UNIVERSAL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS · JOB DESCRIPTION
Senior Network & CNI Test Engineer
Lab testing, code certification, and automation for an enterprise and cloud-native network estate
TITLE | Senior Network & CNI Test Engineer (Consultant) |
LOCATION | New York, NY — on-site 3–4 days per week |
ENGAGEMENT | Consultant / contract placement through UTS; long-term engagement |
LEVEL | Senior — 8+ years; leads projects and works independently |
INDUSTRY | Global financial services (enterprise network engineering group) |
About UTS
Universal Technology Solutions (UTS) is a vendor-independent systems integrator and Cisco Preferred Partner headquartered in Hoboken, NJ, with operations across the US, UK, Canada, the Netherlands, India, Singapore, Japan, and Australia. We design, build, test, and operate network, data center, security, and AI infrastructure for some of the world's largest financial services firms. Our engineers are embedded with client engineering teams on long-term engagements where depth, ownership, and clear communication matter.
About the Engagement
UTS is placing a senior network test engineer with the global network engineering team of a leading financial services firm in New York. The team designs and deploys the firm's data and voice network infrastructure: privately owned data centers across the globe, campus and branch networks, the global WAN and metro core, public cloud connectivity, the internet edge, and low-latency trading-floor networks.
This role sits in the team's network lab. Its purpose is to make sure that every piece of hardware, every code release, and every patch or SMU is proven safe and performant before it reaches production — and to automate as much of that proving as possible.
Role Summary
The Senior Network & CNI Test Engineer tests and certifies network hardware and software to ensure performance, reliability, and compliance across campus, branch, WAN/MAN, data center, and low-latency environments. The role combines deep routing and switching expertise with Linux, Python/Ansible automation, Kubernetes and container networking (CNI), and eBPF-based observability to design, test, automate, and operate modern enterprise and cloud-native network infrastructure at scale.
A large part of the work is rapid, risk-driven certification: when a CVE or vendor advisory lands, this engineer runs the targeted, expedited testing that confirms a given patch or code train can be safely applied to production devices. The rest is building the standards, templates, test designs, and automation that raise the team's coverage and speed over time.
Key Responsibilities
Lab testing and certification
• Design and execute functional, performance, and interoperability tests for routers, switches, and related network hardware in a lab environment.
• Certify new code releases, patches, and SMUs across IOS, IOS-XE, NX-OS, and (to a lesser extent) IOS-XR, including bug scrubs and release-note review.
• Run rapid, targeted certifications in response to CVE and risk-driven events so patches can be applied to production with confidence.
• Test interoperability with IP appliances such as firewalls and load balancers (F5, A10, Fortinet, SRX) and with access-control mechanisms such as MAB and 802.1X.
• Use traffic generators and test tools (IXIA, Spirent) and packet analysis (tcpdump, Wireshark) to evaluate functionality, throughput, latency, and reliability.
• Detect, diagnose, and clearly document hardware faults, performance regressions, and compatibility issues found during testing.
• Produce a design document and engineering guidelines for each certification, and present findings and recommendations to the wider engineering organization.
Automation
• Identify automation opportunities in the test workflow and build automated test solutions using Python, Ansible, vendor and platform APIs, and Infrastructure-as-Code techniques.
• Create, maintain, and extend test automation to improve coverage, repeatability, and turnaround time; integrate Ansible with the Robot Framework where appropriate.
• Manage test code and configuration templates in Git/GitHub.
Security and risk
• Apply cybersecurity principles and CVE analysis to evaluate vulnerabilities, assess operational and business risk, and support remediation and patch certification.
• Perform security validation of network platforms, including hardening, routing-protocol encryption, SSH, and out-of-band design considerations.
Engineering standards and vendor engagement
• Create and maintain engineering standards, best-practice documentation, and configuration templates based on industry and technical trends.
• Provide platform and design guidance to peer engineering teams; track bugs and vulnerabilities and provide expert-level support to the production environment.
• Evaluate vendor offerings and proofs of concept; manage vendor relationships, coordinate testing, and communicate upcoming products and features of interest to the business.
• Own the software and hardware testing of future code releases and drive decisions about testing improvements.
Required Experience
• 8+ years of network engineering experience, with extensive LAN/WAN design, engineering, and code/feature certification and validation.
• Senior-level: able to lead projects, perform complex implementations with little or no project-management oversight, and work independently within a global testing team.
• Hands-on experience with test design and product certification in a lab environment is highly desirable.
• CCIE, or at minimum CCNP-level knowledge and experience.
• Prior experience with network engineering design, testing, and product evaluation in a network lab is ideal but not mandatory.
Required Skills
Routing, switching, and protocols
• Expert knowledge of IP routing — BGP and OSPF — and Layer 2 protocols including Spanning Tree.
• Multicast: IGMPv2/v3, PIM-SM, static RP, Anycast RP, MSDP.
• Strong understanding of switching mechanisms such as CEF and TCAM.
• Protocol-level troubleshooting with Wireshark and tcpdump.
Platforms
• Cisco Catalyst and Nexus switching; Cisco ISR 4000 and ASR 1000 routing platforms.
• Arista platforms such as the 7280, 7504, and 7060 series.
• Code certification and bug scrubs on IOS, IOS-XE, NX-OS, and limited IOS-XR.
• Experience developing strategies and test designs across multiple vendors.
Linux, automation, and cloud-native networking
• Solid foundation in Linux administration and networking.
• Mid-level Python and Ansible; comfortable with Git/GitHub, APIs, and Infrastructure-as-Code.
• Kubernetes architecture, container networking (CNI), and operational tooling such as kubectl.
Test tooling and documentation
• IXIA and/or Spirent for design certification and troubleshooting.
• Writing design documents and engineering guidelines for each certification.
Preferred Skills
• eBPF-based networking and security — Cilium in particular: policy enforcement, observability, service load balancing, BGP integration, and troubleshooting using eBPF maps and kernel-level telemetry (major plus).
• Robot Framework, and integrating Ansible with Robot for end-to-end automation (big plus).
• MAB, port security, NAC, 802.1X, QoS (L2 and L3), and IPsec.
• Firewall and load-balancer experience (F5, A10, Fortinet, Juniper SRX).
• Router hardening, DDoS mitigation, routing-protocol encryption, SSH implementation, and out-of-band network design.
• Understanding of emerging intra- and inter-data-center protocols.
• AWS or Azure networking.
• Data center power and cooling; 10/25/40/50/100G cabling and optics.
• Cloud computing, virtualization, and server technology trends.
Professional Attributes
• Excellent verbal and written communication, including business writing and presenting to both technical and non-technical senior management.
• Deep sense of ownership and accountability; proactive and thinks like an owner.
• Strong logical and analytical skills; interprets data quickly and effectively.
• Prioritizes well, manages time effectively, and moves quickly in a fast-paced, multitasking environment.
• Strong interpersonal and stakeholder-management skills across a global team.
Location and Work Arrangement
This position is based in New York, NY and requires on-site presence 3–4 days per week. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. UTS conducts background checks for all client-facing personnel.
