Infrastructure Manager

OculusIT is seeking an experienced Infrastructure Manager - Network to lead and manage all network-related infrastructure operations for a Higher Education client campus. This is a hands-on, onsite leadership role responsible for ensuring a secure, resilient, and high-performing network environment that supports academic, administrative, and research functions.

The role combines technical expertise, operational ownership, and stakeholder collaboration, serving as the primary network infrastructure lead between OculusIT and the institution., Network Infrastructure Leadership

• Own end-to-end management of the campus network infrastructure, including LAN, WAN, WLAN, internet connectivity, and network security layers.
• Oversee design, implementation, optimization, and lifecycle management of network hardware and services (switches, routers, firewalls, wireless controllers, access points).
• Ensure high availability, redundancy, and performance across academic buildings, residence halls, administrative offices, and remote sites.

Operations & Support

• Lead day-to-day network operations, monitoring, and incident response.
• Act as the escalation point for complex network incidents and performance issues.
• Ensure timely resolution of outages with minimal impact to teaching, learning, and campus operations.
• Maintain and improve network monitoring, alerting, and capacity planning processes.

Security & Compliance

• Partner with security teams to implement and maintain:
• Network segmentation (VLANs, NAC, etc.)
• Firewall policies and secure remote access (VPN)
• Intrusion detection/prevention integrations
• Support institutional compliance requirements (FERPA, data protection policies, internal audits).
• Participate in vulnerability remediation and security hardening initiatives.

Project Management

• Lead network-related projects such as:
• Campus Wi-Fi upgrades and expansions
• Network refresh cycles
• New building network deployments
• ISP and bandwidth upgrades
• Coordinate with facilities, vendors, and academic departments during implementations.
• Manage vendor relationships and oversee third-party network service providers.

Documentation & Standards

• Maintain up-to-date network diagrams, configurations, and asset inventories.
• Establish and enforce network standards, change management processes, and documentation practices.
• Contribute to disaster recovery and business continuity planning.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as the primary network contact for campus IT leadership and key stakeholders.
• Communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences regarding risks, outages, and planned changes.
• Support executive reporting on infrastructure health, risks, and improvement initiatives.

Team Collaboration

• Work closely with systems, security, service desk, and application teams.
• Mentor junior IT staff and provide knowledge transfer where required.
• Align campus needs with OculusIT best practices and service delivery standards.

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 7-10+ years of experience in network infrastructure management.
• Strong hands-on experience with:
• Enterprise switching and routing
• Wireless networks (campus-scale Wi-Fi)
• Firewalls and network security
• VPN and remote access solutions
• Experience supporting multi-building or campus environments (HigherEd preferred).
• Solid understanding of:
• TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP
• VLANs, STP, routing protocols
• Network monitoring and performance tools
• Experience managing incidents, changes, and projects in structured IT environments., * Experience in a Higher Education IT environment.
• Certifications such as CCNA/CCNP (or equivalent).
• Experience with network access control (NAC) and identity-integrated networking.
• Exposure to hybrid/cloud-connected network architectures.