Network Engineer - Only W2

Role: Network Engineer

Location: Santa Clara, CA (Onsite/Hybrid)

Job Type: W2 Contract

Skill Matrix

Infrastructure

Yes

1

BMC Network Automation

Yes

1

Data Center Profess-(JNCIP-DC)

Yes

1

Network Routing

Yes

1

Infra CI CD Pipelines

Yes

1

Top skills required for this role?

Experience with network automation tooling: Ansible, Nornir, NAPALM, pyATS, Batfish, NetBox/Nautobot

Exposure to CI/CD pipelines (GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, Jenkins) applied to network configuration workflows

Knowledge of infrastructureascode concepts as applied to networking

Experience in a dedicated network validation or solutions engineering lab environment

Certifications: CCNP / CCIE (Enterprise or Data Center), JNCIP, ACE, or equivalent professional level certification will help.

Job Description/ Responsibilities

Lab Validation & Testing

• Receive network use cases from architecture, engineering, or business stakeholders and translate them into structured lab test plans covering functional, performance, resiliency, and failure-scenario testing
• Execute high-touch validation of enterprise networking technologies including switching, routing, wireless, SD-WAN, firewalling, and network automation platforms
• Deliver complete validation packages including:
• Logical and physical topology diagrams
• Device configurations (sanitized and version-controlled)
• Step-by-step test procedures and results
• Pass/fail summaries with root cause analysis for failures
• Go/No-Go recommendations with supporting evidence
• Perform rack and stack of lab equipment when required cable management, power sequencing, console access setup, and physical layer verification
  
  

Design & Documentation

• Produce clear, detailed lab reports that can be handed directly to production engineering teams for deployment
• Maintain up-to-date physical and logical topology documentation for all active lab topologies
• Document configurations using version control (Git) so all tested configs are traceable and reusable
• Build and maintain a library of validated reference architectures and design patterns
  
  

Vendor Collaboration

• Partner with network vendors (Cisco, Arista, Juniper, Palo Alto, Aruba, etc.) to conduct joint proof-of-concept testing and feature validation
• Drive vendor-supported test engagements including bug reproduction, feature requests, and interoperability testing
• Evaluate new hardware and software releases against defined acceptance criteria before recommending adoption
• Manage loaner equipment logistics and coordinate lab access for vendor engineers
  
  

Automation & CI/CD

• Write scripts (Python, Bash, Ansible) to automate repetitive lab tasks device provisioning, configuration push, test execution, and results collection
• Build or maintain CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions) for automated configuration validation and regression testing
• Develop test automation frameworks using tools such as pyATS, Robot Framework, Batfish, or NAPALM
• Integrate lab test results into reporting dashboards or ticketing systems to provide traceability from test run to design decision