Senior Network Security Engineer_ACI
malomatia
Role:Job Description
The Senior Network Engineer is responsible for the design, operation, and support of enterprise network and data center environments, with a strong focus on Cisco ACI, Software-Defined Access (SDA), and network security operations. The role provides Level 3 support, ensures service availability, leads incident and change activities, and acts as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for network and security technologies.
Responsibilities
ACI Operations & Device Management
Manage and operate Cisco ACI fabric, including APIC controllers, Spine, and Leaf switches.
Provide Level 3 (L3) support for Cisco ACI and Cisco SDA in an enterprise data center environment.
Perform day-to-day monitoring of fabric health, faults, events, and performance.
Ensure high availability, stability, and optimal performance of the ACI fabric.
Troubleshoot fabric faults, health score degradation, endpoint learning, and policy issues.
Configuration & Change Management
Configure and manage tenants, VRFs, Bridge Domains (BDs), EPGs, contracts, filters, and application profiles.
Implement L2/L3 connectivity, L3Out, vPC, and port-channel integrations.
Execute approved change requests in line with change management and ITIL processes.
Support ACI upgrades, patching, maintenance windows, and lifecycle management.
Perform fine-tuning and optimization of network devices across data centers, campus, and branch networks.
Incident, Problem & Service Management
Drive and manage security incidents, changes, and problems assigned to the Network Security Operations Team.
Perform root cause analysis (RCA) and implement corrective and preventive actions.
Ensure escalated incidents and service requests are resolved within defined SLAs/OLAs.
Resolve ticket-based requests in compliance with priority and SLA commitments.
Provide after-hours and on-call support for incidents, changes, and maintenance activities.
Enterprise Network & Security Operations
Configure, maintain, and support core switches, routers, firewalls, and access switches.
Handle day-to-day Network & Security operations, beyond ACI when required.
Support Systems, Virtualization, and Application teams for network-related issues.
Provide advanced troubleshooting support to branch IT technicians.
Work closely with NOC/SOC, server, virtualization, and application teams during incidents.
Governance, DR & Documentation
Act as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for network and security technologies and project implementations.
Develop, maintain, and improve network SOPs, operational runbooks, and incident playbooks.
Plan, implement, and test Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity Plans (BCP), leading recovery efforts when required.
Create and maintain network inventory, topology diagrams, and technical documentation.
Vendor & Stakeholder Coordination
Coordinate with vendors and technology partners, including raising TAC cases and driving issues to closure.
Support device upgrades, replacements, migrations, data center moves, and new technology implementations.
Travel to client sites and data centers for installations, troubleshooting, audits, and migration activities.
Coordinate and support site visits across multiple locations as per SLA and project requirements
Standards & Compliance
Follow ITIL best practices for incident, change, and problem management.
Apply information security best practices across ACI, routing, switching, and network security operations.
Ensure network controls, policies, and procedures operate effectively and are continuously improved.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in relevant discipline.
10+ years of relevant full-time experience in enterprise network environments.
Relevant certifications: CCNP / CCIE (preferred).
ITIL certification or strong ITIL process knowledge.
Experience working in Network Operations Centers (NOC) supporting large enterprise or multi-national clients.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to articulate technology strategy and operational risk.
Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI)
Hands-on experience in support, administration, installation, and upgrades of ACI environments.
Experience designing and building SDN-based data center networks using Cisco ACI, VMware NSX, and
OpenFlow-based solutions.
Secure onboarding of workloads using EPGs, contracts, filters, and L2Out/L3Out.
Integration of Cisco ACI with VMware NSX, including HCI/VxRail/VVD (Dell/EMC).
Configuration, testing, and validation of DR capabilities in multi-pod ACI architectures.
End-to-end knowledge of ACI firmware upgrades.
Troubleshooting ACI infrastructure and interoperability with traditional networks.
Knowledge of ACI Multi-Pod, Multi-Site, and Policy-Based Routing (PBR) is an advantage.
Software Defined Access (SDA) & ISE
Design, operation, and support of Cisco SDA campus networks.
Operate and maintain SDA fabric, including Edge, Border, Control Plane, DNAC, and ISE integration.
Implement and tune NAC policies using Cisco ISE, including IoT onboarding.
Monitor wired and wireless performance using SDA telemetry.
Troubleshoot SDA wired and wireless connectivity and performance issues.
Enforce security using TrustSec SGTs through ISE integration.
Plan and support IPv6 adoption as part of enterprise IP strategy.
Routing & Switching
Design and support large LAN and WAN environments, including VXLAN architectures.
Expertise in routing protocols: OSPF, EIGRP, BGP.
Extensive hands-on experience with Nexus, Catalyst, ISR/ASR routers, and Wireless LAN.
Strong understanding of VXLAN, Anycast Gateway, and data center routing designs.
