Network Engineer III

• Location: Belleville, Illinois
• Type: Contract
• Job #4056

Title: Network Engineer III - Joint Fires Network (JFN)
Location: Scott AFB, IL
Compensation Range: $100 - $120k
Clearance: * Active DoD Top Secret required*
Schedule: Rotating w/ 10% Travel

Company Overview:
Cornerstone Defense is the Employer of Choice within the Intelligence, Defense, and Space communities of the U.S. Government. Realizing early on that our most prized assets are our employees, we continually focus our attention on improving the overall work/life experience they have supporting the mission. Our Team is pushed every day to use their industry leading knowledge to provide end-to-end solutions to combat our nation's toughest and most secure problems. If you are looking for a place to not only be professionally challenged, but encouraged and supported by a company that cares, don't look any further than Cornerstone Defense.

Benefits Overview:
Cornerstone Defense offers a very comprehensive benefits package including, but not limited to: Medical, Dental and Vision Plans * Generous PTO Policy * 401(k) * HSA and FSA options * Life and Disability Insurance * Tuition Reimbursement and Training * Perks at Work Discount Program * Referral Program * Leads Generation Program * CollegeAmerica 529 * Fitness Reimbursement Program * Travel Assistance * Norton Lifelock Benefit Solutions * Life Planning Financial & Legal Services *

Position Description:
The Network Engineer III serves as a senior-level network operations engineer responsible for advanced network troubleshooting, complex circuit redesign, deep analysis of transport/IP connectivity, and leadership-level operational support within a 247 environment. This role requires substantial technical proficiency, strong situational judgment, and the ability to independently resolve multi-layer transport and IP issues impacting high-visibility DoD customers.

Core Tasks:

• Execute network operations involving configuration, analysis, and optimization of customer circuits across optical multiplexers, electro-optical systems, routers, and switches.
• Perform real-time circuit redesign and routing adjustments to restore connectivity during outages, maintenance events, or unexpected network degradations.
• Engage directly with internal customers, external agencies, service providers, and higher-tier engineering teams to maintain maximum network availability.
• Proactively monitor alarms using platform-specific network management tools to rapidly detect service-impacting conditions.
• Perform change-management tasks including hardware replacements, platform configurations, and ASI updates.
• Use incident management applications to thoroughly document outages, escalation paths, troubleshooting actions, root cause isolation, and resolutions.
• Assess, diagnose, and recommend corrective actions for advanced network issues using deep expertise across routers, switches, crypto devices, Cisco, Juniper, MSPP, optical transport, MPLS, TDM, and SDH/SONET networks.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree and 4 years relevant experience, or equivalent combination of education/experience.
• DoD-8570 IAT Level II certification (Security CE or equivalent) prior to start date.
• Ability to work in a 247 shift environment.
• Deep Understanding of IP and Transport network topologies.

Preferred:

• Experience within tech control or cyber transport environments.
• Background in circuit actions and vendor coordination.
• Strong IP/Transport architecture experience.
• Experience with SolarWinds and Jira.
• Telco NOC, inside plant, or outside plant experience.
• Proficiency with MS Office Suite (Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access, Teams).
• Experience in one or more: alarm surveillance, fault management, LAN maintenance, performance management, change management.

Salary : $100,000 - $120,000