Position Description

Valiant Solutions is seeking a Network Operations engineer based in Silver Spring, MD to deliver Tier 1 through Tier 3 network operations for the headquarters campus and the East Coast footprint of a federal enterprise network. The engineer opens the operational day at 7:00 AM Eastern, monitors LAN, WAN, and carrier MPLS circuit health across roughly 50 sites nationwide, and provides the on-premise hands that headquarters infrastructure requires.

The headquarters campus supports approximately 700 staff and serves as the East Coast anchor of a consolidated Network Operations Center. Availability standards are strict: 99.99 percent core network uptime, a 15-minute response to Priority 1 incidents, and service restored within 4 hours.

This position is based in Silver Spring, MD, and allows for partial remote work. Remote work requires a high level of trust in our employees, and we strictly adhere to the details outlined in our Remote Work Policy below.

Required Experience

• 4 years of experience in network operations, data center management, or systems administration.
• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Network Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• In lieu of the Bachelor's degree, an Associate's degree (or a high school diploma or GED) plus two additional years of relevant experience, for 6 years in total.
• Experience operating against defined service level agreements in a monitored ticketing environment.

Technical Skills

• Cisco routing and switching operations across Catalyst and Nexus platforms, including VLAN changes, port configuration, and interface troubleshooting.
• OSPF and BGP troubleshooting, with awareness that the carrier runs EIGRP on its managed devices.
• Network monitoring and alarm triage using SolarWinds or an equivalent enterprise monitoring platform.
• Incident, problem, and change management in ServiceNow ITSM.
• Firewall rule analysis at the Tier 2 level on Cisco Firepower Threat Defense.
• Physical infrastructure work, including rack and stack, fiber and copper structured cabling, labeling, and hardware RMA processing.
• Reading and maintaining topology diagrams and asset inventories.

The following are preferred certifications:

• Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Enterprise.
• Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA).
• CompTIA Network+ and ITIL v4 Foundation

Communication and Stakeholder Engagement

• Written and verbal communication skills sufficient to explain network and security concepts to both engineers and non-technical government stakeholders.
• Ability to brief senior government leadership, including the Contracting Officer's Representative and Technical Lead, on incident root cause, risk, and remediation.
• Clear technical writing for Methods of Procedure, topology diagrams, standard operating procedures, and monthly status report inputs.
• Ability to work as a contractor employee in a non-personal services environment, identifying as contractor staff in all meetings, correspondence, and system records.

Federal Knowledge

• Working knowledge of federal network security direction, including Zero Trust Architecture (NIST SP 800-207), Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) 3.0 reference architectures, and the IPv6 mandate under OMB M-21-07.
• Familiarity with NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 security and privacy controls as they apply to network and boundary protection.
• Understanding of HSPD-12 identity credentialing and its enforcement in network access decisions.
• Awareness of Section 508 accessibility requirements (WCAG 2.0 AA) as they apply to contract deliverables.
• Experience operating inside a federal change control process, with government-approved documentation and deliverable acceptance criteria.
• Willingness to complete required customer training, including annual cybersecurity awareness, records management, privacy, safety, and harassment prevention training.

Responsibilities
Daily Network Operations

• Provide Tier 1 through Tier 3 support, from triage, connectivity checks, and port resets through routing protocol troubleshooting, VLAN changes, and firewall rule analysis.
• Work the East Coast shift, typically 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM Eastern, so that the enterprise operational window opens on time.
• Participate in the 24x7x365 on-call rotation and respond to Priority 1 incidents within 15 minutes.
• Prepare Methods of Procedure for every configuration change, including rollback plans and risk assessments, and carry them through the Change Control Board.
• Maintain topology diagrams, asset inventories, and knowledge base articles that shorten mean time to resolution.
• Record all activity in ServiceNow ITSM and report ticket status, overage tickets, and service level performance monthly.

Carrier Coordination

• Monitor customer edge routers and the circuits they terminate, tracking latency, jitter, packet loss, and availability across the nationwide site footprint.
• Open and manage trouble tickets with the MPLS carrier and transport providers, escalate through vendor management chains, and schedule intrusive testing windows.
• Own the overall incident and internal communications during a circuit outage, providing hourly status updates to government stakeholders until service is restored.
• Apply Quality of Service markings and policy on customer edge routers so that mission data and VoIP traffic receive priority.

Headquarters On-Premise Support

• Perform on-premise hardware work at the headquarters campus, including rack and stack, structured cabling, and hardware replacement with RMA processing.
• Serve as the on-site technical presence when remote access is unavailable or when a task cannot be delegated to smart hands.
• Support access layer readiness for 802.1X enforcement as the Network Access Control rollout reaches each switch.
• Support failover testing of internet, DMZ, and cloud access paths in coordination with the security team.
• Travel to data center and regional sites as directed for physical infrastructure work.

Benefits Snapshot (includes, but not limited to)
Valiant pays 99% of the Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage for Full-time Employees
Valiant contributes 25% towards Health Coverage for Family and Dependents
100% Paid Short Term Disability and Life Insurance Policy for Full-time Employees
100% Paid Certifications
401K Matching up to 4%
Paid Time Off
Paid Federal Holidays
Wellness & Fitness Program
Valiant University - Online Education and Training Portal
FSA programs for: Medical Costs, Dependent Care, Transit, and Parking
Referral Bonuses

The salary range for this position is a general guideline and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. It has been benchmarked in relation to the scope of the role, market rate, and internal equity. The salary for this role is expected to be in the $90,500- $95,750 range. Where a candidate falls within the band can be determined based on one or more of the following: skillset, experience level, achievements, education, geographic location, security clearance, involvement in corporate tasks, and other non-discriminatory factors. In addition to the base salary, this role will include benefits as described above. Valiant reserves the right to adjust the salary range, experience requirements, and position responsibilities at any time without prior notice.

Remote Work Policy

Remote work necessitates a high level of trust in our employees. To ensure that employee performance does not suffer in a remote work environment, all employees who telecommute are expected to have a quiet and distraction-free workspace with adequate internet, dedicate their full attention and availability to their job duties during working hours, and maintain a schedule during core business hours that align with those of their coworkers and Valiant's clients. In alignment with Valiant's inclusive and engaging environment, cameras are encouraged and can be required to be on during virtual video conferences. Additionally, in alignment with the Office of the Inspector General's effort to eliminate conflicting employment, all Valiant employees are required to disclose any current or future outside employment engagements. During onboarding and throughout employment, employees must disclose any current activities or intent to engage in outside employment or other professional activities and obtain written approval. Employees may not solicit or conduct any outside business during core business hours for Valiant Solutions and our clients.