About the Network Engineer role
A Network Engineer designs, implements, and maintains the networks that connect a company's people, offices, data centers, and cloud environments. The work spans routing and switching, firewalls and VPNs, wireless, and increasingly cloud networking. When the network degrades, everything built on top of it degrades with it, so this role is foundational to every other technical team.
The role looks different across environments. An enterprise with multiple offices needs deep routing, WAN, and wireless expertise. A cloud-first company needs VPC design, hybrid connectivity, and network automation. Service providers and data centers demand yet another profile. Describe your topology honestly: sites, users, data centers, cloud footprint, and the vendors you standardize on.
Security now sits inside the role rather than beside it. Firewall policy, network segmentation, zero-trust access, and VPN management are routine expectations for a modern Network Engineer. Also state on-call requirements and travel between sites if any, since both strongly influence who applies.
Network Engineer job description template
Job brief
We are looking for a Network Engineer to design, operate, and secure the network infrastructure connecting our offices, data centers, and cloud environments. You will manage routing, switching, firewalls, wireless, and VPNs, monitor performance proactively, and lead troubleshooting when connectivity issues strike. To succeed in this role, you should combine strong protocol fundamentals with disciplined change management. Ultimately, you will deliver a network the rest of the company never has to think about.
Responsibilities
- Design, configure, and maintain LAN, WAN, and wireless networks across all company sites
- Manage firewalls, VPNs, and remote access for employees and site-to-site connectivity
- Configure and maintain routing and switching, including VLANs and dynamic routing protocols
- Design and manage cloud networking, such as VPCs, peering, and hybrid connectivity
- Monitor network performance and availability, and resolve degradations before users notice
- Implement network segmentation and access controls in line with security policy
- Lead troubleshooting of connectivity, latency, and packet loss issues across layers
- Plan and execute network changes, upgrades, and capacity expansions through change control
- Maintain accurate network documentation, diagrams, and IP address management
- Evaluate vendors and hardware, and manage support contracts for network equipment
Requirements and skills
- Proven work experience as a Network Engineer or network administrator
- Deep understanding of TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, and common routing protocols such as OSPF and BGP
- Hands-on experience configuring enterprise switches, routers, and firewalls
- Experience managing VPNs, wireless networks, and remote access solutions
- Working knowledge of network security practices, including segmentation and access control
- Experience with network monitoring and packet analysis tools such as Wireshark
- Disciplined change management habits and clear documentation skills
- Structured troubleshooting ability and calm communication during outages
- BSc in Computer Science, Network Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
Nice to have
- Certifications such as CCNA, CCNP, or vendor equivalents
- Experience with cloud networking on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud
- Network automation skills with Python, Ansible, or similar tools
- Experience with SD-WAN deployments or zero-trust network access
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