Junior Network Engineer (Infrastructure Analyst)

Link Oregon, a nonprofit organization founded in 2019 by Oregon’s four largest public research universities (Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon State University, Portland State University, and the University of Oregon) and the State of Oregon (Enterprise Information Services), is a statewide networking consortium dedicated to developing and operating an extensive middle-mile fiber-optic network. As an organization that serves the public, educational, and nonprofit sectors, Link Oregon provides state-of-the-art broadband infrastructure to advance research, education, healthcare, and public services across the state. Learn more: https://www.linkoregon.org/

Must reside in Oregon or SW Washington.

The Junior Network Engineer will play a pivotal role in supporting the design, implementation, and maintenance of our network infrastructure. This role is ideal for someone with foundational experience in networking and a strong desire to expand their skill set, particularly in the areas of automation, programming, and service provider-related network technologies.

Network Support

• Works directly with members to understand and resolve network related service issues as effectively as possible, developing knowledge of networking protocols (IP, MPLS, IS-IS, BGP, etc.), advanced troubleshooting, and root cause analysis to do so.
• Builds productive relationships with internal stakeholders and staff at Link Oregon member institutions, peer networks, and vendors, to support collaborative troubleshooting and ensure problems are efficiently and accurately identified and ultimately resolved.
• Analyzes and documents network configurations using software such as Microsoft Visio and in information systems such as NetBox and Git.

Network Engineering

• Assists with the management of network infrastructure equipment (routers, DWDM line system, out-of-band, etc.) and services which include inventory management, configuration, communications, deployment, and ongoing support.
• Monitors network infrastructure, proactively addressing potential issues before they become service impacting, and reducing the impact when customers are affected.

Systems Engineering & Administration

• Conducts analysis of deployed Link Oregon core services, including all manner of network infrastructure (DNS, DHCP, LDAP, NTP, RADIUS, etc.), to assess the proper operation of related services, security systems, and virtualized environments with the goal of reducing or eliminating service problems, current or otherwise.
• Monitors performance and proactively looks for system degradation or problem trends; provides feedback, assesses problems, and resolves issues or proposes solutions to members, in consultation with senior engineering personnel when needed.
• Provides analysis and testing of new hardware and software for integrity and usability.
• Provides recommendations and assistance to other Link Oregon staff in assessing and improving the tools, processes and procedures currently in use or proposed for future use.
• Participates in testing to assess the effectiveness and utility of proposed changes in tools, processes and procedures.

Network Automation

• Participates in team-based software engineering efforts to maintain and extend in-house network automation and configuration management tools, adhering to the “Network as Code” (NaC) paradigm, utilizing Python and Ansible.

Professional Development.

Other duties as assigned.

• Two or more years of paid work experience as a Field Technology Analyst or Systems Analyst position. Must have six years of cumulative paid working experience in the information technology field; OR
• Equivalent combination of education and experience where:
  • One year of experience will be substituted for an Associate’s degree.
  • Two years of experience will be substituted for a Bachelor’s degree.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Networking concepts (TCP/IP, routing, switching, VLANs, etc.).
• Linux/UNIX systems.
• Basic understanding of service provider-related network technologies and protocols (Fiber optics, BGP, MPLS, DWDM, etc.).
• Eagerness to learn, adapt, and take on new challenges in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a team setting.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field;

  OR
• Equivalent experience (3 years of practical experience in network engineering performing the functions of this role).
• 2 or more years practical experience in network engineering.
• Software development (in Python, Go, etc.).
• Network automation (with Ansible or other solution).

Work in data centers and telecommunications/network facilities. Up to 15% travel.

Work schedule: 8:00am - 5:00pm, Monday - Friday with on-call rotation.

Work location: fully remote, but must reside in Oregon or SW Washington.

Benefits

• Healthcare for full-time employees covered 100% and 88% for dependents.

• $50K of term life insurance provided at no cost to the employee.

• Two separate above market pension plans to choose from.

• Vacation - up to 200 hours per year dependent on length of service.

• Sick Leave - up to 96 hours per year.

• 9 paid holidays per year.

• Substantial Tri-Met and C-Tran discounts.

• Employee Assistance Program.

• Childcare service discounts.

• Tuition reimbursement.

• Employee discounts to local and national businesses.