Transport Network Automation Engineer

We are seeking an experienced Transport Network Automation Engineer to design, develop, and maintain an end-to-end network automation framework that transforms engineering designs into validated, device-specific configurations and controlled production deployments. This role will integrate Cisco Modeling Labs (CML) for network simulation and design validation, Robot Framework for automated testing, and Cisco Catalyst Center for production inventory, templating, provisioning, assurance, and compliance. The ideal candidate combines deep enterprise networking expertise with strong network automation skills and will help improve the repeatability, reliability, security, and traceability of multi-site network deployments while reducing manual configuration and engineering effort., Network Design & Automation

• Partner with Network and Transport Solution Engineers to translate network designs, diagrams, and technical requirements into structured, machine-readable data.
• Develop and maintain data models for sites, devices, interfaces, IP addressing, VLANs, routing, QoS, security, management, and monitoring.
• Identify incomplete, conflicting, or invalid design information before configuration generation and deployment.
• Establish standardized design inputs, naming conventions, validation rules, and reusable automation patterns.
• Separate common configurations from site-specific, device-specific, and platform-dependent requirements.
• Maintain end-to-end traceability from network design through testing, deployment, and production validation.

Cisco Modeling Labs (CML)

• Automate CML lab creation, configuration, startup, testing, and teardown using APIs and approved automation tools.
• Map logical network devices and interfaces to appropriate CML virtual nodes and links.
• Generate and apply configurations to CML environments for pre-production validation.
• Identify configuration errors, addressing issues, routing problems, missing variables, and design defects before production deployment.
• Validate routing adjacencies, VLANs, trunking, management connectivity, route propagation, inter-site connectivity, and expected failure scenarios.
• Capture logs, test results, configuration snapshots, software images, and lab information for engineering documentation and audit purposes.
• Identify functionality that requires physical-hardware validation when virtualization cannot fully reproduce platform-specific behavior.

Robot Framework & Automated Testing

• Integrate Robot Framework testing into the network validation lifecycle.
• Develop parameterized automated tests using approved network design and device data.
• Build positive, negative, regression, resiliency, smoke, integration, and acceptance tests.
• Automate validation of routing, connectivity, configuration completeness, management-plane controls, and expected operational states.
• Publish test results and associate them with applicable designs, lab environments, template versions, and deployment packages.
• Build repeatable regression testing environments for network templates and automation changes.

Cisco Catalyst Center

• Develop, organize, version, and maintain Cisco Catalyst Center configuration templates.
• Create reusable, modular, and platform-aware templates for Cisco network devices.
• Define template variables, mandatory fields, dependencies, allowed values, and validation rules.
• Generate device-specific and site-specific configuration inputs from approved engineering data.
• Map sites, device roles, hardware platforms, software releases, and configuration requirements to appropriate templates.
• Use Catalyst Center APIs and SDKs to retrieve and manage inventory, sites, templates, devices, compliance information, assurance data, and deployment status.
• Automate controlled provisioning workflows while maintaining required approvals, change controls, and audit records.
• Support configuration compliance, drift detection, remediation, and post-deployment validation.

Network Automation & Orchestration

• Develop orchestration workflows connecting network design data, CML topology creation, automated testing, and production deployment.
• Establish a common source of truth to minimize manual data entry across engineering documents, labs, testing platforms, templates, and production systems.
• Ensure only approved and successfully validated configuration artifacts progress into production.
• Implement automated unit, integration, regression, and network-functional testing.
• Develop preflight checks, dry-run capabilities, approval gates, maintenance-window controls, and device reachability validation.
• Support configuration backups, deployment sequencing, concurrency controls, retry policies, rollback, and recovery procedures.
• Design automation to safely handle partial deployments, connectivity failures, unsuccessful tasks, and devices requiring manual intervention.
• Ensure automation is repeatable, auditable, and does not unintentionally overwrite unrelated network configurations.

Engineering Collaboration & Technical Leadership

• Serve as a technical bridge between network engineering, architecture, cybersecurity, deployment, and operations teams.
• Guide engineers in creating automation-ready network designs and complete implementation packages.
• Troubleshoot and explain network design issues, automation failures, test failures, template behavior, platform limitations, and deployment risks.
• Recommend network and configuration standardization to reduce unnecessary complexity.
• Perform root-cause analysis across design, data, automation, testing, platform, and operational issues.
• Develop technical documentation, implementation guidance, troubleshooting procedures, and knowledge-transfer materials.
• Provide technical mentoring and peer review to other engineers.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Network Engineering, Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Typically 8-12 years of relevant professional experience with a bachelor’s degree or 6-10 years with a master’s degree.
• Extensive experience with enterprise networking, including routing, switching, LAN/WAN, data center networking, carrier transport, or network architecture.
• Strong understanding of IPv4/IPv6, OSPF, BGP, EIGRP, IS-IS, static routing, route redistribution, summarization, filtering, path selection, and routing policies.
• Experience leading complex technical implementations, migrations, modernization initiatives, or engineering workstreams.
• Experience across the engineering lifecycle, including requirements analysis, solution design, integration, testing, implementation, documentation, deployment, and transition to operations.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex technical issues spanning multiple systems, technologies, devices, or locations.
• Experience with network automation, infrastructure-as-code, APIs, source control, configuration validation, and automated testing.
• Experience providing technical leadership, mentoring, peer review, or training to engineering teams.

Preferred Technical Experience

• Hands-on experience with Cisco Modeling Labs (CML).
• Experience with Cisco Catalyst Center configuration templates, APIs, provisioning, assurance, and compliance.
• Experience developing automated network tests using Robot Framework or comparable automation/testing frameworks.
• Experience with API-driven network automation and orchestration.
• Experience with configuration templating and structured network data models.
• Experience with configuration compliance, drift detection, automated remediation, and production validation.
• Experience supporting geographically distributed, highly available, mission-critical, or operationally sensitive network environments.
• Experience working across laboratory, integration, staging, and production network environments.
• Experience with network modernization, hardware refreshes, end-of-support remediation, site migrations, data center migrations, carrier transitions, or technology consolidation.

Preferred Certifications

• Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Enterprise or comparable advanced networking certification.
• Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Enterprise Infrastructure is beneficial but not required.
• Juniper, Arista, Nokia, Ciena, or comparable network/transport certifications.
• Relevant cybersecurity certifications are a plus.

Additional Skills

• Strong technical documentation and communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate across engineering, architecture, cybersecurity, deployment, and operations organizations.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting capabilities.
• Ability to translate complex network designs into standardized and automated implementation workflows.
• Experience developing technical proposals, implementation plans, migration plans, bills of material, levels of effort, or technical risk assessments is preferred.

We are a technology and engineering organization focused on delivering innovative solutions for complex, mission-critical environments. Our teams bring together deep technical expertise, practical problem-solving, and a commitment to delivering solutions that make a measurable impact. We partner with government and defense organizations to tackle challenging programs across systems engineering, software development, data science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and advanced technology. Our people work on meaningful projects where reliability, security, and performance matter. We believe the best solutions come from talented people who are empowered to think creatively, collaborate closely, and solve difficult problems. If you’re looking for an opportunity to work on challenging technology while supporting important missions, we’d love to hear from you.

Why join us?

Our client offers highly competitive compensation packages, comprehensive benefits, and a collaborative, people-first culture that promotes innovation, professional growth, and long-term career development. We are committed to creating an environment where employees are empowered to make an impact, work alongside highly talented teams, and contribute to meaningful, mission-critical initiatives in a supportive and forward-thinking workplace.