Network Infrastructure Engineer

Senior Network Infrastructure Engineer (2 Openings)

Location: inner SE Portland, OR (Hybrid – ~3 days/week on-site)

Type: 2-year contracts (potential for extension)

Our client keeps the Portland metro moving — buses, MAX light rail, streetcar, and more. Behind that is a mission-critical network that supports CCTV, rail systems, voice, data, and real-time vehicle communications.

We’re supporting our client as they add two Senior Network Infrastructure Engineers to their Network & Server team. These roles focus on high-availability, converged network infrastructure in a complex enterprise environment where reliability and safety really matter.

We’re recruiting for two senior-level roles:

1. Sr. Network Engineer – Firewall / Security Focus

• Lead design, deployment, and support of next-gen firewalls (Palo Alto preferred) in a highly segmented environment.
• Help build out new network modules to isolate services (e.g., separating CCTV from rail environments) and reduce blast radius.
• Serve as a primary/secondary SME for firewall policy, rule sets, and security best practices (PCI/HIPAA exposure is a plus)

2. Sr. Network Engineer – Wireless / Mobility (Cisco / Meraki) Focus

• Own design and support of Cisco wireless controllers and Meraki environments across yards, facilities, and vehicles.
• Support existing operations where vehicles use Wi-Fi and cellular to offload CCTV footage, and help drive the long-term move toward real-time cellular connectivity across the fleet.
• Work on projects involving mobile/vehicle RF, MPLS networking, and future cellular-first architectures.

If you’re stronger on one side (firewalls or wireless/Meraki) but have strong route/switch fundamentals and are comfortable learning, our client is open to candidates who can grow into the tools.

In both roles, you’ll:

• Plan, design, implement, and manage our client’s IT communication and network infrastructure, with an emphasis on high availability and security.
• Support and improve a complex, converged environment: Cisco switches/routers, wireless, firewalls, VPN/remote access, and monitoring/platform tools.
• Troubleshoot network and server issues in a mission-critical 24/7 environment, quickly resolving outages and degraded service in coordination with internal teams and vendors.
• Integrate with Microsoft-centric platforms: Active Directory, M365 hybrid, virtualization, backup, and real-time monitoring systems.
• Participate in, and sometimes lead, complex projects from design through implementation and cutover.
• Help drive IT process maturity, documentation, and cross-team collaboration as they continue to modernize their infrastructure and practices.
• Some off-hours / on-call participation is expected to support critical systems.

Core background (senior-level):

• ~4 years of hands-on experience in network management and network security in a complex enterprise setting.
• Strong experience designing, implementing, and supporting multi-site network environments.
• Proven background supporting mission-critical systems (public sector, utilities, transportation, healthcare, financial services, etc. all translate well).

Technical strengths we’re targeting (mix across both roles):

• Strong routing/switching (Cisco) and converged network design.
• Firewall / Security role: Next-gen firewalls (ideally Palo Alto, but Fortinet/Check Point/etc. are also relevant). Network segmentation, policy design, and rule-set hygiene.
• Wireless / Mobility role: Cisco wireless controllers and Meraki wireless management.
• Experience with large-scale Wi-Fi deployments and/or vehicle/yard environments is a plus.
• Exposure to MPLS, mobile/vehicle RF networking, CCTV, and voice/telephony is helpful.
• Experience with cloud/hybrid (Azure and/or AWS) is a nice-to-have.
• Relevant certifications (CCNA/CCNP, Network , Security , Microsoft, etc.) are appreciated but not required.

Soft Skills & Culture Fit

Our client is very focused on collaboration and communication as they raise IT maturity across the organization. They’re looking for someone who:

• Communicates clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Can translate technical tradeoffs into business language and help shape requirements.
• Works well across teams instead of in silos.
• Is curious, adaptable, and willing to learn new tools (e.g., Palo Alto, Meraki) as long as the core fundamentals are solid.
• Cares about public service, safety, and reliability for the community.