IT - University of South Carolina - Network Engineer - Project Lead

Job Title: Network Engineer - Project Lead
Location: Columbia, SC
Duration: 6 Months
Work Type: Onsite
Possibility for Extension: Yes

Responsibilities:

• Network Operations and Infrastructure Support

  • Monitor, maintain, and support enterprise wired and wireless network infrastructure, including switching, routing, and connectivity services across campus environments to ensure availability, reliability, and performance. Perform field installation and deployment of network equipment, including configuring, racking, stacking, cabling, and testing switches.

• Incident Response and Problem Resolution

  • Diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve network issues through monitoring, analysis, and root cause investigation. Investigate and resolve network incidents through remote analysis and field-based troubleshooting, including testing network equipment, validating configurations, and coordinating repairs to maintain service availability. Escalate complex issues as appropriate and participate in on-call support activities to ensure continuity of services.

• Network Maintenance and Service Improvement

  • Perform routine maintenance activities, including system upgrades, patching, configuration changes, and performance optimization efforts while minimizing service interruptions and adhering to operational best practices.

• Documentation, Collaboration, and Customer Support

  • Maintain accurate operational documentation, network diagrams, incident records, and runbooks. Collaborate with network engineering and architecture, security, infrastructure teams, vendors, and stakeholders to support reliable technology services and communicate technical information effectively.

• Network Security and Access Services Administration

  • Support and maintain network security technologies, including firewalls, VPNs, and related security controls. Assist with troubleshooting and responding to security-related incidents in accordance with established procedures and standards.

Required Skills

• 2 years of experience with enterprise network technologies, including switching, routing, wireless networking, and TCP/IP protocols.

• 2 years of experience configuring, monitoring, and troubleshooting Cisco, Juniper, Aruba, AND Fortinet network devices.

• 2 years of experience diagnosing and resolving network connectivity, performance, and security-related issues using standard troubleshooting methodologies and tools

• 2 years of experience with network security, including firewalls, VPNs, access controls, and security best practices

• 2 years of experience installing, configuring, and supporting network infrastructure equipment, including field deployment activities such as racking, stacking, cabling, and testing.

• 2 years of experience maintaining technical documentation, network diagrams, and operational records

• 2 years of experience with routing protocols and technologies such as OSPF, BGP, VLANs, spanning tree, and high-availability architectures.

 Preferred Skills

• Experience supporting large-scale enterprise or higher education network environments.

• Experience with wireless network administration and troubleshooting in dense-user environments.

• Experience supporting network security technologies, including firewalls, VPNs, network access control (NAC), and multi-factor authentication solutions.

• Familiarity with network monitoring, logging, and performance management tools.

• Experience with network automation, scripting, or infrastructure management tools (e.g., Python, Ansible, APIs).

• Experience performing network upgrades, migrations, and lifecycle replacement projects.

• Experience working in ITIL-based operational environments, including incident, problem, and change management processes.

Certifications

• Any of the following certifications: CCNA, CCNP, JNCIA, JNCIS/JNCIP, ACNT, ACSA, ACMA, FCA, FCP