with Server/Security Infrastructure sections of the department. Keeps an accurate changelog and communicates it to the Network Architect via an agreed upon method and frequency.

Provides team leadership to technicians to accomplish projects; assists with project leadership and advises designated technical staff limited to project duration.

Other Functions and Responsibilities:Performs other related duties as assigned.

Equipment Operated:Computer and all other standard office equipment.

Work Schedule:Typically, Monday through Friday. Some evening, weekends, and holiday hours are required; on call rotation may be required. Potential for remote work.

Supervision Exercised:Supervision is exercised over student employees.

Reports to: Director of IT Infrastructure Services

Qualifications and Competencies

Required Certifications, Training, and/or Licensures:None

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Knowledge of: University policies and procedures*; office practices and procedures; department/division goals and objectives*; department/division policies and procedures*; workplace safety practices and procedures*; English grammar and spelling; records management; office management; project management.

Skill in: Use of office equipment; typing, data entry; computer operation; use of computer software and other programs applicable to the assigned department/division*.

Ability to:clearly communicate in an understandable, polite, and professional manner at all times, and to all stakeholders, both technical and non-technical; develop strong organizational skills; multi-task and think "outside the box" in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment.

(*) Developed after employment.

Minimum Qualifications:At least a bachelor's degree from an accredited 4-year higher education institution; experience and competency in networking technology services deployment in a 500 user or more business environment; excellent understanding and working knowledge of common business technology platforms, operating systems, security practices, networking, authentication, and services deployment and integration; excellent problem-solving abilities in complex technology environments.

Preferred Qualifications:Bachelor's degree in computer engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or closely related discipline from an accredited 4-year higher education institution. Experience with the following:

Classful and Classless subnetting, spanning tree, VLAN, Trunking, Pruning, Etherchannel, Multi-area OSPF, static routing, virtual port channel, HSRP, single and multimode fiber, copper, and switch stacking. Working knowledge of the following: OSI Model, WAN, MAN, LAN, Cloud concepts, multi-site networking, DHCP, BGP, Multicasting, QoS, GRE, TACACS, RADIUS, firewalling/NAT concepts, 3-tier vs collapsed core networks, firewalls, Wireshark, and diagramming. Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) or other technical networking certifications to include Cisco Certified Academy Instructor (CCAI); experience in higher education; working knowledge of, and successful support experience in a business environment for Windows, and Unix/Linux environments.