Mission Network Engineer NASA AFRC

You’ll be the go-to network engineer for AFRC’s mission network. You’ll monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot the LAN/WAN, including VLANs, subnets, DNS, DHCP, routing, firewalls, and hardware VPN tunnels, and you’ll install and configure the switches, routers, and firewalls that carry it. You’ll also own the network-connected appliances around it, such as smart PDUs, NTP servers, printers, and display clocks, and make sure each one meets Agency and Center cybersecurity requirements, including certificate management and data-in-transit encryption. You’ll keep network diagrams, IP address records, device configurations, appliance inventories, and certificate expiration tracking current in the CMDB. You’ll work with IT teams across the Center and the Agency, and send a weekly status update on open requests and appliance compliance. Occasional after-hours or on-call support is needed during mission activities, with limited travel.

• Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of network engineering experience, or an associate’s degree (AA/AS) and 8+ years
• CCNA or CompTIA Network+ level skills (an active certification is strongly preferred)
• Hands-on administration of enterprise LAN/WAN: VLANs, routing, firewalls, VPN tunnels, DNS/DHCP
• Experience integrating and managing network-connected appliances (PDUs, NTP, printers, clocks) in a regulated environment
• Certificate lifecycle management (issuance, renewal, revocation) and data-in-transit encryption
• Network documentation: diagrams, IP address management (IPAM), and a CMDB
• Strong troubleshooting in mission-critical settings and clear communication with cybersecurity, systems, and operations teams

Nice to have: Experience on NASA, federal, or defense mission networks; familiarity with Armstrong/Agency configuration management (CCRs, DRs, STRs) and presenting to technical control boards; enterprise monitoring and logging tools; Agency/Center cybersecurity baselines and compliance reporting; an active Secret clearance. Requirements we cannot waive:

• US citizenship is required. This is a federal contract. Non-citizens, including green card holders and visa holders, are not eligible. Please do not apply if you are not a US citizen.
• Secret clearance. You must be able to obtain and keep a Secret clearance.
• Location. You must already live within 50 miles of NASA Armstrong (Edwards, CA 93523), such as Lancaster, Palmdale, or Rosamond. This role is 100% on site. We are not offering relocation.

$90k-$95k. Health, dental, vision insurance; disability insurance; 401(k) with match; paid time off; paid holidays