NOC Lead Engineer – Enterprise Network & Security Operations

Job Description:

Looking for someone who is an architect. This position requires strong hands-on expertise in advanced networking technologies, including Palo Alto Networks and Juniper Networks firewalls, SD-WAN, data center fabrics (ACI/VXLAN), and cloud networking.

REQUIRED SKILLS : Juniper Networks, SDWAN, Cisco Firewalls, Palo Alto

Step into a senior network operations leadership role supporting a complex enterprise network environment across security, routing, switching, wireless, SD-WAN, data center, cloud networking, and load balancing.

This role is ideal for a hands-on NOC Lead or Senior Network Engineer who work in a Hybrid onsite/remote capacity with the team in Grand Rapids, MI (3 days onsite with 2 days allowable for remote work from home). Bring your strong troubleshooting skills, architect-level network knowledge, and the ability to lead incident response, mentor L1/L2 engineers, improve operational processes, and partner with engineering teams on long-term network reliability.

What You’ll Do

Lead day-to-day NOC operations and provide technical direction to L1/L2 engineers.

Serve as a senior escalation point for complex network issues.

Oversee response to network alerts, hardware issues, performance problems, and service interruptions.

Lead and coordinate P1/P2 bridge calls, including troubleshooting direction and communication.

Perform root cause analysis for recurring network issues and recommend preventive actions.

Improve monitoring, incident response, documentation, and escalation processes.

Develop and maintain SOPs, runbooks, incident reports, and operational standards.

Collaborate with network engineering, infrastructure, security, cloud, and application teams.

Support continuous improvement of network reliability, visibility, and operational readiness.

Skills for Success

Strong hands-on experience with several of the following:

Palo Alto firewalls

Juniper SRX firewalls

Juniper Mist wireless and wireless authentication

Juniper and/or Cisco access layer switching

SD-WAN

L3 routing, especially BGP

Data center switching

ACI / VXLAN fabrics preferred

Cloud networking, preferably Azure or GCP

Load balancing, preferably F5

VPNs, access points, monitoring tools, and network troubleshooting

Required Qualifications

Extensive experience in network operations, network engineering, or NOC leadership.

Proven ability to lead or mentor L1/L2 NOC engineers.

Strong troubleshooting experience across routing, switching, wireless, firewall, VPN, and network performance issues.

Experience leading incident response and coordinating technical teams during high-priority outages.

Ability to document issues clearly, create SOPs, and improve operational processes.

Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Ability to work hybrid onsite 3 days per week.

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.

Certifications such as CCNA, CCNP, JNCIA, JNCIS, Palo Alto, CISSP, or similar.

Experience with enterprise-scale environments.

Experience supporting data center, SD-WAN, cloud networking, or network security operations.