Principal Network Engineer

Children's Wisconsin · Milwaukee

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At Children’s Wisconsin, we believe kids deserve the best.

Children’s Wisconsin is a nationally recognized health system dedicated solely to the health and well-being of children. We provide primary care, specialty care, urgent care, emergency care, community health services, foster and adoption services, child and family counseling, child advocacy services and family resource centers. Our reputation draws patients and families from around the country.

We offer a wide variety of rewarding career opportunities and are seeking individuals dedicated to helping us achieve our vision of the healthiest kids in the country. If you want to work for an organization that makes a difference for children and families, and encourages you to be at your best every day, please apply today.

Please follow this link for a closer look at what it’s like to work at Children’s Wisconsin: https://www.instagram.com/lifeatcw/

Join Children's Wisconsin as a Principal Network Engineer and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our enterprise network infrastructure. This is an exciting opportunity for a builder and strategic thinker who enjoys evaluating existing environments, identifying opportunities for improvement, and driving meaningful change. You'll assess the current network landscape, make recommendations for modernization and optimization, and lead the design and implementation of secure, scalable solutions that support critical patient care and business operations across the organization.

Location: Hybrid but must be local to the Milwaukee area.  

What you will do: 

The Principal Network Engineer will provide advanced engineering and technical leadership for the networks that support clinical and business operations across Children's Wisconsin. This position will design and troubleshoot complex Cisco networks, develop network automation and hybrid cloud connectivity, and mentor engineers through design reviews, shared problem solving, and knowledge transfer. The role will improve network reliability, security, and repeatability while strengthening the team's ability to deliver and support critical services. Scope includes enterprise routing and switching, campus and data center networking, wireless connectivity, wide area networks, and connectivity to Azure and AWS. Serves as a senior technical escalation resource and leads assigned engineering work in partnership with Infrastructure, Cloud Engineering, Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, and Client Services. Exercises technical judgment within approved standards and change authority.

Essential Functions

• Network engineering. Designs, implements, and maintains enterprise Cisco network services. Evaluates routing, switching, segmentation, redundancy, capacity, and performance across clinical and business locations. Produces practical designs that account for application dependencies, operational support, security, and recovery requirements.
• Technical leadership and mentoring. Provides hands on technical guidance to network engineers. Reviews designs, configurations, automation code, and implementation plans; explains tradeoffs and develops team capability through pairing, troubleshooting, and knowledge sharing. Helps the manager sequence technical work and identify skills gaps. Builds shared ownership and reduces dependence on individual experts.
• Advanced troubleshooting. Leads technical diagnosis of complex network incidents and recurring problems. Uses packet captures, telemetry, logs, and routing analysis to isolate causes across network, application, security, and cloud boundaries. Coordinates restoration with service owners and the major incident process, documents root causes, and implements corrective actions.

•  - Network automation. Develops and maintains reusable automation for provisioning, configuration, validation, inventory, and operational tasks. Uses infrastructure as code, scripting, and APIs with tools such as Terraform, Ansible, and Python as appropriate. Applies version control, peer review, testing, secure credential handling, and rollback practices so automated changes are controlled and repeatable.
• Cloud and hybrid connectivity. Develops and applies Azure and AWS networking skills to design and support connectivity between CW locations and cloud environments. Works with cloud and security engineers on address planning, routing, private connectivity, DNS dependencies, segmentation, and resilient access to cloud services. Validates end to end connectivity and documents support responsibilities.
• Change and delivery discipline. Leads assigned network implementations, upgrades, and migrations. Prepares implementation procedures, impact assessments, test plans, rollback steps, and support handoffs. Follows enterprise ITSM and change processes, coordinates maintenance with affected teams, and validates service performance after changes.
• Standards and lifecycle planning. Maintains network diagrams, configuration standards, operating procedures, and accurate inventory and configuration records. Evaluates lifecycle risks, capacity needs, and technology options; provides technical recommendations and cost inputs to management and Enterprise Architecture. Tests proposed solutions before production adoption.
• Security and resilience. Implements approved network safeguards and addresses assigned vulnerabilities in coordination with Information Security. Validates redundancy, failover, configuration backups, and recovery procedures. Supports secure connectivity for clinical systems and connected medical devices with application owners and Clinical Engineering.
• Cross team and vendor coordination. Works with carriers, vendors, and internal teams to resolve technical issues and deliver network changes. Coordinates network dependencies for wireless, voice and collaboration, endpoints, applications, and cloud platforms. Reviews vendor technical deliverables and communicates risks, dependencies, and progress in terms stakeholders can act on.

What you will need:
Education:
- Bachelor's Degree in information technology, computer science, engineering, or a related field required or relevant experience
Experience:

• 7+ years of progressively responsible network engineering experience, including advanced design, implementation, and troubleshooting in a complex enterprise environment required
• 7+ years Experience serving as a technical escalation resource, leading significant network changes, and mentoring or providing technical guidance to other engineers required
• 7+ years Advanced hands on experience with Cisco enterprise routing and switching, IP addressing, routing protocols, network segmentation, high availability, Cisco ACI and datacenter networking technologies required
• 7+ years Advanced Working knowledge of wireless networking, VPN connectivity, DNS and DHCP dependencies, and network security principles required
• 7+ years Practical experience developing and maintaining network automation used in an operational environment through infrastructure as code, configuration management, scripting, or APIs required
• 7+ years Experience with one or more tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Python, or comparable technologies, including version control, testing, and documentation preferred
• 7+ years Experience following controlled change practices and coordinating across technical teams required

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Healthcare or other environments requiring continuous service availability are preferred. Relevant Cisco certifications, including CCNP or CCIE, and cloud networking certifications are preferred; certifications are not required.
• Ability to explain technical decisions, document designs and procedures and guide peers constructively
• Ability and willingness to develop and apply Azure and AWS networking skills as part of the role

Required for All Jobs:

• This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that may be requested in the performance of this job.
• Employment is at-will. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise.

Children's Wisconsin is an equal opportunity / affirmative action employer. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment for all employees. We treat everyone with dignity, respect, and fairness. We do not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status or condition protected by the law.

Certifications/Licenses:

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