Entry Level Cisco Network Engineer Jobs in Rhode Island

Systems/Network Engineer

Position Summary

We are seeking a Systems/Network Engineer to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations in Newport, Rhode Island. This position will provide hands-on systems engineering, network administration, infrastructure support, and advanced technical troubleshooting for NOAA's Marine Operations Center-Atlantic.

The engineer will support approximately 50 local users, including VIP personnel, and help maintain the reliable and secure operation of mission-critical IT services supporting NOAA ships, shore facilities, scientific operations, and enterprise systems. The role requires a versatile infrastructure professional who can work across networks, Windows and Linux systems, virtualization, cloud services, identity management, cybersecurity, and Tier 3 incident response.

Key Responsibilities

Network Administration

• Manage and troubleshoot LAN, WAN, VPN, wireless, and virtual networks.
• Configure and maintain routers, switches, firewalls, circuits, DNS, DHCP, NAT, routing, access controls, and network segmentation.
• Support Cisco, Fortinet, and similar enterprise technologies.
• Monitor network performance, resolve outages, and coordinate with NOAA teams, carriers, and vendors.
• Apply approved patches, firmware updates, and configuration changes.
• Maintain network diagrams, device configurations, IP and circuit inventories, and equipment labeling.
• Support infrastructure upgrades, capacity planning, and on-site operations.

Systems Administration

• Manage and troubleshoot Windows and Linux servers in physical, virtual, and cloud environments.
• Support VMware, Hyper-V, Microsoft Azure, and AWS.
• Administer Active Directory, LDAP, Group Policy, certificates, authentication, and access controls.
• Support single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and HSPD-12/PIV access.
• Monitor performance, storage, capacity, and system resources.
• Develop automation, configuration-management, and infrastructure-as-code solutions.
• Support tools such as Ansible, BigFix, Intune, ManageEngine, Tenable, Trellix, Apache, and Windows Deployment Services.
• Maintain system, software, license, warranty, and configuration records.
• Implement approved changes and support infrastructure modernization.

Operational and User Support

• Provide Tier 2 and Tier 3 support for network, server, endpoint, application, and infrastructure issues.
• Investigate critical or recurring problems and implement long-term solutions.
• Respond to mission-critical outages and coordinate service restoration.
• Support vulnerability scanning, patching, remediation, and security monitoring.
• Ensure compliance with federal, Department of Commerce, NOAA, and OMAO requirements.
• Provide professional support to end users and VIP personnel.
• Participate in after-hours maintenance and 24/7 on-call coverage for critical outages.
• Travel occasionally to NOAA ships, field offices, and other operational sites.

Required Qualifications

• Experience managing and troubleshooting enterprise networks and servers.
• Working knowledge of routing, switching, VPNs, firewalls, DNS, DHCP, NAT, segmentation, and network monitoring.
• Experience with enterprise network equipment, preferably Cisco and Fortinet.
• Experience administering Windows Server and/or Linux.
• Experience with Active Directory, Group Policy, identity management, and certificate-based authentication.
• Experience with VMware, Hyper-V, Azure, and/or AWS.
• Experience with patching, vulnerability remediation, performance monitoring, and configuration management.
• Strong troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, documentation, communication, and customer-service skills.
• Ability to work primarily on-site in Newport, Rhode Island.
• Availability for after-hours maintenance, critical-incident on-call coverage, and occasional travel.
• Ability to meet NOAA onboarding, badging, access, and security-screening requirements.

Required Certifications

Candidates must possess certifications appropriate to their assigned responsibilities:

• Network responsibility: Current Cisco Certified Network Associate-or a demonstrably equivalent networking certification-for an intermediate network engineering assignment.
• Systems responsibility: Current certification appropriate to the primary assigned platform, such as a Microsoft, Red Hat, virtualization, Azure, or AWS credential.

Annual Salary $95,000k-105,000k, depending on experience