Network Automation Engineer

Position: Network Automation Engineer

Location: Alexandria, VA (Remote).

Duration: 6+Month Contract

Clearance: Secret Clearance Required

This position may require occasional travel.

Flexible working hours and remote work options are available.

Roles and responsibilities:

Design, develop, and maintain Ansible playbooks, roles, and collections to automate configuration and compliance for routers, switches, firewalls, and other network devices.

Create reusable automation frameworks to support multi-vendor environments (Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Palo Alto, etc.).

Build modular automation pipelines integrated with CI/CD tools (GitLab CI, Jenkins, or GitHub Actions).

Develop Python scripts and RESTful API integrations for custom automation and reporting workflows.

Collaborate with network architects to translate manual network operations into automated workflows.

Implement infrastructure-as-code best practices for repeatable deployments and version-controlled configurations.

Integrate network automation into change management, configuration management, and compliance enforcement systems.

Support large-scale configuration rollouts, template-based provisioning, and software image management.

Incorporate DISA STIG, DoD RMF, and Comply-to-Connect (C2C) standards into automation workflows.

Automate compliance verification and reporting against federal cybersecurity policies.

Ensure automation pipelines maintain the integrity, traceability, and security required for classified and controlled environments.

Partner with network and security teams to identify automation opportunities and standardize workflows.

Provide training, documentation, and code reviews for team adoption of automation practices.

Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field.

3+ years of experience in Cisco networking, with at least 3 years in a network automation role.

Technical Skills:

o Strong understanding of TCP/IP, routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP), VLANs, QoS, and ACLs.

o Proficiency with Ansible, YAML, Jinja2, and Git.

o Experience automating Cisco IOS-XE, NX-OS, ASA/FTD, and wireless controllers.

o Familiarity with Python scripting for REST API integration and data manipulation.

o Experience with configuration management and CI/CD platforms (GitLab, Jenkins, GitHub Actions).

Tools & Framework:

o Experience with NetBox, Nornir, or Terraform for networking is a plus.

o Familiarity with network telemetry and validation tools (pyATS, Genie, Batfish).

Compliance: Understanding of DoD networking standards, DISA STIGs, and RMF documentation requirements.

Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and communicate effectively.

Preferred Skills

Certifications: Cisco DevNet Professional, CCNP Enterprise or Security, or Red Hat Ansible Automation certifications.

Experience with Zero Trust and C2C-aligned automation

Familiarity with software-defined networking (SDN) technologies (Cisco DNA Center, ACI, NSX)

Experience with multi-domain integration: cloud networking (AWS, Azure), firewalls, and NAC systems.

Additional Information:

This position may require occasional travel.

Flexible working hours and remote work options are available.