Network Infrastructure Engineer - Cisco ACI / SDA / ISE / Palo Alto - Onsite

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Network Infrastructure Engineer to support and advance an enterprise networking environment. This is a hands-on engineering position responsible for designing, deploying, securing, and operating data center and campus network infrastructure.

The engineer will work with Cisco ACI, Cisco Nexus, Software-Defined Access (SDA), Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), Cisco Catalyst, Palo Alto firewalls, ThousandEyes, Cyber Vision, and DNA Spaces.

The ideal candidate will have extensive Cisco networking experience and a strong background supporting large-scale, highly available, secure, and mission-critical environments.

Key Responsibilities

<>Cisco ACI & Data Center Networking

• Design, implement, and maintain Cisco Nexus platforms running in ACI mode.

• Configure and administer VRFs, Bridge Domains, EPGs/ESGs, L3Out, contracts, and fabric policies.

• Integrate ACI with virtualization and container platforms, including OpenShift VMM and Cilium/Isovalent.

• Configure and optimize RoCEv2 within ACI fabrics for high-performance, low-latency workloads.

• Troubleshoot ACI fabric health, faults, endpoint learning, contracts, and multi-tenant segmentation.

• Develop and maintain fabric documentation, standards, and operational procedures.

<>Cisco Catalyst & Software-Defined Access

• Deploy and support Cisco Catalyst platforms in enterprise campus environments.

• Design and maintain Cisco SDA architectures, including wired fabric and fabric-enabled wireless.

• Manage fabric underlay and overlay, policy mapping, authentication integrations, and assurance operations.

• Collaborate with wireless engineering teams to optimize coverage, performance, and policy enforcement.

<>Identity-Driven Networking & Security

• Configure and administer Cisco ISE for TACACS+ device administration.

• Develop and maintain authentication and authorization policy sets.

• Implement endpoint profiling and identity-based access controls.

• Integrate Cyber Vision intelligence into profiling, segmentation, and access-control workflows.

• Support Zero Trust initiatives through identity-centric segmentation across ACI and SDA environments.

<>Visibility, Analytics & Observability

• Deploy and manage ThousandEyes for end-to-end visibility, routing path analysis, and performance monitoring.

• Implement and support Cisco Cyber Vision for OT/IoT asset visibility, device classification, and behavioral analysis.

• Manage DNA Spaces for location analytics, telemetry, device behavior, and wireless intelligence.

• Analyze observability data and provide meaningful technical insights to leadership.

<>Core Network Engineering & Security

• Troubleshoot complex Layer 2 and Layer 3 network issues.

• Work with VLANs, OSPF, BGP, STP, multicast, QoS, and TCP/IP.

• Design, implement, and troubleshoot Palo Alto Networks security solutions.

• Develop and maintain firewall policies and security configurations.

• Create architecture diagrams, standards, runbooks, and asset inventories.

• Support platform upgrades, lifecycle planning, modernization initiatives, and technology projects.

• Provide operational support for mission-critical enterprise network services.

Required Technical Skills

• Extensive production experience with Cisco ACI.

• Strong knowledge of Cisco Nexus platforms and multi-tenant segmentation.

• Deep understanding of ACI constructs:

  • VRF

  • Bridge Domains

  • EPG / ESG

  • L3Out

  • Contracts

  • Fabric policies

• Experience integrating ACI with OpenShift VMM and Cilium/Isovalent.

• Strong experience with Cisco Catalyst platforms.

• Hands-on experience with Cisco SDA wired and wireless fabric technologies.

• Strong Cisco ISE experience, including:

  • TACACS+

  • Authentication/authorization

  • Policy sets

  • NAC

  • Endpoint profiling

• Experience with ThousandEyes, Cyber Vision, and DNA Spaces or comparable observability platforms.

• Strong L2/L3 networking knowledge.

• Routing and switching expertise, including OSPF, BGP, STP, multicast, VLANs, and QoS.

• Palo Alto firewall administration and security policy development.

• Strong understanding of TCP/IP and network security fundamentals.

• Experience supporting highly available, enterprise-scale infrastructure.

• Strong documentation and network architecture skills.

Experience Requirement

• Minimum 15 years of experience working with Cisco networking technologies.

• Demonstrated hands-on experience supporting production enterprise network environments.

• Experience working in fast-paced, mission-critical environments.

• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, communication, and collaboration skills.

Preferred Skills & Certifications

• CCNA

• CCNP Data Center

• CCNP Enterprise

• CCIE or equivalent experience

• Cisco Specialist certifications in ACI, SDA, or ISE

• PCNSA

• PCNSE

• PCCSA

• ThousandEyes training/certification

• Cyber Vision training

• Network automation using Python, Ansible, or REST APIs

• Container networking and virtualization integration experience

• Familiarity with NIST frameworks and cybersecurity requirements

• Experience supporting government or large enterprise network environments

Palo Alto Security Knowledge

Experience with Palo Alto Networks technologies, including:

• Next-generation firewall administration

• Security policies and profiles

• NAT

• App-ID

• URL Filtering

• WildFire

• Threat prevention

• Network security troubleshooting