Network Architect III

Overview

Our client, a leading communications provider, is seeking a Network Engineer III to join their team. This is a contract position located Hybrid in Greenwood Village, Colorado. This Network Architect supports the Cyber Resilience & Disaster Recovery team, which ensures critical infrastructure remains operational during major outages, ransomware attacks, and disaster recovery events.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, maintain, and optimize enterprise network infrastructure across on-premise data centers, branch locations, and hybrid cloud environments.
• Configure, monitor, and troubleshoot routing and switching technologies to ensure network stability, performance, and scalability across multi‑site environments.
• Deploy, administer, and support Palo Alto firewalls, including policy management, NAT, VPN configuration, threat prevention, URL filtering, and security rule optimization.
• Manage and maintain network security technologies, including firewalls, IDS/IPS, VPNs, segmentation controls, and secure remote access solutions.
• Support network segmentation and isolation strategies to protect sensitive data, critical systems, and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Implement and support secure connectivity between on‑premise infrastructure, cloud platforms such as AWS and Azure, and remote users.
• Configure and maintain load‑balancing solutions to support high availability, efficient traffic distribution, and optimal application performance.
• Support the deployment and operational management of technologies such as SD‑WAN, SDN, and other modern networking solutions.
• Monitor network health, availability, and capacity.
• Perform performance analysis, troubleshooting, and proactive tuning to minimize downtime and service disruptions.
• Create and maintain network documentation, including diagrams, configurations, standard operating procedures, and implementation plans.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity, cloud engineering, systems, and application teams to ensure network solutions meet technical, business, and security requirements.
• Develop and implement network automation solutions using scripting and infrastructure‑as‑code tools to streamline provisioning, configuration management, compliance checks, and repetitive operational tasks.
• Leverage tools such as Python, Ansible, Terraform, or APIs to automate network deployments, firewall policy administration, monitoring, and reporting.
• Evaluate and support emerging technologies that improve network operations, visibility, and service reliability.
• Stay current on networking, security, and automation best practices to continuously modernize the network environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of progressive experience in network engineering supporting enterprise‑level network environments.
• Strong hands‑on experience with routing and switching technologies and configurations in enterprise environments (e.g., Cisco, Juniper, or similar platforms).
• Proven experience managing and troubleshooting Palo Alto firewalls, including security policies, NAT, VPNs, and advanced threat prevention features.
• Strong knowledge of network security technologies, including firewalls, IDS/IPS, VPNs, segmentation, and secure access controls.
• Experience supporting secure networking solutions across both on‑premise and cloud environments, including AWS and Azure.
• Familiarity with SDN, SD‑WAN, and modern network design principles.
• Experience with load balancing, high availability design, and performance optimization.
• Hands‑on experience with network automation using scripting languages such as Python and automation tools/frameworks such as Ansible, Terraform, or REST APIs.
• Experience with network monitoring, capacity planning, performance analysis, and root cause troubleshooting.
• Relevant industry certifications such as CCNP, PCNSE, AWS Certified Advanced Networking, Azure Network Engineer Associate, or similar are highly desirable.

Key Competencies & Behaviors

• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, organizational, and communication skills.
• Strong technical skills.

Work Environment

Location: Greenwood Village, Colorado. Hybrid schedule: 4 days onsite, 1 day remote.

Compensation & Benefits

Pay Range: $49.00 to $70.00 per hour (approximate). Employees receive medical, dental & vision insurance plans, Employee‑Owned Profit Sharing (ESOP), and 401K with company match.