Fresh Listing

Posted: January 14, 2026 (0 days ago)

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Network System Engineer - Entry to Expert Level (MD/GA/TX)

National Security Agency/Central Security Service

Department of Defense

Fresh

Location

Salary

$87,362 - $197,200

per year

Closes

January 16, 2026

Job Description

Summary

This job at the National Security Agency involves designing, building, maintaining, and monitoring advanced computer networks that connect systems worldwide, including wide-area, campus, local, data center, and satellite setups.

It's perfect for tech-savvy people who thrive in high-pressure settings and want to contribute to national security through reliable networking.

Candidates with backgrounds in engineering, IT, or cybersecurity, from beginners with a degree to seasoned experts, would fit well depending on the level.

Key Requirements

  • Bachelor's degree in Network Engineering, Systems Engineering, Information Technology, or related field (e.g., Computer Science, Cyber Security, Electrical Engineering)
  • Relevant experience in network or system administration; additional experience in areas like programming, cyber security, vulnerability analysis, penetration testing, or systems engineering
  • For Entry level: Bachelor's with no experience, or Associate's plus 2 years relevant experience, or military training plus 2 years
  • For Full Performance: Bachelor's plus 3 years, Master's plus 1 year, or equivalent combinations
  • For Senior: Bachelor's plus 6 years, Master's plus 4 years, or equivalent
  • For Expert: Bachelor's plus 9 years, Master's plus 7 years, or equivalent
  • Knowledge of multi-vendor platforms (Cisco, Brocade, Juniper, Arista), network encryption, WAN accelerators, and Layer 3 routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, etc.)

Full Job Description

The National Security Agency is seeking results driven individuals that strive for excellence, enjoy the challenges of a fast paced environment and the desire to make a difference.

We are looking for talented networking professionals to design, develop, deploy, sustain and monitor state-of-the-art network solutions (WAN, CAN, LAN, DCN and Satellite communications networks) that are deployed across NSA worldwide.

The qualifications listed are the minimum acceptable to be considered for the position.

Degree must be in Network Engineering, Systems Engineering, Information Technology or related field (e.g., General Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Forensics, Cyber Security, Software Engineering, Information Assurance, or Computer Security).

Relevant experience must be in network or system administration.

Additional experience may be in one or more of the following: computer or information systems design/development, programming, information/cyber/network security, vulnerability analysis, penetration testing, computer forensics, information assurance or systems engineering.

If not credited toward education requirement, completion of military training in a relevant area such as JCAC (Joint Cyber Analysis course), Undergraduate Cyber Training (UCT), Network Warfare Bridge Course (NWBC)/Intermediate Network Warfare Training (INWT), Cyber Defense Operations will be considered towards the relevant experience requirement (i.e., 20-24 weeks course will count as 6 months of experience, 10-14 weeks will count as 3 months of experience).

ENTRY/DEVELOPMENTAL Entry is with a Bachelor's degree and no experience.

The following may also be considered for individuals with in-depth experience that is clearly related to the position: an Associate's degree plus 2 years of relevant experience; or at least 18 semester hours of military coursework/training in networking, computer science, or cyber topics plus 2 years of relevant experience.

FULL PERFORMANCE Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 3 years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree plus 1 year of relevant experience, or a Doctoral degree and no experience.

The following may also be considered for individuals with in-depth experience that is clearly related to the position: an Associate's degree plus 5 years of relevant experience; or at least 18 semester hours of military coursework/training in networking, computer science, or cyber topics plus 5 years of relevant experience.

SENIOR Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 6 years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree plus 4 years of relevant experience, or a Doctoral degree plus 2 years of relevant experience.

The following may also be considered for individuals with in-depth experience that is clearly related to the position: an Associate's degree plus 8 years of relevant experience; or at least 18 semester hours of military coursework/training in networking, computer science, or cyber topics plus 8 years of relevant experience.

EXPERT Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 9 years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree plus 7 years of relevant experience, or a Doctoral degree plus 5 years of relevant experience.

The following may also be considered for individuals with in-depth experience that is clearly related to the position: an Associate's degree plus 11 years of relevant experience; or at least 18 semester hours of military coursework/training in networking, computer science, or cyber topics plus 11 years of relevant experience.

Major Duties:

Network Professionals are hired into positions directly supporting a technical mission office.

We are hiring networking professionals with education and/or experience in several of the following areas: - Multi-vendor infrastructure platforms (i.e., Cisco, Brocade, Juniper, Arista) - Network encryption devices and WAN accelerators - Multi-vendor Layer 3 routing protocols (i.e., BGP, OSFP, EIGRP, IGRP, HSRP, VRRP) - Virtual Private Networking (i.e., MPLS, GRE, L2VPN, EVPN, Pseudowire, IPsec, MACSEC) - Data center architectures and converged networks - Current networking trends, including commercial implementations of Software Defined Networks (SDN) for both Data Center Network and WAN applications - Load balancing and Application Delivery Controller technologies and implementations - WAN architectures (i.e., Carrier Ethernet, Optical Fabrics (OTN), SONET) - Network monitoring tools (i.e., NetFlow Tracker, HP Network Node Manager, Cisco LMS, Cisco Call Manager, Wireshark, and Splunk) - Network Modeling (RiverBed/OPNet, NetSim) - Network Boundary (Next Generation Firewalls (Palo Alto, Cisco FIREPOWER), IPSEC/SSL VPN Concentrators) - Cross Domain Solutions (SafeNet MDeX System, OWL Cyber Defense Cross Domain Solutions) - Technical certifications (e.g., CCNA, CCNP, SEC+).

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Posted on USAJOBS: 1/14/2026 | Added to FreshGovJobs: 1/15/2026

Source: USAJOBS | ID: 1252405