Network Operations Lead

Overview

The Network Operations Lead provides technical leadership for operations, maintenance, and secure configuration of the Agency network environment. This role ensures network availability, performance, and security; leads troubleshooting and incident coordination; and maintains documentation and evidence to support compliance and audit readiness under the strategic oversight of the Agency CIO/PMO. The Network Operations Lead partners with cybersecurity and systems engineering stakeholders to implement secure network architectures, support continuous monitoring, and manage network changes in a controlled and traceable manner.

• Lead day-to-day network operations, including monitoring, performance management, troubleshooting, and restoration of service for network-related incidents and outages.
• Implement and maintain secure network configurations and baselines (e.g., segmentation, routing/switching standards, firewall rule governance, VPN access), coordinating with cybersecurity stakeholders on control implementation and risk reduction.
• Support continuous cybersecurity monitoring by ensuring required network logging, telemetry, and visibility are enabled and maintained (e.g., log forwarding, time synchronization, and sensor placement) in coordination with security operations.
• Coordinate network inputs to incident response, including triage support, traffic analysis, containment actions (as authorized), evidence preservation, and post‑incident remediation.
• Own network configuration management and change control activities, including change planning, impact analysis, approvals, implementation/rollback procedures, and post‑change validation.
• Maintain network inventories, diagrams, and standard operating procedures; ensure artifacts remain current and support audit readiness and documentation requirements.
• Coordinate vulnerability remediation related to network devices and services (e.g., firmware/OS updates, configuration fixes), including exception tracking and closure evidence.
• Support privileged access governance for network administration by coordinating access reviews, least‑privilege implementation, and administrative account hygiene.
• Provide technical leadership to network staff and/or subcontractors as applicable, including work assignment, peer review, mentoring, and standardization of procedures.
• Collaborate with systems engineering and enterprise architecture stakeholders to align network modernization and design decisions with Agency needs, security requirements, and compliance expectations.

• Bachelor's degree in Network Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in network infrastructure support.
• Certifications:
  
  CCNA, Network+, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical work, coordinate across stakeholders, and manage escalations to restore and sustain reliable network services.
• Strong documentation and communication skills to support change control, operational reporting, and audit‑ready evidence.

• Experience operating and securing networks in regulated federal environments with formal compliance and audit requirements.
• Experience with enterprise firewalls, network access control, remote access/VPN, and secure network segmentation concepts.
• Familiarity with network security monitoring concepts (e.g., IDS/IPS, Net Flow, log correlation) and coordination with security operations teams.
• Experience supporting vulnerability management and patching/firmware updates for network devices, including documentation of remediation evidence.
• Experience developing and maintaining network diagrams, SOPs, and operational runbooks for repeatable execution.

• Network monitoring and operational procedures, including escalation paths and on‑call/support coverage guidance.
• Current network diagrams, device inventories, configuration baseline documentation, and standard operating procedures maintained in an audit‑ready state.
• Change control records for network changes (implementation plans, rollback steps, approvals, and post‑change validation evidence).
• Network incident/outage records, root‑cause analysis summaries,…