Principal Network Engineer

Full-Time, Direct Hire.

Hybrid - 2-3 days onsite in McKinney, TX 75070.

We are seeking aPrincipal Network Engineerto join ourCloud Engineering team, focused on building and automating theon-premises infrastructuresupporting our client'sSASE (Secure Access Service Edge)platform. This role is critical in delivering secure, high-performance, multi-tenant connectivity across distributedLinux-based edge environments. You will be responsible for designing, deploying, and automating robust network systems using tools likeAnsible,Terraform, andLinux-native networking utilities.

Key Responsibilities

Architect and implement on-premnetwork infrastructurefor SASE edge environments, with emphasis onLinux-based systemsand open-source routing technologies.

Automate the provisioning and configuration of network devices and Linux hosts usingAnsible,Terraform, and shell scripting.

Deploy and manage secure, scalable POP (Point of Presence) infrastructure leveraging tunneling protocols (e.g., IPsec, GRE, WireGuard) and dynamic routing (e.g., BGP, OSPF).

Lead efforts insystem hardening, patching, monitoring, and tuning of Linux hosts running critical edge networking services.

Design and maintain highly available, fault-tolerant infrastructure usingInfrastructure as Code (IaC)and configuration management best practices.

Build observability into the stack usingPrometheus,Grafana, and Linux-native tools (e.g., netstat, iftop, tcpdump) to proactively detect and resolve issues.

Collaborate with security teams to enforceZero Trust, access control, and segmentation policies within a multi-tenant SASE architecture.

Required Qualifications

Core Technical Skills

Expert-level Linux system administration, including network stack configuration, kernel tuning, systemd, and iptables/nftables.

Strong knowledge ofnetworking protocols: BGP, OSPF, IPsec, GRE, VXLAN, DHCP, DNS, NAT, and VLANs.

Deep experience withnetwork automation using Ansible and Terraform, including templating, inventory management, and remote configuration of Linux-based infrastructure.

Hands-on experience deploying and supporting network appliances and open-source tools onbare metal and virtualized Linux environments.

Proficient in scripting (Bash, Python) for automation, diagnostics, and orchestration tasks.

Familiar withmulti-tenant architectures, SASE or SD-WAN topologies, and secure policy enforcement at the edge.

Additional Qualifications

Experience with observability tools such asPrometheus,Grafana, or native Linux monitoring stacks.

Familiarity with CI/CD and Git-based workflows for infrastructure automation.

Ability to perform deep troubleshooting with Linux diagnostic tools (ss, tcpdump, ip, journalctl, etc.).

Clear, concise documentation skills and experience mentoring junior engineers.

Preferred Experience

Operating within hybrid on-prem/cloud environments.

Exposure to Zero Trust frameworks or network policy management platforms.

Experience with containerized networking stacks (optional but beneficial).