NOC Lead Engineer and Enterprise Network and Security Operations

NOC Lead Engineer – Enterprise Network & Security Operations

This position requires strong hands-on expertise in advanced networking technologies, including Palo Alto Networks and Juniper Networks firewalls, SD-WAN, data center fabrics (ACI/VXLAN), and cloud networking, as well as the leadership and operational experience expected of a NOC Lead role.

Location:

Grand Rapids, MI – Hybrid (3 days onsite, 2 days remote).

Working hours:

Mon, Tue, Wed, 8‑5 PM.

• Lead day‑to‑day NOC operations and provide technical direction to L1/L2 engineers.
• Serve as a senior escalation point for complex network issues.
• Oversee response to network alerts, hardware issues, performance problems, and service interruptions.
• Lead and coordinate P1/P2 bridge calls, including troubleshooting direction and communication.
• Perform root cause analysis for recurring network issues and recommend preventive actions.
• Improve monitoring, incident response, documentation, and escalation processes.
• Develop and maintain SOPs, runbooks, incident reports, and operational standards.
• Collaborate with network engineering, infrastructure, security, cloud, and application teams.
• Support continuous improvement of network reliability, visibility, and operational readiness.

• Palo Alto firewalls
• Juniper SRX firewalls
• Juniper Mist wireless and wireless authentication
• Juniper and/or Cisco access layer switching
• SD‑WAN
• L3 routing, especially BGP
• Data center switching
• ACI / VXLAN fabrics preferred
• Cloud networking, preferably Azure or GCP
• Load balancing, preferably F5
• VPNs, access points, monitoring tools, and network troubleshooting

• Extensive experience in network operations, network engineering, or NOC leadership.
• Proven ability to lead or mentor L1/L2 NOC engineers.
• Strong troubleshooting experience across routing, switching, wireless, firewall, VPN, and network performance issues.
• Experience leading incident response and coordinating technical teams during high‑priority outages.
• Ability to document issues clearly, create SOPs, and improve operational processes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work hybrid onsite 3 days per week.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
• Certifications such as CCNA, CCNP, JNCIA, JNCIS, Palo Alto, CISSP, or similar.
• Experience with enterprise‑scale environments.
• Experience supporting data center, SD‑WAN, cloud networking, or network security operations.