Principal Network Engineer; Cisco

IT

Plano, Texas Contract To Hire May 22, 2026

Network Engineering

Plano, TX – In-Office

This role requires the employee to be fully on-site at the company’s Plano, Texas headquarters.

Role Type

Full-time

Our client is a long‑standing, technology‑forward provider of accessible financial solutions focused on serving underserved and credit‑challenged customers across North America. They operate a portfolio of well‑known consumer brands that enable customers to obtain essential products and services through both in‑store and digital channels, with thousands of retail locations and a strong e‑commerce presence. The organization sits at the intersection of financial services and retail, with a data‑driven model that powers inclusive, customer‑centric offerings across the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

At its core, the company is mission‑driven, emphasizing inclusion, empowerment, and responsible access to financial alternatives for everyday consumers.

The Principal Network Engineer will serve as the primary technical authority for the enterprise network, leading the design, deployment, and optimization of a large‑scale Cisco‑based and cloud‑enabled infrastructure. In this role, you will architect and manage routing, switching, security, and data center solutions across campus, branch, data center, and cloud environments, ensuring reliable and secure connectivity for thousands of users and critical customer‑facing applications.

Your work will enable highly available digital and in‑store experiences for customers, support core financial platforms, and drive modernization of the company’s hybrid on‑premises and AWS footprint.

Day to day, you will design and maintain Cisco Catalyst and Nexus environments, ACI fabrics, Meraki networks, and AWS networking services while leveraging infrastructure‑as‑code and Python automation to streamline operations. You will collaborate closely with Cloud, Security, Dev Ops, and Application teams, take ownership of high‑severity incident resolution, and mentor junior engineers as the go‑to expert for complex network and connectivity challenges.

The ideal candidate is passionate about enterprise networking, cloud‑native architectures, and automation, and enjoys driving standards, best practices, and strategic initiatives that improve performance, scalability, and security.

• Design and deploy enterprise network architectures spanning campus, data center, branch, and cloud environments.
• Architect and manage Cisco‑based infrastructure including Catalyst and Nexus switching, routing, and wireless solutions.
• Administer and optimize Cisco ACI fabrics, including policy configuration, fabric management, and service integrations.
• Lead deployment, configuration, and lifecycle management of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) including 802.1X and policy enforcement.
• Design, implement, and support AWS advanced networking solutions including VPCs, Transit Gateways, Direct Connect, and hybrid connectivity.
• Develop and maintain infrastructure‑as‑code frameworks using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, and Cloud Formation.
• Write, enhance, and support Python scripts to automate network provisioning, configuration management, and monitoring activities.
• Monitor network performance, capacity, and health using telemetry and monitoring tools, driving continual improvement.
• Lead high‑level troubleshooting and root cause analysis for critical incidents in both on‑premises and cloud environments.
• Collaborate with Cloud, Security, Dev Ops, and Application teams to ensure secure, reliable connectivity for key platforms and services.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation, diagrams, and standards for current and target‑state network architectures.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior and mid‑level network engineers.

• 10–15 years of hands‑on experience with Cisco enterprise networking technologies in medium to large environments.
• Deep expertise in routing and switching protocols, including OSPF, BGP, VRF, HSRP, and STP.
• Strong experience with Cisco Nexus (5K/7K/9K) and Catalyst series…