Network Operations

Position Description Valiant Solutions is seeking a Network Operations  to join our rapidly growing and innovative cybersecurity team! Valiant Solutions is seeking a Network Operations engineer based in Silver Spring, MD to deliver Tier 1 through Tier 3 network operations for the headquarters campus and the East Coast footprint of a federal enterprise network. The engineer opens the operational day at 7:00 AM Eastern, monitors LAN, WAN, and carrier MPLS circuit health across roughly 50 sites nationwide, and provides the on-premise hands that headquarters infrastructure requires. The headquarters campus supports approximately 700 staff and serves as the East Coast anchor of a consolidated Network Operations Center. Availability standards are strict: 99.99 percent core network uptime, a 15-minute response to Priority 1 incidents, and service restored within 4 hours. Named one of the Best Places to Work in the Washington DC area for 12 consecutive years , Valiant is proud of our employee-centric culture and commitment to excellence. If you are interested in learning more about Valiant and this opportunity, we invite you to apply now! This position is based in Silver Spring, MD, and allows for partial remote work. Remote work requires a high level of trust in our employees, and we strictly adhere to the details outlined in our Remote Work Policy below.  Required Experience 4 years of experience in network operations, data center management, or systems administration. Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Network Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field. In lieu of the Bachelor's degree, an Associate's degree (or a high school diploma or GED) plus two additional years of relevant experience, for 6 years in total. Experience operating against defined service level agreements in a monitored ticketing environment. Technical Skills Cisco routing and switching operations across Catalyst and Nexus platforms, including VLAN changes, port configuration, and interface troubleshooting. OSPF and BGP troubleshooting, with awareness that the carrier runs EIGRP on its managed devices. Network monitoring and alarm triage using SolarWinds or an equivalent enterprise monitoring platform. Incident, problem, and change management in ServiceNow ITSM. Firewall rule analysis at the Tier 2 level on Cisco Firepower Threat Defense. Physical infrastructure work, including rack and stack, fiber and copper structured cabling, labeling, and hardware RMA processing. Reading and maintaining topology diagrams and asset inventories. The following are preferred certifications: Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Enterprise. Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA). CompTIA Network+ and ITIL v4 Foundation  Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Written and verbal communication skills sufficient to explain network and security concepts to both engineers and non-technical government stakeholders. Ability to brief senior government leadership, including the Contracting Officer's Representative and Technical Lead, on incident root cause, risk, and remediation. Clear technical writing for Methods of Procedure, topology diagrams, standard operating procedures, and monthly status report inputs. Ability to work as a contractor employee in a non-personal services environment, identifying as contractor staff in all meetings, correspondence, and system records. Federal Knowledge Working knowledge of federal network security direction, including Zero Trust Architecture (NIST SP 800-207), Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) 3.0 reference architectures, and the IPv6 mandate under OMB M-21-07. Familiarity with NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 security and privacy controls as they apply to network and boundary protection. Understanding of HSPD-12 identity credentialing and its enforcement in network access decisions. Awareness of Section 508 accessibility requirements (WCAG 2.0 AA) as they apply to contract deliverables. Experience operating inside a federal change control process, with government-approved documentation and deliverable acceptance criteria. Willingness to complete required customer training, including annual cybersecurity awareness, records management, privacy, safety, and harassment prevention training. Responsibilities Daily Network Operations  Provide Tier 1 through Tier 3 support, from triage, connectivity checks, and port resets through routing protocol troubleshooting, VLAN changes, and firewall rule analysis. Work the East Coast shift, typically 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM Eastern, so that the enterprise operational window opens on time. Participate in the 24x7x365 on-call rotation and respond to Priority 1 incidents within 15 minutes. Prepare Methods of Procedure for every configuration change, including rollback plans and risk assessments, and carry them through the Change Control Board. Maintain topology diagrams, asset inventories, and knowledge base articles that shorten mean time to resolution. Record all activity in ServiceNow ITSM and report ticket status, overage tickets, and service level performance monthly. Carrier Coordination  Monitor customer edge routers and the circuits they terminate, tracking latency, jitter, packet loss, and availability across the nationwide site footprint. Open and manage trouble tickets with the MPLS carrier and transport providers, escalate through vendor management chains, and schedule intrusive testing windows. Own the overall incident and internal communications during a circuit outage, providing hourly status updates to government stakeholders until service is restored. Apply Quality of Service markings and policy on customer edge routers so that mission data and VoIP traffic receive priority. Headquarters On-Premise Support  Perform on-premise hardware work at the headquarters campus, including rack and stack, structured cabling, and hardware replacement with RMA p