Principal Network Engineer (Only Local Candidate & F2F Interview)

Job Title: Principal Network Engineer (CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure)

Location: Baltimore City, MD (50% Onsite, 50% Remote)

Role Overview

The Client is seeking a Principal Network Engineer to serve as the highest-level technical authority within its Infrastructure team. This role will lead enterprise-wide network architecture, security, and operations across 35+ locations, including data centers, healthcare facilities, and local departments.

The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in Cisco networking, security, and large-scale infrastructure environments, while also acting as a mentor and escalation point for engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture & Design

• Lead end-to-end network architecture, design, and capacity planning
• Evaluate and recommend hardware/software solutions
• Design scalable and highly available infrastructure

Implementation & Operations

• Configure, test, and deploy Cisco network infrastructure
• Manage and optimize Cisco Catalyst Center
• Oversee routing, switching, and wireless networks

Security & Compliance

• Administer and troubleshoot Cisco Firepower, ASA, and ISE
• Implement Zero Trust, IPsec, SSL/TLS security frameworks
• Ensure compliance with enterprise security standards

Leadership & Mentorship

• Act as technical lead and escalation point
• Lead large-scale migrations and refresh projects
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers

Monitoring & Optimization

• Utilize tools like SolarWinds, SNMP, NetFlow
• Identify bottlenecks and improve performance

Disaster Recovery

• Design and test failover and DR strategies
• Ensure high availability (24x7x365 environments)

Collaboration & Planning

• Contribute to IT budgeting and strategic planning
• Work with cross-functional teams

Required Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor s degree in Computer Science, IT, Engineering, or related field
• Master s degree preferred

Experience

• 6+ years in systems/network engineering
• 3+ years leading or supervising engineers

Mandatory Skills

• CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure (Active)
• Cisco ecosystem: Catalyst, Nexus, Firepower, ISE
• Routing: BGP, OSPF, EIGRP
• Switching: VLAN, STP, VPC
• Security: Zero Trust, IPsec, SSL/TLS
• Cloud Connectivity: AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute
• VoIP: SIP, H.323, MGoogle Cloud Platform, RTP/SRTP
• QoS implementation
• Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, Catalyst Center
• Monitoring: SolarWinds, NetFlow, SNMP