Job Title:

L3 Wireless Network Engineer – Cisco Wireless & Location Platform

Job Overview

We are seeking a visionary Wireless Network Architect to own the end-to-end strategy and architecture of our Cisco-based wireless and location platform. In this role, you will define the roadmap, reference architectures, and operating model for a secure, scalable, and high-performing Wi-Fi estate built on Cisco Catalyst, Cisco Spaces, and Cisco ISE. Your expertise will enable advanced location services, asset tracking, and exceptional user experiences across corporate offices, campuses, warehouses, healthcare facilities, and high-density venues.

What You’ll Do

1. Architecture & Strategy

• Define a multi-year wireless architecture and standards, including RF design guides, high availability patterns, IP/SSID/SGT strategy, and global consistency.

• Drive modernization to Cisco Catalyst 9800 Wireless LAN Controllers (physical & 9800-CL) and Catalyst 9100/916x Wi-Fi 6/6E APs, including HA/SSO, RF profiles, and RRM strategy.

• Establish Catalyst Center (formerly DNA Center) as the control and assurance platform for policy-driven provisioning, intent-based changes, and AIOps assurance.

2. Design & Delivery

• Develop enterprise-wide SSID strategies for corporate, BYOD, guest, and IoT networks, including fast and secure roaming (802.11k/v/r) and WPA2/3-Enterprise (EAP-TLS).

• Optimize QoS/WMM and high-density tuning to ensure peak performance for voice, video, collaboration tools, and IoT devices.

• Lead fabric-enabled wireless deployments and implement identity-based segmentation using Cisco ISE with SGTs, TrustSec, posture checks, profiling, and pxGrid integrations.

• Deploy Cisco Spaces for advanced location services: BLE beacon deployments, real-time location tracking (RTLS), occupancy analytics, and wayfinding.

• Conduct RF planning and validation surveys using Ekahau/iBwave, including 6 GHz channel planning and adherence to regulatory compliance.

3. Operations, Reliability & Assurance

• Define SLOs and KPIs (e.g., SNR, retry/roam failure rates, DHCP/DNS connection times, location accuracy).

• Build real-time dashboards via Catalyst Center Assurance and integrate model-driven telemetry, syslog, and SIEM.

• Create Tier-3 escalation playbooks for complex RF performance issues such as roaming failures, sticky clients, and co-channel interference.

• Design resilient wireless architectures, ensuring failover readiness with controller SSO, FlexConnect, and site survivability designs.

4. Automation & Tooling

• Develop network automation using Python, Ansible, RESTCONF, and Catalyst Center APIs for zero-touch provisioning, bulk configuration changes, and compliance drift detection.

• Automate guest and BYOD onboarding workflows, integrating ISE with MDM/UEM and certificate management systems (PKI, SCEP).

5. Leadership & Governance

• Act as the wireless domain authority, leading architecture reviews and publishing reference designs for varied environments like offices, healthcare, warehouses, and event spaces.

• Mentor junior engineers, lead vendor evaluations and POCs, and manage wireless lifecycle planning, including end-of-support and tech debt remediation.

Required Qualifications

• 8–12+ years of experience designing, deploying, and operating large-scale enterprise Wi-Fi networks.

• Deep hands-on experience with Cisco Catalyst 9800 WLCs and Catalyst 9100/916x Wi-Fi 6/6E APs.

• Expertise in Cisco ISE, including 802.1X/EAP-TLS, MAB, profiling, posture checks, SGTs/TrustSec, and fabric-enabled wireless.

• Proven track record of Cisco Spaces deployments for RTLS, occupancy analytics, and BLE-based IoT solutions.

• Strong troubleshooting skills across RF, authentication flows, DHCP/DNS, and application performance.

• Experience with Catalyst Center for template-based provisioning, SDA integration, and Assurance.

• Excellent documentation skills for HLDs, LLDs, MOPs, and runbooks.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certifications: CCNP Enterprise Wireless or CCIE Enterprise Wireless (preferred), CWNA/CWDP/ECSE a plus.

• Automation experience with Python, Ansible, and APIs for Catalyst, ISE, and Spaces.

• Experience supporting high-density environments, warehouses with scanners/AGVs, or healthcare with critical roaming needs.

• Familiarity with partner ecosystems for BLE tags/sensors, OpenRoaming, and analytics pipelines.

• Knowledge of assurance platforms like ThousandEyes, SNMP, model-driven telemetry, and SIEM integrations.

Success in Your First 90 Days

• Publish a global Wireless Reference Architecture and enterprise segmentation model.

• Successfully migrate priority sites to Catalyst 9800 WLCs with HA/SSO and standardized RF profiles.

• Launch Cisco Spaces in production with at least one real-time location tracking (RTLS) or occupancy analytics use case.

• Automate at least five key workflows (e.g., SSID updates, SGT changes, AP onboarding) to reduce change time and MTTR.

Tech Stack You’ll Own

• Cisco Wireless: Catalyst 9800 WLCs (physical & virtual), Catalyst 9100/916x Wi-Fi 6/6E APs.

• Management & Control: Cisco Catalyst Center (SDA & Assurance).

• Security: Cisco ISE (802.1X, SGT/TrustSec, TACACS+, pxGrid).

• Location Services: Cisco Spaces (maps, RTLS, IoT integrations).

• Tools: Ekahau, iBwave, Python, Ansible, RESTCONF/NETCONF, PKI/SCEP, SIEM/logging platforms.