Network ArchitectPay rate: $86.53 - $91.35 per hr during the initial six-month term. $200K-$215K annually upon conversion.
This role is the principal network designer and highest-level engineering escalation resource, responsible for leading network modernization initiatives across complex, mission-critical environments. This role provides technical leadership, ensures engineering continuity, supports operational requirements, and maintains the integrity and evolution of the approved network architecture and engineering baseline.
Work Location: Completely on-site in Honolulu, HI, Monday - Friday, 7:00 am to 6:00 pm (HT), based upon the needs and direction of the customer.
Travel: 40%Basic Required Qualifications and Skills: - Must possess an active Cisco CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure or CCIE Security certification at start date.
- Minimum 15 years of progressively responsible network engineering experience, including at least 7 years as a senior architect, chief engineer, technical lead, or comparable authority in complex DoD or national-security environments.
- Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in network engineering, computer science, information systems, electrical engineering, cybersecurity, or a closely related discipline.
- Expert knowledge of:
- Enterprise routing and switching, BGP, OSPF, MPLS, multicast, VRF / VLAN segmentation, QoS, firewalls, SDN, WAN transport, encryption, network management, monitoring, high availability, and PACE communications planning.
- Demonstrated design experience with:
- Large classified and unclassified DoD networks, including NIPR and SIPR and relevant experience with JWICS, MPE / CENTRIX, CSfC, Type 1 encryption, or CDS interfaces.
- Demonstrated ability to lead senior engineers, enforce technical standards, resolve complex incidents, explain technical risk to senior leaders, and work effectively across multiple locations and time zones.
- Working knowledge of DoD architecture, RMF, Zero Trust, STIGs, vulnerability management, configuration and change control, site integration, testing, operational acceptance, and sustainment.
- Ability to brief general officers, senior Government civilians, program executives, and nontechnical stakeholders clearly and to distinguish validated requirements from assumptions, proposals, risks, and pending Government decisions.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills addressing senior executive leaders and General Officers.
- Able to work both independently and collaboratively, prioritizing tasks as
- Pursuant to a government contract, this specific position requires U.S. Citizenship.
- All applicants must have current DoD TS/SCI clearance eligibility day one and prior to entry on duty.
Desired Qualifications and Skills: It is desirable that the candidate have the following qualifications:
- Master's degree, from an accredited institution in network engineering, computer science, information systems, electrical engineering, cybersecurity, or a closely related discipline.
- 20+ years of progressively responsible network engineering experience, or comparable authority in complex DoD or national-security environments.
- Other relevant certifications such as ITIL, PMP etc. in ACTIVE status.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities: This position will include, but is not limited to, the following tasks:
- Design and maintain the integrated enterprise network architecture supporting distributed command, mission, and sustainment requirements across Hawaii, the Pacific, Alaska, Japan / Okinawa, and Government-directed CONUS locations.
- Translate operational needs into enterprise, logical, physical, cybersecurity, data-flow, and operations architectures that remain synchronized and traceable.
- Own the network technical baseline, including routing, switching, segmentation, QoS, firewalls, encryption, WAN and SDN design, PACE transport, management, monitoring, and high-availability patterns.
- Develop and approve network designs, engineering implementation plans, IP and routing plans, bills of material, configurations, rack elevations, cable schedules, interface records, cutover plans, rollback plans, and as-built packages.
- Ensure HMR or another Government-selected pilot becomes a validated reference design that can be reused through controlled, Government-approved site differences rather than independent redesigns.
- Serve as the senior engineer for Tier 3 and Tier 4 routing, switching, transport, security-boundary, interoperability, latency, QoS, failover, performance, and service-restoration issues.
- Provide technical direction and mentoring to network engineers assigned to designs, installations, cutovers, incidents, and corrective actions.
- Review engineering work for technical accuracy, interoperability, cybersecurity impact, supportability, configuration control, and compliance with the approved baseline before Government submission or implementation.
- Lead root-cause analysis for recurring or mission-significant technical problems and establish corrective actions that can be applied across affected sites.
- Advise the Regional Program Manager and Operations Officer when a project is technically ready to proceed, requires modification, or should be paused because an unresolved issue creates unacceptable mission, cyber, safety, or sustainment risk.
- Integrate Zero Trust, ICAM, segmentation, privileged access, logging, continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, STIG requirements, and configuration control into the network design in coordination with the Cyber / ATO Lead.
- Define system boundaries, trust zones, information exchanges, data paths, classification and releasability considerations, monitoring ownership, latency and QoS needs, and fallback requirements.
- Distinguish same-level protected transport from cross-domain or releasability transfers. Support approved CSfC or Type 1 solutions where appropriate and formal approved CDS interfaces when validated domain crossing is required.
- Establish Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency network paths and measurable failover, failback, restoration, bandwidth, latency, and monitoring criteria.
- Support the Operations Officer and project managers with technical estimates, dependencies, sequencing, design reviews, site-readiness criteria, engineering risks, and required technical resources.
- Approve technical entry and exit criteria for design freeze, installation, cutover, SIT, SAT, failover testing, operational acceptance, and release of the reference design for reuse.
- Ensure operational handoff addresses monitoring, ticket escalation, configuration management, patching and scanning, spares, warranty, local support, after-hours response, and restoration responsibilities.
- Prepare and execute the technical transition package, including the authoritative architecture, configurations, decision records, cybersecurity artifacts, known risks, open issues, test results, support dependencies, and prioritized recommendations for contract continuation.
- Use incidents, testing, user feedback, scans, and lessons learned to recommend controlled improvements to the approved technical baseline.
