Senior Network Engineer – Cisco, ACI & SD-WAN
Buffalo ,NY
Fulltime
Position Overview
Work on a strategic network transformation initiative supporting a large regional integrated healthcare delivery environment. This senior technical role combines hands-on enterprise network engineering, site-level network discovery and assessment, NOC/Managed Services support, network security, and the transition toward a self-healing infrastructure model.
The role will support environments spanning ambulatory practices, clinics, hospital campuses, data centers, and hybrid cloud connectivity. The successful candidate will operate independently, provide senior technical guidance, and contribute to standardized network configurations, remediation planning, automation, monitoring, and ongoing network operations.
What You'll Do
- Lead site-by-site network discovery across LAN, WAN, wireless, and data center environments, including on-site walkthroughs at Tier 1 hospital locations and remote assessment of Tier 2 and Tier 3 sites.
- Operate discovery tooling including Device42, Lansweeper, ServiceNow Discovery, and SolarWinds to produce standardized configuration item inventories and topology datasets.
- Analyze network topology, IP addressing, routing, switching, redundancy, and high-availability posture, correlating tool output with documentation and stakeholder input.
- Review perimeter and network security controls, including firewall rulebase hygiene, hybrid alert routing, and connectivity to vendor-hosted applications.
- Contribute to hardware lifecycle, software and firmware currency, and end-of-life/end-of-support risk reviews, with a focus on switch and router version standardization.
- Develop small-provider practice standards and standardized configuration templates for switch additions, network additions, and change activities.
- Support the risk register and 30-60-90-day remediation roadmap, with recommendations weighted by clinical impact and operational feasibility.
- Contribute to Mid-Engagement Checkpoint and Final Assessment Package deliverables.
- Serve as a senior technical resource within the NOC Managed Services model and provide Tier 3 escalation support for complex network issues.
- Own network change management execution, including switch adds, network adds, firewall rule changes, and routine site refresh activities.
- Support the transition toward a self-healing infrastructure model through automation development, runbook authorship, and monitoring uplift.
- Own the ongoing cadence for vulnerability review and code upgrade planning across switches, routers, and supporting network infrastructure.
- Collaborate with Network Management and clinical stakeholders on change planning and clinical-window coordination.
- Contribute to weekly, monthly, and quarterly governance reporting.
- Mentor junior engineers and NOC staff as the team scales.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience.
- Minimum 8 years of hands-on enterprise network engineering experience, including at least 3 years in a senior or lead capacity.
- Deep expertise in Cisco networking, including:
- Routing: OSPF, BGP, EIGRP
- Switching: Nexus, Catalyst
- Wireless: Meraki, Catalyst 9800
- Security: ASA, Firepower
- Strong hands-on experience with at least two of the following or comparable enterprise firewall platforms:
- Palo Alto Networks
- Fortinet FortiGate
- Check Point
- SD-WAN experience with Cisco Viptela, Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud, or comparable platforms.
- Experience with network discovery and CMDB tooling such as Device42, Lansweeper, ServiceNow Discovery, SolarWinds, or comparable platforms.
- Experience operating within a ServiceNow ITSM environment, including incident, change, problem, and CMDB workflows.
- Strong understanding of hybrid cloud connectivity patterns, including Microsoft Entra federation, vendor-hosted application connectivity, and site-to-cloud transit.
- Solid understanding of network security fundamentals, including segmentation, NAC, 802.1X, VPN, and PKI.
- Demonstrated ability to work independently across multiple sites, including hospital campuses and ambulatory practices.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical findings into client-facing narratives.
Preferred Qualifications
- Cisco CCNP or CCIE certification, Enterprise or Security track.
- Palo Alto PCNSE, Fortinet NSE 6+, or comparable vendor security certifications.
- Prior experience delivering network assessments in healthcare, financial services, or other regulated environments.
- Familiarity with healthcare clinical infrastructure considerations, including medical device (IoMT) segmentation, HL7/FHIR connectivity, and EMR/EHR network dependencies.
- Experience with major EMR platforms and comparable EMR network connectivity patterns.
- Understanding of HIPAA Security Rule technical safeguards and HITRUST control expectations at a network infrastructure level.
- Experience with network automation tooling such as Ansible, Python, Terraform, or comparable technologies supporting the shift toward self-healing infrastructure.
- Prior experience in a Managed Services Provider (MSP) or NOC-driven service delivery model.
