Lead Network Engineer [ESP3234]

Classification Title: Network Engineer II

Title: Lead Network Engineer

Calendar: B, Year Round

ESP Salary Schedule: Range 200, Step 1
Hours: 8/Day, 40/Week

Location: Support Service Center

General Purpose

The Lead Network Engineer plays a pivotal role as a strategic leader in designing, planning, implementing, and maintaining the organization’s network and IT infrastructure. This position ensures high performance, reliability, and security across all systems. The Lead Network Engineer drives operational excellence by maintaining high system availability and proactively managing network and server performance. Leadership responsibilities include overseeing cybersecurity measures and enforcing policies to protect sensitive staff and student data. Through collaborative leadership and cross-functional coordination, this role fosters innovation and resilience within the district's IT ecosystem. Additionally, the role includes leading coordination meetings and ensuring alignment across departments to achieve organizational goals.

Main Tasks and Responsibilities

Network Design and Maintenance

• Lead the design, troubleshooting, and maintenance of LAN, WAN, and WLAN connectivity.
• Apply advanced knowledge of IP routing, multicast routing, ACLs, VLAN segmentation, QoS, and 802.1x authentication.
• Evaluate, design, and oversee network wiring installation, troubleshooting, and testing (including PoE and structured cabling systems).
• Implement and maintain network monitoring tools to ensure real-time visibility and proactive issue resolution.
• Design and maintain high-availability solutions, including network failover, load balancing, and redundancy.

Cybersecurity and Compliance

• Develop and implement comprehensive cybersecurity measures.
• Install, configure, and manage firewalls, web filters, IDS/IPS, and SIEM solutions.
• Maintain and troubleshoot VPN solutions for secure remote access.
• Develop and implementation of security models, such as MFA, and role-based access controls.
• Conduct vulnerability assessments and penetration testing, providing mitigation strategies to prevent cyber threats.
• Lead incident response efforts for network breaches and unauthorized access.
• Ensure compliance with district-supported security frameworks.
• Provide end-user training on security best practices and emerging threats.

Server and System Administration

• Configure and maintain centralized authentication systems (e.g., RADIUS, LDAP, or SAML).
• Manage virtualization platforms and associated storage solutions.
• Deploy, configure, and maintain Windows and Linux servers, ensuring system integrity, security, and high availability.
• Administer and optimize Active Directory, Group Policies, DNS, DHCP, IIS, SQL Server, and other essential server services.
• Manage file storage, email, web services, FTP, and Google applications, ensuring data integrity and availability.
• Monitor system logs, performance metrics, and conduct proactive server maintenance.
• Oversee virtualized environments and cloud services, ensuring scalability and performance.
• Administer Storage Area Networks (SAN), Network Attached Storage (NAS), and cloud storage solutions.
• Design and manage business continuity and disaster recovery (DR) plans, ensuring automated backups and contingency planning.

Scripting & Automation

• Develop and maintain scripts for automation using PowerShell, Python, Bash, or other scripting languages to streamline network and system administration.
• Automate identity management tasks, provisioning, and system maintenance to enhance efficiency.

User Support & Training

• Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues for staff, faculty, and students, ensuring minimal disruption to learning environments.
• Provide training and support to district IT personnel, particularly site technicians, on essential network and system functions.

Project & Policy Participation

• Contribute to planning, design, and implementation of new IT projects, infrastructure upgrades, and emerging technologies.
• Assist in developing IT policies, security standards, and best practices to align with industry and educational regulations.
• Research and recommend hardware, software, and networking solutions for short- and long-term district technology planning.

Documentation

• Create and maintain comprehensive procedural documentation for all network, server, and security systems.

• Maintain detailed change logs, incident reports, and performance analytics to improve IT operations and decision-making.

Leadership and Coordination

• Lead coordination meetings with cross-functional teams to align project timelines, resource allocation, and deliverables.
• Facilitate team meetings to review goals, address challenges, and share updates on network performance, security, and ongoing projects.
• Collaborate with other departments to gather requirements and provide technical insights for IT-related initiatives.
• Act as the primary point of contact for vendors and external contractors during network installations, upgrades, and maintenance projects.
• Create and present reports on network performance, security status, and project progress to stakeholders.

Other Duties as assigned

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Network Engineering or related field is preferred but not required.
• Seven (7) years of experience in network and systems administration positions or a similar IT role.
• Two (2) Technology related certifications from Cisco, Microsoft, Comptia, VMWare, or other Industry recognized certifications including security certifications. 
• Any combination of Education and Experience.

Preference will be given to those with:

• Experience in K-12 public education or a related educational setting.
• Strong knowledge of network protocols (TCP/IP, VLANs, VPNs, DNS, DHCP, HTTP/S, FTP, SMTP).
• Experience managing firewalls, routers, switches, and wireless access points.
• Proficiency in Active Directory administration, group policy management, and role-based access controls.
• Experience working with Windows Server, Linux environments, Active Directory, virtualization technologies, and enterprise networking.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity frameworks, data encryption, MFA, and endpoint security solutions.
• Strong documentation, communication, and teamwork skills.
• Ability to work extended hours or non-standard schedules as needed to meet critical reporting deadlines (typical schedule: 8 hours/day, 40 hours/week).

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

• Frequent visual concentration for detailed tasks such as reviewing data, figures, and diagrams.
• Periodical interruptions and distracting influences: for example, people, phone calls, noise and so forth.
• Periodical pressures related to establishing priorities, meeting deadlines or fulfilling scheduling requirements.
• Work is regularly carried out in mildly disagreeable conditions and may involve exposure to noise, ventilation, crowded areas, outside weather, and so forth.
• Occasionally the job requires significant physical exertion using heavy tools/equipment or handling heavy materials/objects.
• The job occasionally requires light physical exertion including walking, standing, motor vehicle operation and other forms of light physical activity.
• This role requires travel to different locations.

Salary : $41