Principal Network Engineer
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Principal Network Engineer
Location
Chantilly, VA, US
Experience
Senior
Posted
Jul 10, 2026
Apply by
July 10, 2027
Applicants
0
Early applicantEasy applyContractWork from Office
Job Description
## Overview
Abile Group has an exciting and challenging opportunity for a Principal Network Engineer on a long-term contract providing Cyber Security services supporting an Intelligence Community customer. All the personnel on the team will work together to provide security services and capabilities necessary to ensure IT services provided to the IC customer workforce are secure. This includes Identity and Access Control Infrastructure Operations, Cross Domain Infrastructure Operations, Cyber Security Infrastructure Operations, Cyber Security Operations, Information Technology (IT) Audit Infrastructure, and Security Infrastructure Operations.
The right candidate will possess the below skills and qualifications and be ready to handle all responsibilities independently and professionally.
## Responsibilities
- Interacts with engineers, cross-functional teams, and customers at multiple levels to gather, coordinate, and deliver technical information.
- Works closely with engineering teams to troubleshoot and build complex, highly available network topologies.
- Develops and manages comprehensive network monitoring and alerting strategies leveraging SNMP, flow analytics, packet inspection, and infrastructure telemetry to proactively identify performance degradation, capacity constraints, and service disruptions across complex enterprise and mission-critical environments.
- Leads complex network troubleshooting and root cause analysis across enterprise, data center, cloud, and hybrid environments, utilizing packet captures, routing analysis, traffic flow inspection, and protocol level diagnostics to rapidly identify and resolve service-impacting issues.
- Performs engineering support and system administration for applications and systems, including installation, configuration, maintenance, patching, and backup/restore activities.
- Provides Tier 2/3 maintenance and engineering support for deployed network and cybersecurity technologies.
- Supports Assessment and Authorization (A&A) activities related to cybersecurity technologies, where applicable.
- Develops and implements automation solutions for repetitive project tasks and metrics collection using scripting, supporting testing and production deployment.
- Performs additional project and corporate duties as assigned to support customer mission requirements.
## Qualifications
Clearance Required: TS/SCI with ability to obtain a CI Poly.
Degree and Years of Experience: Bachelor’s degree or 4+ additional years of IT experience in lieu of degree.
- 7+ years of experience in cybersecurity or network engineering.
Required Certifications:
- Must have or be willing to obtain an IAT Level II (or higher) certification within 6 months of hire.
Required Skills:
- Proficiency in configuring and optimizing routing protocols like BGP and OSPF.
- Direct experience implementing network virtualization and encapsulation technologies (EVPN-VXLAN, MPLS).
- Solid understanding of traffic management and security perimeter defenses, including load balancers, firewalls, and virtualized infrastructure.
- Experience troubleshooting web application traffic to include a strong understanding of HTTPS transactions and mutual TLS (mTLS).
- Strong understanding of Windows and Linux systems, operating system security practices, and network security concepts.
- Experience deploying, upgrading, and troubleshooting multi-vendor network equipment and solutions, such as Juniper, Palo Alto, F5, and Nutanix.
- Experience leveraging SNMP monitoring tools.
Desired Skills:
- Knowledge of Cross Domain Solutions (CDS) technologies on the NCDSMO approved products list.
- Understanding of architectural principles such as defense in depth, resilience, and integrated security operations.
- Familiarity with federal cybersecurity guidance, including NIST SP 800-37 (Risk Management Framework) and NIST SP 800-137 (Information Security Continuous Monitoring).
- In-depth understanding and practical experience with LANs, firewalls, routers, and switches.
- Experience working in Agile environments.
Physical Requirements:
- Must be able to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time.
- Must occasionally move about inside the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, or communicate with co-workers, management, and customers via email, phone, or virtual platforms, which may involve delivering presentations.
## About Abile Group, Inc.
Abile Group, founded in July 2004 to support the Intelligence Community and its contractors across Enterprise Analytics, IT & Systems Engineering, and Program & Project Management, merged with Valiant Solutions in January 2026 - an established provider of cybersecurity technologies and services for Federal Agencies since 2005. Together, this partnership creates a stronger, more integrated cybersecurity organization with expanded opportunities for employees, deeper technical collaboration, and a unified mission. With significant experience serving the Federal Government, we remain dedicated to our employees and clients and seek high‑performing professionals who excel at providing guidance, developing solutions, and delivering implementation support that blends industry best practices with client expertise and Abile’s broad technical capabilities.
## Hiring Statement
Abile is committed to hiring the most qualified and best fit person for the job - always has, always will. Anyone requiring reasonable accommodations should email careers@abilegroup.com with requested details. A member of the HR team will respond to your request within 2 business days.
Please review our current job openings and apply for the positions you believe may be a fit. If you are not an immediate fit, we will also keep your resume in our database for future opportunities.
Key Responsibilities
- Interact with engineers and customers to gather and deliver technical information.
- Troubleshoot and build complex, highly available network topologies.
- Develop and manage network monitoring and alerting strategies using SNMP and flow analytics.
- Lead complex network troubleshooting and root cause analysis across enterprise and cloud environments.
- Perform engineering support and system administration for applications and systems.
- Provide Tier 2/3 maintenance and engineering support for network and cybersecurity technologies.
- Support Assessment and Authorization (A&A) activities for cybersecurity technologies.
- Develop and implement automation solutions for repetitive tasks and metrics collection.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree
- 4+ additional years of IT experience in lieu of degree
Skills Required
BGPOSPFEVPN-VXLANMPLSLoad balancersFirewallsVirtualized infrastructureHTTPSmTLSWindowsLinuxJuniperPalo AltoF5NutanixSNMPCommunicationProblem solvingIndependent workCross Domain Solutions (CDS)NCDSMO approved productsDefense in depthResilienceIntegrated security operationsNIST SP 800-37NIST SP 800-137LANsRoutersSwitchesAgile
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