Senior Network Operations Engineer

Primary Purpose of Job:

Technical leader responsible for operational network services, including wired and wireless connectivity, network security, and unified communication systems. This position participates in the design, planning, documenting, and continuous improvement of all network services for QuikTrip. Plan, schedule and perform complex maintenance tasks on all network, firewall, and voice systems for the enterprise. Will be responsible for ensuring network services and processes are operating in accordance with QuikTrip standards and procedures. They will act as the escalation point for all network services and will act as a mentor for other IT staff. 

Major Functions:

Technical Leadership:

• Provide leadership and mentoring to IT staff to ensure tasks and responsibilities for the team are completed in a timely manner. Including mentoring, training, and development of team as well as on-the-job training for other employees and department staff members as appropriate.
• Maintain technical competence and relevance on existing and emerging network service capabilities and automation technologies.
• Assist in defining, developing, processes in which to automate and improve QuikTrip’s network service technologies to produce higher business value.
• Provide leadership of Change management, Incident Management, Root cause analysis, Problem diagnosis, and Error resolution.
• 35% of total job

Infrastructure Lifecycle Management:

• Work with Network Engineering and Architecture to provide the Network Operation Center with tactical direction of operational technology capabilities with a proactive focus on continuous improvement.
• Review network designs for new and existing hardware and software systems and provide operational feedback with a focus on minimizing necessary maintenance, maximizing system lifecycles, and aligning with business needs to help maintain business value.
• Conduct technical research on network hardware/software and operational monitoring upgrades to determine feasibility, compatibility and establish maintenance plans.
• Act as a representative and technical advisor for all network, firewall and voice services with internal and external peers and customers.
• Support 25% of total job

Operate, optimize, and maintain the overall network:

• Review Disaster Recovery plans and systems for network services and ensure testing is scheduled and performed according to established standards.
• Oversee daily support and act as an escalation point for all network infrastructure operations including all network services, systems, firewalls and processes during business hours and on-call.
• Work as a team member with other technical staff to ensure connectivity and compatibility between systems including conducting technical research and analysis on network upgrades to determine compatibility with current systems
• Provide procedural documentation for non-network personnel as needed.
• Document network problems and resolutions for future reference including troubleshooting and process documentation for ongoing network support.
• Regularly review the performance and monitoring metrics and tune the monitoring systems to achieve optimal visibility and uptime of the environment. Will respond to potential issues within the environment.
• 20% of total job

Capacity Planning and Analysis:

• Use network management tools to pro-actively monitor all network components, provide reporting on performance and trends, and establish baselines to be used for capacity planning.
• Manage relationships with service providers and ensure SLAs and performance metrics are delivered and reviewed for trends or proactive problem management. Develop and implement vendor management process to ensure that supplementary services are provided effectively.
• Ensure monitoring systems are updated and configured to monitor all aspects of network services effectively and correctly monitor all aspects of network services.
• Manage and monitor critical thresholds for network services and create awareness with Engineering and Architecture as trends indicate future issues with service delivery and user experience.
• 15% of total job

Project Leadership

• With minimal supervision, work with project teams (all levels of QT technical, management and developer resources), to determine needs and make technical recommendations to ensure correct network infrastructure options are designed and installed.
• Assist in projects by providing leadership to the Network Operations Team in the development of operational requirements, collection of risks and containment strategies.
• Provide input to Engineering and Architecture as needed during IT projects with network service needs. Ensure project transitions meet Network Operations Center operational standards for needed functionality, prevention, monitoring, detection, and response.
• Assist Project Manager and Project Owner with implementation, planning, and execution.
• 5% of total job

Position in Organization:

Reports to: Network Operations Manager 

Directly supervises: N/A

Indirectly supervises: Network Operations Engineer, Network Analyst, Network Analyst Intern

Relationship:

Inside the Company: All Information Technology personnel, QTCC personnel, and Division, QTK, QTD, and FS staff.

Outside the Company: Hardware and software vendors, personnel in other companies involved during installations and troubleshooting of networks.

Position Specification:

The required specifications (education, experience, and skills) are those that the employee must have to hold the position. Applicants applying for this position must possess the required specifications in order to be considered for the job. The desired specifications are those that are not required for the employee to hold the position but the employee should try to obtain the desired education, experience, and/or skills to be effective and successful in the position. 

Required education: Associates’ degree in technology field or equivalent experience. Cisco CCNA and CCNP certification (current or expired).

Desired education: Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications or 4-year college degree in a technology related field. Current Cisco CCNP certification.

Required experience: 8+ years network experience on predominantly Cisco solutions and equipment, hardware and software. 4+ years of experience supporting VOIP technologies.

Desired experience: 8+ years of experience and knowledge on Cisco Routers, switches, and Datacenter (Arista), , BGP, Azure Cloud, Cisco Unified Communications Products, Cisco Prime Management Tools, Solarwinds Orion,, Palo Altos, Meraki Firewalls, network management technologies such as SNMP, NETCONF, SYSLOG, NetFlow, and PCAP.

Required skills: Strong oral and written communication skills. Must be able to take the initiative and work without direct supervision.

Desired skills: Working knowledge of voice and data premise wiring. Advanced scripting, (BASH, Python, and Powershell). Strong written and oral communication skills. Must be able to work in a team environment.

Additional Criteria:

Position will require shift work that could include weekends and nights as dictated by support needs. Must have knowledge of many areas and be able to switch between them rapidly. Must be able to work under pressure and provide guidance to Information Technology users during crisis modes.

Starting Salary: $112,000-$140,000

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