Title: Network Consultant Location: Remote / Reston., VA Duration: 12 Months Pay Rate: $52.60/hr on W2 Description: Next Generation (NextGEN) Network technology development and deploying solutions aligning with vision and business goals are key functions of Network Solutions team. As part of this team, looking for a self-motivated and innovative thinking individual to support Network technology development and deployment functions while maintaining relevance in the fast moving and evolving networking industry. As a member of the team, you will also be interacting with cross-functional team engineers, architects, internal and vendor partners to provide NextGEN network technology solutions to; 1. Maximize the business value from Information Technology and Solutions investments 2. Unleash innovation for our organization, employees and customers Principal Accountabilities: * A member of the Network Solutions team, design and implement scalable, efficient, & cost-effective network infrastructures & Software Defined Networking (SDN) ecosystem solutions * Continuous improvement of Network platform solutioning, specification & design, systems integration, platform lifecycle management. * Ensure high levels of security, availability, and performance within the network environment. * Drive process improvements that integrate automation, improve efficiency, and improve service delivery * Establish and drive to maintain standards while building and improve upon documentation, policies, & procedures for Network Solutions Team Knowledge, Skills and Education: Bachelor's degree, or relevant work experience. Strong Layer 2/Layer 3 network architectural design and engineering background and experience (LAN/WLAN/WAN and Layer 2/Layer 3) in a large enterprise network environment. - Expert level routing is a must (BGP & OSPF) Five or more years of relevant work experience in; * Networking Engineering - Routers & Switches along with Design, implementation and migration experience of large-scale networks * Experience with SD-WAN technologies (Viptela, VeloCloud, Cloud Genix) preferred * Design, implementation and migration experience with Cisco Catalyst and Nexus 9K/7K/5K/2K * Design, implementation and migration experience & knowledge with Aruba technology * Arista working knowledge a plus. * VMWare NSX, and Cisco ACI experience a plus. Networking in cloud computing experience (AWS, GCP & Azure) Familiarity and understanding of tunneling protocols (vxLAN, GRE, IPSec) Configuration management of networking devices using automation tools and API scripting with C/C++, Python and/or Ansible a plus. * Working knowledge of DNS, Tacacs, Radius, DHCP, NetFlow, Syslog, etc. * Knowledge of Checkpoint & Cisco Firewall solutions. * Exposure to native cloud security solutions such Zscaler cloud Firewall, Illumio ASP, AVI Networks * Exposure to SCADALAN model is a plus. * Experience with SDN/NFV platform along with Cloud Architecture and development Network platform architecture and design. * Multi-vendor technology validation, prototyping along with system integration experience. * Strong documentation skills in High Level Architecture & Design Solution * Vendor technical management experience * Technology leadership skills along with strong interpersonal skills. * Travel may be required. Preferred Skills: * Master's degree in Computer Science or related data communication technology discipline and certifications (Cisco, Aruba etc.). * Extensive application performance and network operational troubleshooting along with network monitoring/analysis experience * Background working in Linux environments with Unix scripting and/or software development experience. o Experience with Linux virtualization environments and technologies (KVM, OVS, LXC, etc.). * Familiarity with networking within Container technologies. * Familiarity with IT/OT security concepts * Familiarity of Open API and data modeling verification and development. * Open Source tools development, implementation, and collaboration experience. * Policy driven network design