Network Engineer, Lead (HPC)

AMERICAN SYSTEMS, a 100% employee-owned federal government contractor, is seeking a Lead Network Engineer to support a secure, high-availability Linux-based HPC environment with geographically dispersed operations.

This role is ideal for a hands-on network professional experienced in high-bandwidth, low-latency inter-site communications. You will support advanced compute platforms, high-capacity data transfers, optical transport, enterprise services, and secure connectivity across Cisco, Juniper, and Ciena infrastructure.

This role includes a $5,000 sign-on bonus in addition to a generous compensation package.

As a Lead Network Engineer working for AMERICAN SYSTEMS in a high-performance computing environment, you will:

• Architect and engineer high-bandwidth, low-latency inter-site network solutions connecting geographically dispersed HPC sites.
• Design scalable communications architectures supporting high-capacity data transfers, redundancy, traffic optimization, secure connectivity, and mission-critical availability.
• Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot Cisco, Juniper, and Ciena routing, switching, firewall, VPN, optical transport, and data circuit infrastructure.
• Administer Linux-based networks supporting compute, storage, management, and user access, including host interfaces, bonding, VLAN tagging, routing, DNS, DHCP, and name resolution.
• Support Cisco ISE administration, firewall policies, network segmentation, ACLs, VLANs, VPNs, authentication, authorization, policy enforcement, and device access control.
• Use CLI-based tools to diagnose routing, switching, MTU, latency, throughput, and connectivity issues across network devices and Linux hosts.
• Support inter-site provisioning and lifecycle activities, including maintenance, upgrades, technology refresh, documentation, diagrams, standards, and operational procedures.
• Partner with systems, cybersecurity, and infrastructure teams to maintain secure, reliable mission operations.

• TS/SCI clearance with SAP eligibility
• DoD 8140 IAT II certification or higher, Security+ CE or equivalent
• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, (directly related experience in lieu of degree)
• 8–12 years of network administration, engineering, or architecture experience in enterprise or HPC environments
• CCNA or equivalent Cisco experience required; advanced Cisco certifications strongly valued.
• Experience designing, supporting, and troubleshooting high-bandwidth, low-latency multi-site networks, including Cisco routing/switching, Cisco ISE, firewalls, VPNs, optical transport, and high-capacity data circuits (Juniper and Ciena experience strongly valued)
• Strong knowledge of Layer 2/Layer 3, TCP/IP, VLANs, routing, ACLs, DNS, DHCP, high availability, segmentation, MTU, latency, throughput, and traffic optimization
• Linux networking experience, including interfaces, bonding, VLAN tagging, routing, name resolution, port connectivity, CLI troubleshooting, and performance analysis
• Experience with tools such as ip, ss, tcpdump, ping, traceroute, dig, and nslookup
• Team-oriented and collaborative, with the ability to work independently with general direction
• Open to learning new tools, technologies, and processes
• Professional, adaptable, and well-suited for a mission-focused environment