Network Automation Engineer - TS/SCI clearance - Chantilly, VA

Network Automation Engineer – Federal Customer

Location: Chantilly, VA
Work Arrangement: 100% Onsite – 5 Days per Week
Security Clearance: Active TS/SCI Required
Position: Network Development / Automation Engineering

IMPORTANT: Candidates must possess an active TS/SCI clearance. Applicants without the required clearance will be automatically declined.

Job Summary

PGTEK is seeking an experienced Network Automation Engineer to support a federal customer in Chantilly, VA. This position plays a critical role in designing, deploying, automating, and maintaining enterprise network infrastructure supporting mission-critical IT workloads.

The successful candidate will work alongside network architects, software engineers, and platform engineering teams to develop scalable, reliable, and automated networking solutions. This role focuses on automating network deployments, optimizing performance, troubleshooting complex infrastructure issues, and improving the stability and scalability of next-generation networks.

The Network Automation Engineer will work directly with enterprise networking hardware, including switches, routers, firewalls, and software-defined networking platforms. Responsibilities include developing automation scripts, implementing configuration changes, supporting enterprise WAN and SD-WAN environments, and maintaining network infrastructure across geographically distributed sites.

The ideal candidate combines strong enterprise networking expertise with practical software development and automation experience. This individual will help streamline network operations, improve deployment consistency, and deliver sustainable solutions that support evolving mission requirements.

An active TS/SCI clearance is required. Candidates must be able to work onsite five days per week in Chantilly, VA.

Key Responsibilities

Network Development & Infrastructure Engineering

• Design, deploy, maintain, and optimize enterprise network infrastructure supporting mission-critical IT workloads.
• Support network operations, infrastructure deployments, technology refreshes, scaling, and sustaining engineering activities.
• Configure, manage, and troubleshoot enterprise networking hardware, including switches, routers, firewalls, and network appliances.
• Support network infrastructure from Top-of-Rack (ToR) switching through the network border and associated connectivity.
• Collaborate with network architects and engineering teams to implement new network designs, products, and infrastructure capabilities.
• Support network performance, stability, scalability, and operational reliability.
• Identify opportunities to improve network architecture, infrastructure management, and operational efficiency.

Network Automation & Configuration Management

• Develop and implement automation solutions to deploy, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot network infrastructure.
• Create production-quality automation scripts and configuration frameworks using Python, Go, and Ansible.
• Automate network configuration changes to improve consistency, reduce manual effort, and minimize operational risk.
• Develop simple, sustainable, and repeatable automation processes for network deployment and maintenance.
• Integrate network automation with device APIs, software-defined control planes, and infrastructure management tools.
• Utilize RESTful APIs, NETCONF, RESTCONF, and structured data formats to interact with network devices and services.
• Maintain network automation standards, configuration policies, and operational best practices.
• Support automation-driven network provisioning, configuration validation, and infrastructure lifecycle management.

Enterprise WAN & SD-WAN Engineering

• Design, deploy, configure, and troubleshoot large-scale enterprise WAN architectures across geographically distributed sites.
• Support enterprise routing protocols, including BGP, OSPF, and EIGRP.
• Implement and maintain MPLS, overlay networks, and enterprise network connectivity.
• Configure and manage software-defined WAN platforms, including Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN/Viptela, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, VMware Velocloud, and Silver Peak.
• Support centralized policy enforcement, zero-touch provisioning (ZTP), and dynamic path selection.
• Troubleshoot routing, interconnectivity, performance, and configuration issues across WAN infrastructure.
• Implement secure connectivity between network environments using appropriate transport and security technologies.
• Optimize network performance and reliability for latency-sensitive enterprise applications.

Network Security & Connectivity

• Implement and maintain secure network connectivity across enterprise and WAN boundaries.
• Configure and troubleshoot IPsec site-to-site tunnels, MACsec, and next-generation firewall policies.
• Support network segmentation, security policy enforcement, and secure infrastructure connectivity.
• Implement and maintain Quality of Service (QoS) policies and traffic shaping to support application performance requirements.
• Collaborate with security and network engineering teams to maintain compliance with infrastructure standards and program requirements.

Linux, Software-Defined Networking & Platform Integration

• Troubleshoot network infrastructure involving Linux systems, networking applications, and software-defined control planes.
• Support enterprise network operating systems and platforms, including SONiC and Cumulus Linux.
• Work with network protocols, APIs, and software-defined networking technologies, including Open vSwitch.
• Support network integration across compute, virtualization, and enterprise platform environments.
• Apply networking fundamentals to troubleshoot application-level connectivity and infrastructure performance issues.
• Assist with deployment and sustainment of next-generation networking software and tools.

Kubernetes & Container Networking

• Support network infrastructure and connectivity for Kubernetes-based environments.
• Apply knowledge of Kubernetes networking concepts, container networking, and cluster connectivity.
• Utilize the Kubernetes Container Network Interface (CNI) to interact with network plugins and manage pod networking.
• Support configuration, deployment, and maintenance of the MetalLB Operator for load balancing in bare-metal Kubernetes environments.
• Troubleshoot network connectivity, routing, and service communication across containerized workloads.
• Collaborate with platform engineering teams to ensure reliable networking across Kubernetes infrastructure.

Collaboration, Documentation & Operational Excellence

• Work closely with network architects, software engineers, platform teams, vendors, and customers to understand requirements and implement effective solutions.
• Support the rapid deployment and integration of new network designs, products, and infrastructure capabilities.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation, automation procedures, configuration standards, and operational runbooks.
• Identify opportunities to improve network deployment processes, automation frameworks, and infrastructure reliability.
• Maintain compliance with established networking standards, security policies, and operational procedures.
• Manage multiple priorities effectively while meeting technical requirements and deployment deadlines.
• Communicate technical issues, implementation plans, and troubleshooting findings clearly to engineering teams and stakeholders.

Requirements

Enterprise Networking & WAN Architecture

• Extensive experience designing, deploying, configuring, and troubleshooting large-scale enterprise WAN architectures.
• Strong understanding of core routing protocols, including BGP, OSPF, and EIGRP.
• Experience with MPLS, overlay networks, and geographically distributed enterprise connectivity.
• Proficiency in enterprise network topologies and architecture, including VLAN, LAN, and WAN environments.
• Experience troubleshooting network routing, interconnectivity, performance, and configuration issues.

Software-Defined WAN

• Hands-on experience configuring and managing enterprise SD-WAN platforms, such as:
• Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN / Viptela
• Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
• VMware Velocloud
• Silver Peak
• Understanding of centralized policy enforcement, zero-touch provisioning (ZTP), and dynamic path selection.
• Experience deploying, maintaining, and troubleshooting SD-WAN connectivity across enterprise environments.

Network Automation & Programming

• Proficiency developing production automation scripts and configuration frameworks using Python and Ansible.
• Practical experience automating network configuration, provisioning, and operational tasks.
• Experience working with network REST APIs, NETCONF, and/or RESTCONF.
• Familiarity with structured data formats, including JSON, YAML, and XML.
• Ability to develop repeatable automation solutions that improve deployment consistency and operational efficiency.
• Proficiency in either Python or Go programming language.

Network Security & Transport

• Strong experience implementing secure network connectivity across WAN boundaries.
• Experience configuring and troubleshooting IPsec site-to-site tunnels and MACsec.
• Familiarity with next-generation firewall policies and enterprise network security controls.
• Experience implementing QoS traffic shaping and prioritization for latency-sensitive applications.
• Understanding of secure network segmentation, routing policies, and enterprise connectivity requirements.

Additional Qualifications

• Experience working with enterprise networking hardware, including switches, routers, and firewalls.
• Familiarity with software-defined networking, network APIs, and enterprise networking tools.
• Understanding of Linux systems and network troubleshooting.
• Experience working with Kubernetes networking concepts and container network interfaces.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and deliver solutions in a fast-paced engineering environment.
• Active TS/SCI clearance and ability to maintain access as required by the program.
• Ability to work onsite five days per week in Chantilly, VA.
• Ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds.

Preferred Qualifications

Infrastructure Automation & DevOps

• Experience using Terraform to define and manage network infrastructure state.
• Familiarity with Git-based version control and GitOps workflows.
• Experience with GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, or similar CI/CD platforms.
• Ability to automate network configuration validation, linting, testing, and deployment.
• Experience implementing infrastructure automation workflows that support continuous network deployment.

Network Telemetry & Observability

• Experience with model-driven telemetry technologies, including gRPC and gNMI.
• Familiarity with YANG data modeling and network configuration standards.
• Experience implementing network monitoring and observability pipelines.
• Familiarity with Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/OpenSearch, and ThousandEyes.
• Ability to analyze network latency, jitter, packet loss, and performance trends.
• Experience developing proactive monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities.

Cloud Networking & SASE

• Experience integrating enterprise SD-WAN environments with public cloud networking platforms.
• Familiarity with AWS Transit Gateway and Direct Connect.
• Experience with Azure Virtual WAN and ExpressRoute.
• Understanding of Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architectures.
• Familiarity with Zscaler, Palo Alto Prisma Access, or comparable enterprise security platforms.
• Experience supporting hybrid cloud connectivity and secure enterprise network integration.

Advanced Networking & Automation Certifications

• Cisco Certified DevNet Professional.
• Cisco CCNP Enterprise with a network automation focus.
• Cisco CCIE.
• Equivalent advanced networking, infrastructure automation, or network engineering certifications.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for a technically strong network engineer who combines enterprise networking knowledge with software development and automation capabilities.

The ideal candidate understands how complex network infrastructure operates, can troubleshoot issues across multiple layers, and has the programming skills necessary to automate network deployment and operational processes.

This individual is comfortable working with enterprise networking hardware, software-defined networking platforms, Linux systems, and modern infrastructure technologies. They demonstrate initiative, strong analytical skills, and the ability to collaborate effectively with architects, engineers, vendors, and customers.

Success in this role requires a commitment to building scalable, reliable, secure, and repeatable networking solutions while continuously improving infrastructure performance and operational efficiency.

Work Environment

This position supports a federal customer in a secure, mission-critical environment. The engineer will work onsite with a multidisciplinary team responsible for network development, automation, deployment, and infrastructure sustainment.

Benefits

Our comprehensive benefits package for full-time salaried employees is effective immediately upon the start date. Benefits include comprehensive PPO medical coverage with access to a Health Savings Account (HSA) option, a vision plan, and dental insurance with the base dental plan option paid for by PGTEK. Life Insurance, Short and Long-Term disability, and Critical Illness insurance have premiums covered.