Network Engineer

We are seeking a highly skilled Network Engineer to join our Networks team supporting the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) mission in Stuttgart, Germany. The ideal candidate is an innovative professional who can deliver a rich feature set, high availability, and exceptional performance of automation and orchestration tools while maintaining a secure, mission-ready network infrastructure. This expert-level role requires bridging traditional network engineering with modern automation and DevOps practices to support critical AFRICOM operations.

Core Responsibility:
Deploy, configure, and maintain secure DoD enterprise and datacenter network infrastructure, ensuring high availability and mission readiness across geographically dispersed sites.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

• Design, implement, and maintain highly reliable and scalable network systems.
• Configure and maintain complex enterprise routing and switching environments utilizing standard protocols and advanced transport methods (DMVPN, MPLS Segment-Routing).
• Manage and troubleshoot datacenter network fabrics using Cisco ACI (Application Centric Infrastructure) and Cisco Nexus switching platforms.
• Deploy, manage, and update Palo Alto and Cisco Firepower firewalls, including centralized management platforms (Panorama, FMC).
• Administer Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) for secure endpoint access, policy enforcement, and Zero Trust architecture support.
• GEM One Enterprise Management: Architect, deploy, and maintain the General Dynamics GEM One management infrastructure to centrally monitor and administer a global fleet of High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor (HAIPE) devices.
• Cryptographic Operations: Perform expert-level remote device provisioning, configuration, and secure key management for Type 1 encryptors (e.g., TACLANE-Micro, TACLANE-FAS) via GEM One.
• Develop automation frameworks and leverage network automation tools (Ansible, Python, REST APIs) to streamline deployments and support Software-Defined Access (SDA).
• Maintain core network services including F5 load balancers and Infoblox for DNS, DHCP, and IPAM.
• Proactively identify and resolve performance bottlenecks and single points of failure.
• Create a roadmap for maturing DevOps practices and drive adoption of Infrastructure as Code (Terraform).
• Gather and analyze metrics for performance tuning, fault discovery, and after-action reporting.
• Work with operations teams to build automation use-cases and improve reliability through rigorous testing and release procedures.

Required Qualifications for TESA:
To meet the technical expertise requirements for TESA, all candidates must meet one of the following criteria:

• A Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline AND 3+ years of relevant technical experience.
• An Associate’s degree in a technical discipline AND 7+ years of relevant technical experience.
• A total of 11+ years of specialized, relevant technical experience in lieu of a degree.

AND

• Minimum of 5 years of practical network engineering experience in mid-to-large scale enterprise or military environments.
• Strong programming/scripting ability with Python, Go, or PowerShell.
• Hands-on experience with automation and orchestration tools (Ansible, VMware Aria Suite, ServiceNow).
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code, particularly Terraform.
• Certification: Must meet DoD 8570/8140 IAT Level II baseline certification (e.g., Security+ CE).
• Citizenship: U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Clearance: Active Top Secret clearance with SCI is required.

Required Technologies:

• General Routing & Switching, DMVPN, MPLS Segment-Routing
• Cisco ACI and Cisco Nexus platforms
• Palo Alto Firewalls (Panorama) and Cisco Firepower (FMC)
• Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
• F5 Load Balancers
• Infoblox DNS/DHCP/IPAM
• KG Encryptors (TACLANE)

Preferred / Desired Qualifications:

• Formal training or certification in General Dynamics GEM One administration and TACLANE operations.

• CCIE, CCNA, CCNP, or equivalent enterprise networking certification.
• Experience with Software-Defined Access (SDA) and advanced network automation frameworks.
• Experience with Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI).
• Proven success modernizing operations through automation and orchestration.

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

Pay Range:

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.