Network Lab Engineer

Summary:

• We are looking for a Network/System Lab Engineer (Contractor) to help bring up and maintain our network lab environment.
• You will be responsible for integrating new network equipment, troubleshooting issues, coordinating installations, and maintaining inventory. This role is critical to ensuring our software engineering teams have a reliable environment for testing and validation. The Network/System Lab Engineer will support our team by bringing up and maintaining the network lab environment.
• Responsibilities include integrating and troubleshooting new network equipment, coordinating delivery and installation of new products, testing switch testbeds for software validation, and maintaining accurate lab inventory records.
• The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with network devices, strong problem-solving skills, and the ability to work in a fast-paced lab setting. Must be detail-oriented, organized, and able to communicate effectively with cross-functional teams.

Requirements:

• Bachelor s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
• 4+ years of relevant experience
• Familiarity with routers, switches, firewalls, and lab equipment
• Understanding of IP assignment (DHCP, SLAAC, Static IP), VLANs, subnets
• Experience with Cisco IOS, Juniper JUNOS
• Knowledge of network management protocols (SSH, Telnet, HTTP/HTTPS)
• Understanding of break/fix concepts, console access, SCM modules
• Basic knowledge of power supply (PSU/PDU/Voltage requirements)
• Experience with inventory management systems
• Excellent troubleshooting and communication skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment
• Detail-oriented and organized

Preferred:

• Experience in a network lab environment
• Knowledge of lab safety procedures and best practices
• Experience with routers, switches, firewalls Knowledge of network protocols
• (SSH, Telnet, HTTP/HTTPS.) Strong troubleshooting and communication skills.
• Experience with inventory management systems

Years of Experience: 02 - 04 Years

Degrees/Certifications: bachelor s or master s degree in computer science, Engineering, or related field. Experience with routers, switches, firewalls Knowledge of network protocols (SSH, Telnet, HTTP/HTTPS.) Strong troubleshooting and communication skills. Experience with inventory management systems.

Top 3 Must-Have Skills:

1. Hands-on network device bring-up + break/fix in a lab.

1. Rack/stack/cabling, console/OOB access, swapping optics/modules, basic power (PSU/PDU/voltage), and restoring service quickly.
2. This is the core of bring up and maintain + troubleshooting issues .

2. Strong L2/L3 fundamentals for lab environments
1. VLANs, subnets, DHCP vs static, basic routing/switching, and being able to isolate whether an issue is physical, L2, L3, or config.
2. This directly maps to IP assignment VLANs, subnets and testing switch testbeds for validation .

3. Multi-vendor network OS proficiency (Cisco IOS + Juniper JunOS + CentOS)
1. Confident CLI operation, reading configs/state, and executing safe changes/debug steps on both platforms.
2. Your JD explicitly calls these out; without them the engineer will be blocked day-1 on most tasks.
3. Good Linux system experience.

Nice-to-Have Skills:

• Experience in a network lab environment.
• Knowledge of lab safety procedures and best practices.
• CCIE Degree.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities:

• Very operational from the beginning, might be able to have independent projects if the contractor performs well.
• To help offload software engineers with daily tasks.