Tier IV Network Engineer

W Hartford, Connecticut
Internet 2
Internet2 provides the U.S. research and education community with a dynamic, innovative world-leading set of advanced information technologies. Through collaboration with regional optical networks, international partners, and campus members, Internet2 provides next-generation network services and a platform for the development of new networking paradigms. With community control of the fundamental networking infrastructure, the Internet2 Network provides the scalability for its members to efficiently provision resources to address bandwidth-intensive requirements of their campuses such as collaborative applications, distributed research experiments, grid-based data analysis, and social networking.
The Internet2 Network Services division develops and operates a highly unique network infrastructure for the research and education community. It also directly engages with that community to continually evolve the services provided by that infrastructure, requiring expertise that transcends nearly all the layers of advanced networking, cloud computing, measurement, information security and information technology.
To help support this critical mission, we are seeking a Tier IV Network Engineer to serve as both a technical expert and community liaison to further evolve the services provided by the Internet2 network. Domestic and occasional international travel is expected.
Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical leader within Network Services focused on optical transport, network failure analysis, and overall capacity management
• Author work packages for major changes to the optical network platform, including changes to existing services and provisioning of new services
• Support the Internet2 Network Operations Center (NOC) and Business Development Team as a senior technical leader and subject matter expert, assisting in solving critical problems and developing new solutions
• Interact cross-divisionally with Internet2 leadership, providing key feedback on technology implementations and policy development
• Interact extensively with Internet2 customer technical stakeholders to forge relationships, contribute to the technical development of the community at large (including hosting workshops and training) and support the R&E ecosystem of regional networks and campuses
• Work actively to identify emerging technologies and trends within industry, analyze community requirements, and work within the Architecture team to develop new architectural directions
• Mentor junior engineering staff on complex technologies; recommend training programs to encourage division wide, cross-team competency
• Serve as escalation point and leader for operational support and technical negotiations with vendors
• Develop and maintain comprehensive laboratory facilities hosted within Internet2 facilities to test new technologies as well as provide debugging environments for identified problems.
• Work independently and in a team environment
• Expected to travel up to 30% for community and vendor interactions – travel is on hold due to COVID-19, but will resume at some point in the future

QUALIFICATIONS
The successful candidate will be a self-motivated team player combining first-rate communication skills with excellent problem-solving ability. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or ability required.
Required:

• Five years of experience and ability to demonstrate skills in developing and managing DWDM optical transport systems, specifically long-haul coherent optical fiber communication systems with in-line optical amplifiers
• Bachelor’s Degree in a science or engineering discipline; alternatively, a substitute of significant relevant experience may be accepted.
• Experience with wide area transport network and/or service provider implementations, operating optical platforms on IRU fibers in a remotely supported environment, etc.
• Experience designing and leading the implementation of transponders and ROADM infrastructure and to provide edge network services in high-availability environments. Demonstrated knowledge of spectrum management, power balancing, and OSNR optimization.
• Familiarity with Operational Support System and Network Management System software stacks as applied to network automation, orchestration and telemetry.
• Ability to write devops scripts (python, perl, JSON, etc) to communicate with network elements and retrieve database information.
• Experience working in telecommunications and data center facilities, including the design of power systems (-48V DC and AC) and fiber cable planta.

Preferred:

• Familiarity with the R&E community and their requirements for networks.
• Experience with Traffic Engineering within MPLS and/or segment routed networks.
• Experience designing networks for random large flows AND consistent utilization.
• Certifications and/or demonstrated knowledge of the Juniper and Cisco IOS-XR product suite, as well as other routing and switching products.

Internet2 has offices located in Ann Arbor, MI; Denver, CO; Washington, DC: and West Hartford, CT. Remote candidates are encouraged to apply.
Internet2 is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.

PI