Ardent
Senior Network Engineer
Washington, D.C · Senior
Sponsorship not specified$53k-$800kDetected 2 days ago
CybersecurityNetwork SecuritySIEMSOC OperationsDetection EngineeringIncident ResponseCustomer SupportDNSFirewallVPNCiscoBGP/OSPFNetwork MonitoringZero TrustNetwork EngineeringLeadershipCommunicationCollaboration
About the role
- Ardent is seeking a Senior Network Engineer to join our team.
- This is a on site position in Washington DC.
- Ardent is an equal opportunity employer.
Responsibilities
- Design, implement, operate, and optimize the Congressional Budget Office's Cisco-based network infrastructure, including core, distribution, access, and edge environments, to ensure high availability, scalability, performance, and resilience in support of mission requirements.
- Implement and maintain network security controls aligned with NIST SP 800-53, NIST SP 800-207 (Zero Trust Architecture), and Cisco security best practices, including continuous monitoring, risk mitigation, and network security posture management.
- Engineer and enforce secure network access controls, including 802.1X port-based authentication, role-based access, and integration with enterprise identity services to support Zero Trust principles and least-privilege access models.
- Manage and support routing, switching, and network services (e.g., VLANs, DNS, DHCP, VPNs), ensuring secure configuration, optimal performance, and alignment with organizational standards and policies.
- Establish and maintain a structured program for network device patching, firmware updates, vulnerability remediation, and lifecycle management to ensure all infrastructure components remain secure, compliant, and supported.
- Support formal change management processes, maintain accurate network diagrams and configuration documentation, and contribute to standard operating procedures to ensure transparency, traceability, and operational continuity.
- Implement and maintain network security controls aligned with NIST SP 800-53, including access control (AC), configuration management (CM), system and communications protection (SC), and audit and accountability (AU) control families.
- Design and implement least-privilege network access controls, ensuring role-based and identity-aware access across all network layers.
- Deploy and manage 802.1X port-based network access control to prevent unauthorized device connectivity and enforce authentication at the network edge.
- Configure and maintain centralized logging and audit capabilities for all network devices, ensuring logs are forwarded to enterprise SIEM platforms and retained in accordance with compliance requirements.
Requirements
- Minimum of 8 years of experience designing, implementing, and supporting enterprise network infrastructures.
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in a senior-level network engineering role supporting complex Cisco environments.
- Extensive experience with Cisco networking technologies, including routers, switches, wireless infrastructure, and network management platforms.
- Strong knowledge of federal cybersecurity frameworks and standards, including NIST SP 800-53, NIST SP 800-207, and Risk Management Framework (RMF).
- Experience implementing and supporting 802.1X network access control solutions and identity-aware networking technologies.
- Advanced knowledge of routing and switching protocols, including BGP, OSPF, VLANs, STP, and related enterprise networking technologies.
- Experience managing enterprise DNS, DHCP, VPN, and network authentication services.
- Experience integrating network infrastructure with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platforms and Network Detection and Response (NDR) tools.
- Experience conducting network troubleshooting, root cause analysis (RCA), incident response, and performance optimization.
- Experience supporting audits, security assessments, compliance reviews, and remediation activities.
Compensation
- Develop, implement, and maintain Network Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs); review and update all SOPs on at least an annual basis or as required to reflect changes in technology, policy, or security requirements.
- Document and maintain detailed hardware and configuration baselines for all network devices, including Cisco switches, routers, firewalls, and related infrastructure; conduct annual reviews and updates.
Company info
- At Ardent, we hire people who want more than a job - they want to serve a mission that matters.
This listing is sourced directly from Ardent's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.