Wireless Technical Lead. University Park LilyLifestyle

Wireless Technical Lead Network Engineer

The Penn State Information Technology (PSU IT) Infrastructure Division is seeking a Wireless Technical Lead Network Engineer (Principal Professional) to provide senior-level technical leadership, direction, and oversight for the University's enterprise wireless services team.

This role exists to lead the team to technically setting standards, guiding design decisions, mentoring engineers, and serving as the primary technical authority for wireless platform. While the Technical Lead remains technically engaged, the primary focus is technical leadership over individual execution. This is a non-managerial position that works in close partnership with the Wireless Manager.

• Serve as the primary technical leader for wireless and cellular services
• Responsible for collaborative design, technical guidance and direction to engineers implementation, and operations
• Establish and maintain technical standards, design patterns, and best practices
• Review and guide complex or high-risk technical decisions and changes
• Provide support to Cellular Product Manager when needed

• Lead wireless architecture and long-term technical planning
• Ensure designs align with reliability, scalability, security, and operational goals
• Evaluate new technologies and approaches in support of service evolution
• Maintain architectural documentation and reference designs
• Work with the Team to implement automation to improve rollout of wireless

• Provide technical leadership during major incidents, escalations, and service degradations
• Guide troubleshooting efforts and ensure effective root cause analysis
• Identify systemic issues and drive corrective actions to reduce recurrence
• Act as an escalation point for complex technical issues

• Mentor and coach wireless and cellular engineers
• Support skill development, onboarding, and knowledge transfer
• Promote consistent engineering practices and shared ownership
• Encourage documentation and operational maturity

• Partner with the Wireless Manager on technical strategy and priorities
• Collaborate with other ENCS network teams and Penn State IT partners
• Translate business and customer needs into sound technical direction
• Lead or participate in cross-team technical initiatives

• Enterprise wireless networking and RF design
• Wi-Fi service integration
• Network Authentication and integration with identity services and information security operations (e.g., RADIUS, EAP-TLS)
• Monitoring, observability, and performance analysis
• Automation and tooling used to support reliability and scale
• Technical documentation, standards, and operational runbooks

Qualified candidates will demonstrate strength across several of the following areas:

• Proven ability to lead complex technical initiatives without formal supervisory authority.
• Strong systems thinking and advanced problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence and build consensus.
• Experience mentoring peers and serving as a technical lead or subject matter expert.
• Extensive expertise in enterprise wireless networking and RF design.
• Strong background in RADIUS authentication and certificate-based access control.
• Familiarity with large-scale monitoring and observability platforms supporting high availability.
• Experience operating in complex, distributed environments, including higher education or similar institutions.
• Comfortable working in highly available, mission-critical environments.

Bachelor's Degree; 8+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience accepted;
Required

Certifications:

None

This position offers significant remote work opportunities; however, periodic on-site work is required based on operational needs. Candidates should live in the local area or be willing to travel to campus as needed at their own expense. Participation in an on-call rotation is required and occasional overnight travel may be needed.

Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies. This position requires that you operate a motor vehicle as a part of your job duties. A valid driver's license and successful completion of a motor vehicle records check will be required in addition to standard background checks. Penn State does not sponsor or take over sponsorship of a staff employment Visa.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S.

The salary range for this position, including all possible grades, is $97,100.00 - $. Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being. In addition to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, employees…