Venue Network Lead Engineer

Seeking a hands-on Venue Network Lead Engineer to support large-scale live event environments across Los Angeles. This engineer will be the primary on-site contact for all network-related operations and is responsible for leading the full lifecycle of venue networking, IPT voice, circuits, wireless, security, and telephony.

This role requires deep technical networking skills, strong communication, and the ability to operate in fast-paced, event-driven environments.

• Venue-based work (sports arenas, event centers, entertainment venues)

• Event-driven schedule: Nights, weekends, and holidays possible

• On-call availability required

• Occasional travel to support test events or nearby venues

• Ability to coordinate and assist L2 field engineers in live environments

The Venue Network Lead Engineer owns the end-to-end lifecycle of venue telecommunications-from initial discovery through design, deployment, readiness testing, live operations, and continuous improvement.

They act as the resident venue expert, driving incident leadership, troubleshooting across all technology domains, and maintaining full working knowledge of deployed systems.

• Maintain complete venue network/telecom documentation: rack elevations, port maps, VLANs/VRFs, IP plans, dependencies, runbooks

• Validate LAN/physical surveys; enforce strict cabling and labeling standards

• Align venue designs to Zero Trust, NAC/AAA, and Cisco SD-Access security models

• Lead/assist rack & stack, cabling, hardware upgrades, and baseline configuration deployments

• Conduct acceptance tests, failover rehearsals, and cutover validation

• Deploy and configure Cisco Catalyst switches, APs, firewalls, SD-WAN, and telephony solutions

• Work with L3/L4/Architect teams to validate routing, switching, wireless, and segmentation

• Serve as the primary incident commander for network outages

• Triage, isolate, and resolve issues across Layers 1 7

• Use observability platforms: Cisco Catalyst Center (DNA Center), ThousandEyes, SIEM/XDR, ISE, Firepower

• Conduct Post Incident Reviews (PIRs) with RCA, corrective actions, and preventive steps

• Lead onsite support teams (when assigned); mentor L1/L2 engineers

• Communicate clearly with venue operations, clients, vendors, and leadership

• Translate technical topics into business impact for stakeholders

• Coordinate vendors and partners to ensure SLA/SLO targets are met

• Maintain accurate diagrams, configurations, SOPs, emergency procedures, test scripts

• Keep asset inventory current and enforce change control with rollback plans

• Routing/Switching: VLANs, VRFs, QoS, Zero Trust segmentation

• Cisco SD-Access: segmentation, policy enforcement, fabric infrastructure

• Wireless: Cisco 9800 controllers, Cisco 9100 APs

• Structured Cabling: copper/fiber (single & multimode), patch panels, labeling

• Security: Cisco ISE (NAC/AAA), Firepower NGFW, SIEM/XDR, Secure Endpoint

• Observability: Cisco Catalyst Center, ThousandEyes, CAIT/CI testing tools

• Telephony: Webex Calling, cloud IPT, endpoint provisioning, call flow readiness

• Strong planning and documentation discipline ("audit ready" mindset)

• Expert troubleshooting across L1 L7

• Effective communication under pressure; able to lead bridge calls

• Ability to coach L2 staff and foster a blameless, action-oriented culture

• Customer-first mindset with strong operational judgment

• 5+ years in telecommunications, network operations, or service management

• Event/venue or multi-site environment experience strongly preferred

• Cisco certifications (CCNP/CCIE) strongly preferred

• Strong knowledge of IP networking, VLANs, OSPF/BGP/EIGRP, wireless design, and security

• Proficiency with Catalyst Center, ThousandEyes, SIEM/XDR, ISE, Firepower

• Nice to have: Ansible, Python, Terraform, cloud/hybrid networking

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