Network Engineer job description
A Network Engineer is a professional responsible for setting up and maintaining networks within an organization or between organizations. They offer support to users, staff members, clients, or suppliers. As such, they need to have strong troubleshooting skills and be able to work with others to resolve issues.
Network Engineer responsibilities include:
- Monitoring network engineering performance and ensure system availability and reliability
- Configuring and installing various network devices and services (e.g., routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, VPN, QoS)
- Performing network maintenance and system upgrades including service packs, patches, hot fixes and security configurations
Job brief
We are looking for a Network Engineer to design, implement, maintain, and support our growing network infrastructure. You will be part of a systems engineering team that is responsible for designing and developing scalable, maintainable, highly available network architectures that meet business objectives and SLAs.
Responsibilities
- Configure and install various network devices and services (e.g., routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, VPN, QoS)
- Perform network maintenance and system upgrades including service packs, patches, hot fixes and security configurations
- Monitor performance and ensure system availability and reliability
- Monitor system resource utilization, trending, and capacity planning
- Provide Level-2/3 support and troubleshooting to resolve issues
- Work within established configuration and change management policies to ensure awareness, approval and success of changes made to the network infrastructure
- Select and implement security tools, policies, and procedures in conjunction with the company’s security team
- Liaise with vendors and other IT personnel for problem resolution
Requirements and skills
- Proven hands-on network engineering experience
- CCNP or higher (CCIE and/or CISSP highly valued)
- Deep understanding of networking protocols (e.g., IPSEC, HSRP, BGP, OSPF, 802.11, QoS)
- Solid understanding of the OSI or TCP/IP model
- Hands-on experience with monitoring, network diagnostic and network analytics tools
- University degree in Computer Science or a related subject
Frequently asked questions
- What does a Network Engineer do?
- Network Engineers primarily handle installing, configuring, and supporting firewalls to ensure network security. They are also responsible for procuring equipment like routers or switches, which provides the best possible efficiency in an office's IT infrastructure.
- What are the duties and responsibilities of a Network Engineer?
- Network Engineers are responsible for ensuring that networks have maximum uptime, providing fast and reliable connections for employees to get their work done promptly. They keep up these connections without delays or errors due to affected network traffic from going offline.
- What makes a Good Network Engineer?
- A Network Engineer needs to have many different skills in order not only to fix problems but also to prevent them from happening. These include technical knowledge, written communication abilities, problem-solving skills for when things go wrong, or installing new devices properly onto servers.
- Who does a Network Engineer work with?
- A Network Engineer works with a Network Technician, who handles more of the outside duties in Network Management. A technician may handle repair projects, while the Engineer focuses on creating new installations and upkeeping existing ones.