Software Defined Telecom Network Engineering Manager

GD Information Technology • Martinsburg, WV

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Join GDIT to support the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through our Network, Engineering, Design, Implementation, and Infrastructure Support (NEDIIS) program. As the Software‑Defined (SD) Telecom Network Engineering Manager, you will lead teams that design and operate software‑defined telecom networks across VA’s enterprise. This role directly supports the VA Office of Information Technology (OIT), delivering secure, adaptable, and cost‑effective enterprise network capabilities that power VA’s mission nationwide.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, Computer Science, or IT; four additional years of related experience may be substituted for a degree.
• Required Experience: 5+ years of experience (10+ years desired) in telecom or IT operations delivering secure enterprise voice, video, data, and messaging services.
• Proven experience (10+ years) developing network architecture and designs for LAN, WAN, MPLS, and SD WAN.
• Proven experience (10+ years) planning, implementing, and managing scalable and secure enterprise network infrastructure.
• Proven experience (10+ years) leading network modernization and cloud connectivity projects.
• Proven hands on experience with SD WAN, routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP), VoIP/SIP/PBX, firewalls, VPNs, and cloud networking (AWS/Azure).
• Proven leadership (10+ years) mentoring and guiding network engineers and telecom specialists.
• Proven experience improving operational metrics such as MTTR, change failure rate, and cost per unit.
• Experience with NIST SP 800 53/RMF, Zero Trust/TIC 3.0, FedRAMP, and ATO sustainment, including audit support.
• Leadership in multi vendor/SIAM environments with shared KPIs, cross domain coordination, and incident swarming.
• Extensive experience (5–10+ years) with network monitoring tools such as SolarWinds, Splunk, DataDog, Wireshark, OpenDaylight (ODL), Cisco SD WAN vManage, Juniper Contrail, and NetBrain.
• Networking & Identity: VPC/VNet design, hub and spoke, SD WAN integration, DNS, NAT, firewalling, service mesh, SSO (SAML/OIDC), PIV/FIDO2, JIT/PIM/PAM.
• Observability & SRE: OpenTelemetry (traces/metrics/logs), Prometheus/Grafana, log analytics/SIEM, SLO/error budget management, synthetic and RUM monitoring.
• Security & Compliance: CIS/STIG hardening, vulnerability/patch orchestration, encryption in transit/at rest, secrets management (Vault/KMS), least privilege patterns, RMF ConMon evidence generation.

Nice To Haves

• Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
• Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP)
• Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE)
• Enterprise SD WAN Implementation certification

Responsibilities

• Lead teams that design, operate, and modernize software defined telecom networks including SD WAN, cloud networking, and enterprise telecom infrastructure.
• Oversee network architecture, design development, configuration review, and technical refresh activities.
• Provide Tier IV escalation support for complex telecom and network engineering issues.
• Interface directly with customers and internal stakeholders to gather requirements and deliver high quality solutions aligned with architecture standards.
• Identify, evaluate, and recommend best of breed technologies that address business needs and support enterprise modernization.
• Guide infrastructure and network architecture functions to ensure efficient, timely, and technically sound design delivery.
• Support incremental revenue opportunities through solution development and customer engagement.
• Collaborate across internal teams and customer groups to develop strategy and support implementation.
• Build and maintain strong technical relationships with leadership and technology partners.
• Communicate technical trends, project updates, and design impacts clearly to stakeholders.
• Research emerging technologies, run pilots, analyze vendors, and build supporting business cases.
• Support escalations by assessing issues and recommending or implementing solutions.
• Mentor and train staff on technologies, processes, and soft skills.
• Develop test plans and project timelines.
• Contribute to budgeting efforts and assess financial impacts of technology decisions.
• Write functional requirements and technical specification documents.
• Stay current on emerging infrastructure technologies and competitor approaches.
• Guide evaluation, selection, implementation, and deployment of new technologies.
• Support 24×7×365 operations and Tier II–IV engineering escalation coverage.
• Manage PWS required network reporting (Elevator Reports, Weekly Ops Reports, Capacity Reports).
• Lead tech refresh cycles, configuration audits, and enforce VA baselines and STIGs.
• Oversee SD WAN enterprise rollout, MPLS/VRF, WAN provisioning, and transport migrations.
• Responsible for visibility tools (SolarWinds, NetScout, LiveAction) and compliance monitoring.
• Support transition in/transition out, SOP creation, and monthly SOP updates.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits and wellness packages
• 401K with company match
• Competitive pay and paid time off
• Full flex work weeks where possible
• A variety of paid time off plans, including vacation, sick and personal time, holidays, paid parental, military, bereavement and jury duty leave
• Short and long-term disability benefits
• Life, accidental death and dismemberment, personal accident, critical illness and business travel and accident insurance

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees