Network Implementation Engineer

Network Implementation Engineer

Location: Whippany, NJ - Hybrid (2-4 days onsite) Will have to travel to Manhattan office as the project progresses. But will start 2-4 days per week in Whippany, NJ

Duration: 6 Months (Possibility of Conversion FTE)

Position Overview:

Seeking a hands-on Network Implementation Engineer to support a complex office and branch buildout with direct integration into a data center environment. This role is focused on implementation and delivery, including low level design, bill of materials creation, ordering equipment and circuits, coordinating onsite installation activities, building configurations, executing cutovers, validating services, and completing documentation and operational handoff.

This is a hybrid role starting in Whippany, New Jersey, with increasing onsite presence required in Manhattan, New York as the project progresses. The initial contract duration is 6 months with possibility of conversion to full time employment based on performance and business need.

Responsibilities:

• Produce low level design deliverables for new sites and expansions, including routing, switching, firewall, wireless, and data center connectivity components
• Build complete bill of materials, size hardware and circuits, and drive procurement activities including ordering network gear and carrier circuits
• Coordinate and lead onsite implementation activities with facilities partners and electricians for rack, stack, cabling, and circuit turn up activities
• Configure and implement routing using BGP and OSPF, including dual ISP designs with primary and secondary behavior and traffic engineering considerations for inbound and outbound flows
• Establish secure connectivity back to the data center and configure data center infrastructure to accept and route new site connections
• Implement data center switching using Cisco Nexus platforms, including multi chassis port channel designs such as vPC, and validate expected failure behavior
• Deploy and integrate campus and access switching, including Catalyst 9410 or equivalent, and connect access and distribution layers to WAN and core routing as required
• Configure and validate wireless services using Cisco 9800 Wireless LAN Controllers, including FlexConnect and Local mode deployment patterns, access point migrations, controller discovery and join prerequisites, and guest WiFi segmentation to prevent internal access
• Configure and manage firewall policy as part of site build, including provisioning firewall rules and supporting site to site IPsec VPN implementation end to end
• Support load balancing activities in environments using F5, including participation in safe migration planning with testing, cutover sequencing, and rollback approach
• Implement and troubleshoot multicast where required, and support voice traffic quality of service configuration, validation, and operational readiness
• Execute cutovers and change activities with a strong focus on validation, troubleshooting, stakeholder communication, and minimizing user impact
• Create clear build documentation, as built diagrams, configuration standards, and turnover packages for operations, including runbooks and ongoing support expectations
• Partner effectively across network, security, data center, wireless, carrier, and operations teams to deliver end to end outcomes

Qualifications:

• 5 plus years of hands-on network implementation experience supporting site builds, office expansions, or large-scale campus deployments
• Strong configuration experience with BGP and OSPF, including ability to clearly explain BGP best path selection, eBGP vs iBGP differences, and why OSPF Area 0 is special
• Proven experience implementing dual ISP connectivity with primary and secondary failover behavior and traffic engineering for inbound and outbound routing
• Data center switching experience with Cisco Nexus, including ability to explain and implement vPC and compare it to standard port channel behavior and failure modes
• Experience building and troubleshooting site to site IPsec VPN tunnels end to end, including Phase 1 and Phase 2 concepts, required settings, ports, and common operational checks
• Ability to provision and manage firewall rules in support of new site builds and cutovers
• Wireless implementation experience with Cisco 9800 Wireless LAN Controllers, including FlexConnect vs Local mode decisioning, access point migration execution, and guest WiFi segmentation controls
• Practical experience with campus and access switching, including large chassis platforms such as Catalyst 9410 or equivalent
• Working knowledge of carrier connectivity considerations including handoff, routing, MTU, redundancy, demarc coordination, and circuit testing
• Experience with multicast configuration in production environments
• Understanding of voice traffic quality of service fundamentals and ability to implement and validate key parameters
• Strong documentation skills and ability to hand over implementations into operations with clear standards and runbooks
• Comfortable working onsite as needed in a flagship office or complex build environment
• Nice to have experience with ACI or similar data center automation and management tooling

Tools and Technologies:

• Routing and switching: BGP, OSPF, VLANs, spanning tree concepts, HSRP or VRRP concepts, ACLs
• Data center: Cisco Nexus, vPC, port channels, common Layer 2 and Layer 3 integration patterns
• Campus and access: Cisco Catalyst 9410 or equivalent large chassis switching, access layer integration
• Wireless: Cisco 9800 Wireless LAN Controllers, access point discovery and join workflows, guest WiFi segmentation
• Security: Firewall policy configuration, site to site IPsec VPN, IKE and IPsec fundamentals and troubleshooting
• Load balancing: F5 experience including operational support and migration participation
• Delivery: low level design, bill of materials, ordering coordination, carrier circuit ordering, onsite coordination, cutover planning, validation, documentation, and operational handoff
• Documentation and collaboration: network diagrams, as built documentation, change management artifacts, and handoff packages