Job DescriptionSecureIT is the dedicated IT and cybersecurity organization for BAE Systems' Aerospace & Mission Systems (AMS) segment - the team that keeps some of the nation's most sensitive missions connected. We operate ~300 classified and closed-area networks serving 15,000 users across four segment-managed enterprise environments, and we're investing heavily in modernizing how that infrastructure is built, automated, and run.
We're looking for a Director of Networking to lead that charge. This is a true leadership role: you'll own the vision, strategy, and talent development for our networking organization, and stand as a technical peer to our Platform Engineering group as they build out cloud-native internal networking. If you've built great networking teams before - and you still love the deep technical work across Cisco and Juniper environments - this role gives you both.
What You'll Own
• Team leadership and growth. Lead, develop, and retain a team of networking professionals. Build the bench: define career paths, grow future leaders, and raise the team's skills into automation, infrastructure-as-code, and cloud-native networking so networking leads modernization rather than follows it.
• Networking vision and strategy. Set the multi-year technical direction for network architecture, standards, and lifecycle across 300+ classified networks - moving us from manual operations toward automated, software-defined, network-as-code practices (Ansible Automation Platform and related tooling).
• Platform Engineering partnership. Co-own the connectivity architecture with our Platform Engineering group as they build cloud-native services, setting the networking standards their platforms are built on, and bringing deep expertise in overlay networks, container/Kubernetes networking, and hybrid connectivity between traditional and private-cloud environments.
• Operational excellence. Own the reliability, security, and compliance posture of networking across closed areas and enterprise environments. Act as the senior escalation point for the most complex incidents, and drive root-cause fixes rather than repeat firefighting.
• Executive engagement. Partner with senior IT and Security leadership on investment decisions, modernization roadmaps, and compliance strategy. Represent networking in enterprise architecture and governance forums.
Why This Role
• Scale and stakes. Few networking leadership roles offer this combination: hundreds of classified networks, national-security missions across BAE Systems' aerospace and defense portfolio, and a mandate to modernize.
• A real seat at the table. You'll be one of the senior leaders in the Infrastructure & Operations organization, with direct influence on enterprise strategy - not a caretaker role.
• Investment, not maintenance. We're actively funding automation, private-cloud, and platform engineering initiatives. Your team is central to all of them.
Required Skills and Education- 12+ years of progressive IT/networking experience, including 4+ years leading teams of networking professionals
- CompTIA Security+ (or equivalent certification), or completed within two months of hire
- Deep hands-on expertise with Cisco and Juniper enterprise networking (routing, switching, firewalls, network security)
- 5+ years supporting classified or closed-area networking environments
- Working knowledge of network automation practices (Ansible, scripting, infrastructure-as-code) and a vision for where they take a networking organization
- Familiarity with cloud-native networking concepts (SDN, overlay networks, container networking) or strong motivation to lead in that space
- A track record of developing engineers and empowering teams to make decisions at the right level while retaining accountability
- Executive-level communication skills - you can brief a VP and whiteboard with an engineer in the same afternoon
- Active Secret clearance with ability to obtain Top Secret
- Availability for occasional off-hours incident response
Preferred Skills and Education- Master's degree in Information Technology Management, or similar discipline
- Experience and expertise with Juniper networking equipment
- Physical ability to lift up to 40 lbs. and work in standing or kneeling positions while installing or connecting computing equipment
