Senior Network Engineer / Cisco ISE SME

Role: Senior Network Engineer / Cisco ISE SME 

Contact: 6 month contract strong chance of extension

Location: 100 % Remote – EST Work Time.

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior Network Engineer / Cisco ISE SME to lead a critical enterprise authentication modernization initiative focused on upgrading and redesigning a large-scale Cisco ISE environment.

This role requires a hands-on technical expert with deep experience deploying Cisco ISE in complex enterprise environments. The ideal candidate will lead the buildout of a new greenfield Cisco ISE 3.4 environment, support phased migration of authentication services, and help modernize authentication workflows while minimizing operational risk. This is a highly visible role working closely with infrastructure and network engineering leadership to design, deploy, troubleshoot, and stabilize enterprise authentication services across the organization.

Responsibilities

1. Deploy and configure Cisco ISE infrastructure from scratch
2. Build and manage:
1. ISE clusters
2. Policy Service Nodes (PSNs)
3. Authentication policy sets
3. Lead migration Cisco ISE using a parallel greenfield deployment strategy
4. Design and support:
1. TACACS / RADIUS authentication workflows
2. Wireless guest authentication
3. Device migration sequencing
5. Troubleshoot production authentication issues and policy-related problems
6. Support phased migration of authentication services into the new environment
7. Partner with engineering leadership on architecture, migration planning, and operational readiness
8. Provide knowledge transfer and operational guidance to internal engineering teams

Must-Have Qualifications

1. Deep hands-on experience deploying Cisco ISE in enterprise environments
2. Proven experience:
1. Building Cisco ISE clusters from scratch
2. Configuring PSNs
3. Designing authentication policy sets
4. Managing production migrations
3. Strong expertise with:
1. TACACS+
2. RADIUS
3. Authentication flow architecture
4. Node pairing and cluster behavior
4. Experience troubleshooting complex enterprise authentication issues in production
5. Strong understanding of migration sequencing and minimizing operational risk during authentication cutovers
6. Experience working in large-scale enterprise infrastructure environments
7. Excellent communication and collaboration skills
8. Knowledge of Zero Trust and enterprise network segmentation