Staff Network Engineer

Location: Milpitas, CA
Work Model: Onsite
Employment Type: Contract-to-Hire
Rate: Open – depends on experience and current market standards

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Staff Network Engineer to design, implement, optimize, and support enterprise network infrastructure across LAN, WAN, wireless, and network security environments.

The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience with Arista/Cisco networking, SD-WAN, enterprise wireless, BGP, and next-generation firewalls, along with automation and network infrastructure management tools.

Non-Negotiable Skills

• LAN: Arista CVP / Cisco DNAC
• WAN: SD-WAN
• Wireless: Aruba / Cisco
• Routing: BGP
• Network Security: Palo Alto / FortiGate
• Strong TCP/IP and Ethernet networking fundamentals

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain enterprise LAN/WAN network infrastructure.
• Manage and support Arista and Cisco switching environments using Arista CVP and Cisco DNAC.
• Deploy, configure, and troubleshoot SD-WAN technologies.
• Design and support enterprise wireless networks using Aruba and/or Cisco solutions.
• Configure and troubleshoot BGP routing in large-scale enterprise environments.
• Manage next-generation firewalls, including Palo Alto and/or FortiGate.
• Troubleshoot complex network issues involving TCP/IP, Ethernet, IPSec, NAT, DNS, and DHCP.
• Support secure site-to-site and remote connectivity using IPSec VPN.
• Develop and maintain network automation using Ansible, Terraform, and/or Python.
• Maintain accurate network infrastructure documentation and inventory using NetBox and/or Nautobot.
• Participate in network upgrades, migrations, capacity planning, and infrastructure optimization.
• Collaborate with security, systems, cloud, and application teams to resolve network and connectivity issues.
• Develop standardized configurations, automation workflows, and operational procedures.

Required Technical Skills

LAN / Data Center Networking

• Arista switching
• Arista CVP
• Cisco switching
• Cisco DNAC
• VLANs, STP, LACP
• Ethernet and TCP/IP
• Network troubleshooting and performance optimization

WAN / Routing

• SD-WAN
• BGP
• Routing and network architecture
• IPSec VPN
• NAT

Wireless

• Aruba wireless
• Cisco wireless
• Enterprise Wi-Fi design, configuration, and troubleshooting

Network Security

• Palo Alto firewalls
• FortiGate firewalls
• Firewall policies and rule management
• IPSec
• NAT
• Secure network connectivity

Network Services

• DNS
• DHCP
• TCP/IP
• Ethernet
• IP addressing and subnetting

Automation & Infrastructure Management

• Ansible
• Terraform
• Python
• NetBox
• Nautobot
• Network automation and configuration management

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of enterprise network engineering experience.
• Experience working in large-scale enterprise or data center environments.
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
• Experience with network automation and infrastructure-as-code practices.
• Relevant networking certifications such as CCNP, CCIE, or equivalent are a plus.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a hands-on network engineering professional who can work across LAN, WAN, wireless, routing, firewalls, and automation. They should be comfortable troubleshooting complex enterprise networks while also helping modernize infrastructure through automation and standardized network management.