Freelance Cisco Ise Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Our team is seeking an experienced Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Engineer to support a federal civilian customer on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. This role is heavily focused on the administration, maintenance, and troubleshooting of Cisco ISE within a secure enterprise environment. Approximately 70% of this position is dedicated to hands-on Cisco ISE support, including troubleshooting authentication and access issues, managing policies, and maintaining platform health. An additional 20% of the role supports Cisco routing and switching infrastructure, while the remaining 10% consists of general infrastructure support, operational activities, and miscellaneous IT responsibilities as needed. The ideal candidate is a Cisco ISE subject matter expert with experience supporting large-scale enterprise environments and resolving complex identity, authentication, and network access challenges. This position requires working 100% onsite, Monday - Friday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM ET.

What you will do

• Serve as the primary engineer responsible for daily Cisco ISE operations and support.
• Troubleshoot and resolve authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) issues.
• Configure, manage, and support 802.1X, MAB, RADIUS, TACACS+, and certificate-based authentication.
• Investigate and resolve user, endpoint, and device connectivity issues related to network access control.
• Support endpoint profiling, posture assessment, guest services, and device administration policies.
• Monitor Cisco ISE health, node performance, replication status, and system alerts.
• Perform upgrades, patching, backups, certificate management, and platform maintenance.
• Analyze logs and perform root-cause analysis for complex authentication and access-control incidents.
• Support integrations with Active Directory, PKI infrastructure, Cisco switching platforms, wireless infrastructure, and other security technologies.
• Support Cisco routing and switching infrastructure.
• Troubleshoot Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity issues.
• Assist with implementation and maintenance of network infrastructure changes.
• Support network performance, availability, and operational improvements.
• Collaborate with network, security, server, and application teams to resolve operational issues.
• Participate in incident response, maintenance activities, and infrastructure initiatives as needed.
• Maintain technical documentation, procedures, and operational runbooks.
• Provide technical guidance and status updates regarding issues impacting services.

What We Expect of You

• This position requires working 100% onsite on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM ET.
• Bachelor's degree and 5+ years of related experience, OR 9+ years of equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) administration and troubleshooting experience.
• Strong experience supporting Cisco ISE, 802.1X authentication, RADIUS, TACACS+, Network Access Control (NAC), Active Directory integrations, and PKI/certificate management.
• Experience supporting Cisco routing and switching environments.
• Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.
• Active Public Trust clearance, is a plus.
• CCNP Security, CCNP Enterprise, or equivalent Cisco certification, is a plus.
• Cisco Certified Specialist - Security Identity Management (SISE), is a plus.
• Experience supporting Federal Government customers, is a plus.
• Experience with Cisco Catalyst Center and enterprise network security solutions, is a plus.
• Familiarity with Zero Trust architectures and identity-based security models, is a plus
  Pay range: $140,000 - $155,000 depending on experience and skill set.
  Annual bonus target of 10% subject to terms and conditions of plan
  Benefits overview: CDW Benefits
  Salary ranges may be subject to geographic differentials

CDW is committed to being an AI-fluent organization

We're looking for people who bring curiosity, a learner's mindset, and a willingness to engage with ever-evolving technology and tools. We value adopting AI as a partner, openness to experimentation, and a shared interest in learning together on AI. Our goal is to create a culture where AI enhances-not replaces-human creativity and decision-making. You don't need to be an expert today; what matters is your readiness to explore, adapt, and grow with us as we integrate AI responsibly and effectively into our work.

Additionally, CDW is committed to fostering an equitable, transparent, and respectful hiring process for all applicants. During our application process, our goal is to understand your experience, strengths, skills, and qualifications. As an AI forward company, we see AI not just as a tool, but as a catalyst for new ways of thinking, creating, and communicating. We encourage candidates to embrace an AI mindset, one that's curious, adaptive, and ready to explore what's possible. We welcome thoughtful use of AI to expand your perspective and elevate how you share your story, while ensuring your application remains rooted in your own background, judgment, and voice.

About Us

CDW is a Fortune 500 technology solutions provider that helps businesses, government, education, and healthcare organizations achieve what's possible through technology. What makes CDW different isn't just what we do-it's how we do it. At CDW we act as one-building trust, speaking candidly, and working together to achieve more. We play to win-focusing on what matters most and delivering for our customers. And we think forward-staying curious, moving fast, and continuously learning. We believe meaningful work happens when people feel supported, heard, and empowered to contribute. That's why we think of ourselves as coworkers, not just employees-working together to solve complex challenges and deliver real impact for our customers and communities.

As a fullstack, fulllifecycle technology partner, CDW brings deep expertise, strong relationships, and broad industry knowledge to help turn ideas into outcomes. When you join CDW, you become part of a collaborative environment where your work matters, your growth is supported, and your contributions help shape what's next.

Together, we deliver the full promise of what technology can do. Together, we Make Amazing Happen.

CDW is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other basis prohibited by state and local law.