Principal Network Engineer

Department: Information Technology

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Redondo Beach, California, Redondo Beach

Responsibilities

• Own network architecture and design decisions within assigned domains (sites, network tiers, or functional areas).
• Design, implement, and maintain enterprise network infrastructure including Layer 2/3 switching, routing, segmentation, wireless, and WAN connectivity.
• Design and deploy advanced routing solutions using protocols such as OSPF and BGP, with a focus on scalability, resilience, and performance.
• Engineer segmented network environments supporting corporate, manufacturing, lab/test, restricted, and guest use cases.
• Design and implement high-availability and fault-tolerant network solutions (for example HSRP/VRRP, MLAG, stack-level or chassis resiliency).
• Partner with Network Architects to align implementations with reference architectures and future-state designs.

• Own the operational health of assigned network environments, including availability, performance, and fault isolation.
• Troubleshoot complex network issues across Layers 1 through 7.
• Participate in event-driven operational support (for example test campaigns, mission events, critical operational activities).
• Lead or contribute to incident response, root cause analysis, and post-mortems.
• Execute firmware upgrades, lifecycle management, and hardware refreshes.
• Participate in capacity planning, performance tuning, and growth forecasting.

• Implement network security controls in partnership with Security and Compliance teams.
• Support network segmentation initiatives including VRFs, ACL policy enforcement, and zero-trust-aligned access models.
• Implement and support NAC / 802.1X, firewalling, VPNs, and access control mechanisms.
• Operate networks in regulated environments aligned with ITAR, NIST 800-171, CMMC, and similar requirements.
• Ensure logging, monitoring, and telemetry meet security and audit expectations.

• Design and manage site-to-site and site-to-cloud connectivity, including IPsec VPNs, SD-WAN, and cloud network integrations.
• Configure and optimize QoS policies to support latency-sensitive traffic such as voice, video, telemetry, or control systems.
• Support precision-timed and time-sensitive networking requirements (for example PTP / IEEE 1588, 802.1AS) where applicable.

• Apply automation and scripting (for example Ansible, Python, Terraform) to improve consistency, reliability, and operational efficiency.
• Deploy and maintain network observability solutions including SNMP, NetFlow/sFlow, and performance telemetry.
• Integrate network telemetry into broader monitoring and alerting platforms.
• Contribute to operational runbooks, standard operating procedures, and reliability improvements.

• Maintain accurate network documentation, topology diagrams, IP address management, and configuration records.
• Work closely with Infrastructure, Security, Facilities, and IT Operations teams.
• Support new site builds, expansions, relocations, and lab deployments.
• Provide Tier III or escalation-level technical support and guidance to operations teams.

Minimum Qualifications

• 12+ years of hands-on network engineering experience in production environments.
• Demonstrated experience supporting multi-site, on-prem, and cloud-adjacent networks.
• Experience operating in security-sensitive or regulated environments.
• Active Industry CCNP certification

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Industry certifications such as CCNA, CCIE, or equivalent advanced hands-on experience.
• Experience with SD-WAN, data center fabrics, or EVPN/VXLAN.
• Familiarity with precision time protocols (PTP / IEEE 1588, 802.1AS) and QoS or traffic engineering.
• Experience with automation frameworks and infrastructure-as-code concepts.
• Experience in aerospace, defense, manufacturing, or other regulated, mission-critical environments.

• Expert knowledge of Layer 2/3 networking technologies including VLANs, trunking, STP, link aggregation, OSPF, and BGP.
• Hands-on experience designing and deploying high-availability architectures (HSRP/VRRP, MLAG, stacking).
• Strong experience with network segmentation, VRFs, ACLs, NAC, and 802.1X.
• Experience with enterprise wireless networks, VPNs, and WAN connectivity.
• Strong troubleshooting skills across complex, distributed network environments.
• Experience in Cisco-leaning environments, including traditional enterprise platforms and Meraki or other cloud-managed solutions. Experience with other enterprise networking platforms (for example Juniper, Arista, Palo Alto, Fortinet, Aruba, or similar) is also acceptable.