Senior Network Engineer (Contract – Onsite – Pasadena, CA)

By estreetsecurity
June 24, 2025June 24, 2025
Comments are off

Onsite

Pasadena, CA

Posted 1 day ago

A leading technology organization is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Network Engineer (Contract – Onsite – Pasadena, CA) to join their IT infrastructure team on a critical 3 to 6-month consulting engagement. This pivotal role, based onsite in Pasadena, California, is designed to provide immediate, expert-level network support during a crucial transitional period, as the organization actively works to fill key full-time positions within its IT infrastructure department. This is an exceptional opportunity for a seasoned professional to make an immediate and tangible impact, ensuring network stability and efficiency.

Senior Network Engineer (Contract – Onsite – Pasadena, CA)

Location: Pasadena, CA – This is an Onsite role, requiring daily presence at the designated facility.

Duration: 3 to 6-month consulting engagement

Employment Type: Contract

Pay Range: Not Specified

Industry: Computer and Mathematical

About the Team: Your Role in a Critical Transition

Our client’s Network Team typically operates with a core of three full-time employees: a Network Technician, a Network Administrator, and a Network Engineer. However, the team is currently navigating a significant transition. The crucial Network Administrator position is currently vacant, leaving a critical gap in senior oversight and complex problem resolution. Furthermore, a newly onboarded Network Engineer is still in the foundational learning phase, actively undergoing training to grasp the intricacies of the network environment.

This unique scenario creates an urgent need for a seasoned professional – a Senior Network Engineer – who can step in immediately and provide expert-level support with minimal ramp-up time. Your role will be paramount in maintaining the stability and efficiency of the network during this interim period, providing essential coverage, driving critical initiatives, and offering invaluable mentorship to the developing team member. Your ability to quickly integrate and operate independently will be key to bridging this vital gap and ensuring seamless network operations as the client solidifies its long-term team structure.

What You’ll Be Doing: Core Responsibilities in Senior Network Engineering

As a Senior Network Engineer on this consulting engagement, you will apply your advanced expertise across various critical facets of network management, security, and operations. Your highly technical contributions will be indispensable in maintaining the integrity and performance of the IT infrastructure.

Provide Senior-Level Network Engineering Expertise: You will provide senior-level network engineering expertise across the entire IT infrastructure, ensuring its stability, efficiency, and robustness. This isn’t merely about execution; it involves applying deep theoretical knowledge combined with extensive practical experience to diagnose, analyze, and solve highly complex network challenges. You’ll act as a trusted technical advisor, making critical decisions and providing strategic insights that impact network design, security posture, and operational efficiency. Your role demands a highly technical individual capable of working with intricate systems and architectures.
Work Extensively with Cisco Meraki Networking Environments: You will possess significant hands-on experience and expertise in working with Cisco Meraki networking environments. This includes comprehensive management of Meraki switches (e.g., MS series), ensuring optimal VLAN configurations, spanning tree protocols, port security, and network segmentation. Furthermore, you will manage and support Meraki wireless networks (e.g., MR series Access Points and the Meraki cloud dashboard), covering aspects like SSID configuration, security policies (WPA2/3, 802.1X), RF optimization, guest access setup, and troubleshooting wireless connectivity and performance issues. Your proficiency in the Meraki cloud-managed platform will be critical for seamless operation.
Manage and Support FortiGate Firewalls with Upcoming Palo Alto Migration: You will be directly responsible for the management and support of FortiGate firewalls. This involves configuring security policies, managing VPNs (IPsec, SSL VPNs), implementing NAT rules, deploying intrusion prevention (IPS) and antivirus (AV) profiles, and performing firmware upgrades. Crucially, your role will also involve providing expertise and support for an upcoming migration from FortiGate to Palo Alto firewalls within the next six months. This implies hands-on involvement in the planning, testing, and execution phases of this transition, which could include policy conversion, re-architecting security zones, and validating connectivity post-migration.
Troubleshoot and Resolve Network Issues Quickly and Efficiently: A core daily responsibility will be to expertly troubleshoot and resolve network issues quickly and efficiently. This encompasses a wide spectrum of problems, ranging from basic connectivity outages and performance degradation to complex routing anomalies, security incidents, and intermittent application connectivity issues. You will apply advanced diagnostic methodologies, leveraging tools such as packet analyzers (e.g., Wireshark), network monitoring systems, log analysis platforms, and command-line utilities to rapidly pinpoint root causes and implement effective, lasting solutions that minimize downtime and disruption to business operations.
Assist in Mentoring and Supporting the Existing Network Engineer: Given the current team structure, a vital aspect of your role will be to actively assist in mentoring and supporting the existing Network Engineer (the new hire who is currently in training). This involves providing direct technical guidance, sharing best practices in network design and troubleshooting, reviewing configurations, collaborating on complex tasks, and assisting in their professional development. Your mentorship will be crucial in accelerating their learning curve and integrating them effectively into the team.
Ensure Tasks Are Completed in a Timely Manner Without Delays: You will be accountable for ensuring that all assigned network tasks and project deliverables are completed in a timely manner without delays. This requires strong organizational skills, effective prioritization, proactive identification of potential roadblocks, and the ability to manage your workload efficiently. Your reliability in meeting deadlines is essential for maintaining network stability and supporting ongoing IT initiatives during this critical consulting engagement.

What’s Needed: Essential Qualifications for Rapid Impact

To rapidly integrate and excel in this Senior Network Engineer role, you will need a comprehensive background in network engineering, specific certifications, and a proactive, independent work ethic.

Extensive Network Engineering Experience (8+ Years): You must possess a minimum of 8+ years of verifiable experience in network engineering. This extensive background indicates a deep understanding of complex network architectures, a proven track record of successful deployments, and the ability to troubleshoot and manage diverse enterprise-level network environments across various technologies and platforms. This experience level signifies your readiness to provide senior-level leadership and technical guidance.
CCNP Enterprise Certification (Required): Possession of a valid CCNP Enterprise certification is an absolute requirement. This industry-recognized certification demonstrates your advanced knowledge and expertise in enterprise networking solutions, including routing, switching, wireless, and network design, making you a highly qualified professional capable of immediate impact. This certification validates a deep understanding of core network technologies and their implementation.
Strong Expertise in Cisco Meraki Networking: You must possess strong, hands-on expertise in Cisco Meraki networking. This includes comprehensive experience with Meraki switches (MS series), managing VLANs, stacking, and basic routing functionalities. Crucially, you should have deep knowledge of Meraki wireless networks (MR series Access Points and the Meraki cloud dashboard), including advanced configurations for SSIDs, security, RF optimization, meshing, and robust troubleshooting skills specific to the Meraki ecosystem.
Required Experience with FortiGate Firewalls: Direct, practical experience with FortiGate firewalls is required. This includes proficiency in configuring security policies, managing virtual private networks (VPNs), implementing Network Address Translation (NAT), deploying intrusion prevention (IPS) and antivirus (AV) profiles, and performing firmware upgrades and troubleshooting on FortiGate devices in a production environment. Your immediate familiarity with this platform is crucial for the current operational landscape.
Preferred Palo Alto Firewall Experience: While not a strict requirement, Palo Alto firewall experience is strongly preferred, given the organization’s upcoming migration to this platform within the next six months. Any hands-on experience with Palo Alto Networks firewalls (e.g., PAN-OS, App-ID, User-ID, security policies, GlobalProtect VPN) would be a significant asset, demonstrating your ability to contribute effectively to the transition and quickly adapt to new security technologies.
Ability to Onboard Quickly and Operate Independently: Given the short-term, critical nature of this consulting engagement, you must possess the exceptional ability to onboard quickly and operate independently with minimal oversight. This requires a proactive attitude, self-sufficiency in problem-solving, and the capacity to quickly grasp the existing network environment and contribute effectively from day one without extensive hand-holding. Your self-reliance will be key to your success.
Strong Problem-Solving Skills and Efficiency Under Deadlines: You must demonstrate strong problem-solving skills, capable of systematically diagnosing complex network issues and devising effective solutions. Furthermore, the ability to work efficiently under tight deadlines is critical, ensuring that urgent tasks and project milestones are met without compromising the stability or security of the network.

What’s In It For You: Impact, Learning, and Professional Growth

This 3 to 6-month contract engagement as a Senior Network Engineer in Pasadena, CA, offers a unique opportunity for immediate impact and professional development within a dynamic technology organization.

Opportunity to Provide Critical Network Support: You will have the unique opportunity to provide critical network support during a pivotal period for the organization. Your expertise will be directly responsible for maintaining vital IT infrastructure as the team undergoes significant changes, offering a profound sense of purpose and immediate impact.
Work with Cutting-Edge Cloud-Managed and Next-Gen Technologies: You’ll gain hands-on experience and deepen your expertise by working with cutting-edge cloud-managed networking environments (Cisco Meraki) and next-generation firewalls (FortiGate and upcoming Palo Alto). This exposure ensures your skills remain highly relevant and competitive in the evolving network security landscape.
Chance to Mentor and Lead: This role provides a significant chance to mentor and lead a less experienced team member, sharing your knowledge and helping to shape the future capabilities of the internal network engineering team. Your leadership will be invaluable during this transitional phase.
High-Impact Role with Immediate Contributions: You will step into a high-impact role where your contributions will be immediately recognized and directly beneficial to the organization’s operations. Your ability to quickly resolve critical issues and maintain network stability will be highly valued.
Professional Growth and Development Opportunities: Beyond the immediate impact, this engagement offers tangible professional growth and development opportunities. You’ll tackle complex problems, expand your multi-vendor expertise, and potentially gain experience with a significant firewall migration, all of which will enhance your long-term career trajectory in network engineering.

If this Senior Network Engineer role in Pasadena, CA, aligns with your extensive network engineering experience, specific expertise in Cisco Meraki and firewalls, and your ability to quickly step into a high-impact consulting role, we encourage you to learn more about this exceptional contract opportunity. This is a chance to contribute your senior-level skills to a critical team within a leading technology organization.

To take the next step in your career and potentially join this dynamic team, click “Apply Now.” A dedicated recruiter will be in touch with you promptly to discuss this outstanding opportunity in greater detail, answer any questions you may have, and guide you through the application process. We look forward to connecting with you and exploring how your expertise can make a significant impact!