Network Operations Engineer Jobs in New Jersey (NOW HIRING)

Position Overview

The Cloud Services Network Engineer supports the Thrive Cloud platform by assisting with day-to-day network operations, firewall administration, troubleshooting, and project delivery. This role is suitable for an engineer with approximately 2–3 years of hands-on networking experience, a strong CCNA-level understanding of networking fundamentals, and good practical experience working with Fortinet firewalls. The role will work closely with senior network engineers to maintain reliable, secure, and well-documented network services across Thrive environments.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• 2–3 years of hands-on experience in network support, network administration, or junior network engineering

• Cisco CCNA certification or equivalent CCNA-level networking knowledge

• Good practical experience administering Fortinet firewalls, including policies, NAT, VPNs, and basic troubleshooting

• Experience supporting LAN, WAN, firewall, and internet connectivity issues in a business or service provider environment

• Degree, diploma, apprenticeship, or equivalent practical experience in information technology, networking, or a related field

Primary Responsibilities

• Assist with the day-to-day support, maintenance, and monitoring of Thrive Cloud network infrastructure

• Support Fortinet firewall administration, including firewall policies, address objects, NAT rules, VPN configuration checks, and log review

• Troubleshoot common network issues involving routing, switching, DNS, DHCP, VLANs, VPNs, and firewall access rules

• Work with senior engineers to implement approved network changes and project tasks

• Follow change control processes, document work clearly, and update tickets with accurate technical notes

• Participate in incident response and escalation activities, with guidance from senior network engineers where required

Requirements

Required Technical Competencies

Core Networking Knowledge

• Solid understanding of TCP/IP, subnetting, VLANs, routing, switching, DNS, DHCP, NAT, and basic network security concepts

• Working knowledge of common switching concepts such as ARP, STP, trunks, access ports, EtherChannel/LACP, and basic redundancy

• Basic routing knowledge including static routing, default routes and BGP

• Ability to use common troubleshooting tools such as ping, traceroute, packet capture, interface counters, logs, and monitoring dashboards

Fortinet Firewall Experience

• Good hands-on experience with FortiGate firewall administration and troubleshooting

• Ability to review and update firewall policies, address objects, services, schedules, and security profiles under guidance

• Understanding of source NAT, destination NAT, VIPs, and basic policy troubleshooting

• Experience supporting site-to-site IPSec VPNs, including phase 1 and phase 2 checks, tunnel status, and log review

• Awareness of Fortinet features such as virtual domains, high availability, FortiAnalyzer, and FortiManager is desirable

Equipment and Infrastructure Experience

• Experience supporting Cisco switches and routers in access, distribution, or small datacenter environments

• Basic experience with rack-mounted network hardware, cabling standards, patching, and datacenter support processes

• Experience using monitoring tools such as SolarWinds, PRTG, N-able, or similar platforms to identify and investigate alerts
  Soft Skills
• Clear verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to explain technical issues in tickets and handovers

• Willingness to learn from senior engineers and follow established standards, processes, and change controls

• Good troubleshooting mindset with attention to detail and the ability to work through issues methodically

• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and escalate appropriately when additional support is required

Base Salary Range: $80K -$115K (bonus eligible)

Actual compensation within the range will be dependent upon the individual's skills, experience, qualifications and location, and applicable employment laws.