Senior Network Engineer

The Senior Network Engineer is a senior-level technical expert responsible for the architecture, engineering, reliability, security, and operational excellence of FormFactor's enterprise network environment across sites, data centers, and cloud-connected networks. This role leads complex initiatives spanning routing/switching, WAN/SDWAN, wireless, firewalls, segmentation, and network observability, and serves as a key escalation point for critical incidents.

This role is expected to drive standards, influence technical strategy, mentor other engineers, and deliver high-impact projects that improve availability, performance, and security across the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities:

Network Architecture & Engineering (Enterprise Scope)

• Design, implement, and optimize resilient network architectures across campus, WAN, data center, and cloud connectivity (as applicable).

• Lead engineering efforts for routing/switching, wireless, firewall policy architecture, segmentation, NAC, and secure remote access.

• Define and maintain network standards, reference designs, configuration baselines, and lifecycle roadmaps.

• Evaluate and recommend technologies, vendors, and solutions aligned to business requirements and security posture.

Reliability, Operations & Problem Management

• Serve as senior escalation for complex incidents; lead troubleshooting for high-severity outages and performance degradations.

• Establish and improve operational practices: monitoring/alerting, capacity planning, change controls, and incident/postmortem processes.

• Drive root cause analysis (RCA) and implement preventive measures to improve stability and reduce recurring issues.

• Partner with Service Desk / Site IT leads to improve handoffs, documentation, and support readiness.

Security & Compliance Collaboration

• Partner with Cybersecurity teams to implement secure network patterns (segmentation, firewall standards, logging, and control validation).

• Ensure network solutions align with FormFactor policies, audit requirements, and security best practices (e.g., access controls, least privilege, secure management).

• Implement and maintain secure management practices for network infrastructure (AAA, MFA, TACACS/RADIUS, secrets handling, secure logging).

Project Leadership & Delivery

• Lead end-to-end delivery for complex infrastructure projects: site expansions, new site bring-up, SDWAN rollout, wireless refresh, firewall modernization, and data center upgrades.

• Create project plans, technical designs, implementation runbooks, test plans, and cutover/rollback strategies.

• Coordinate cross-functional execution with Infrastructure, Security, Enterprise Apps, vendors, and site stakeholders.

• Drive stakeholder communications for planned changes, risks, and outage windows.

Automation, Observability & Continuous Improvement

• Improve network efficiency through automation (e.g., configuration management, compliance checks, templating, and scripting).

• Develop and mature observability capabilities (telemetry, NetFlow, SNMP/streaming, syslog/SIEM integrations, synthetic monitoring).

• Establish and track key service health indicators (availability, latency, loss, wireless experience, MTTR, change success rate).

Mentorship & Technical Leadership

• Mentor and coach network engineers and site IT resources on standards, troubleshooting methods, and best practices.

• Provide technical governance for network changes and designs (peer reviews, architecture reviews, change advisory inputs).

• Influence technical direction and advocate for long-term improvements aligned with business growth and resiliency needs.

Preferred Experiences and Background:

• Bachelor's degree in IT/Computer Science/Engineering or equivalent practical experience.

• 8-12+ years of progressive experience in enterprise network engineering.

• Demonstrated expertise in several of the following areas:

• Routing and switching (BGP/OSPF, VRF, STP, QoS).

• WAN/SDWAN design and operations.

• Enterprise wireless (design, RF fundamentals, roaming, high-density environments).

• Firewall architectures and policy design, NAT, VPN (site-to-site and remote access).

• Network segmentation and access controls (NAC/802.1X preferred).

• Network monitoring/observability and performance troubleshooting.

• Proven experience leading complex changes with formal change management and rollback planning.

• Strong documentation skills (HLD/LLD, diagrams, runbooks) and stakeholder communication.

• Experience supporting multi-site global environments (manufacturing, semiconductor, lab/engineering sites strongly preferred).

• Cloud networking experience (Azure/AWS connectivity, VPN/ExpressRoute/Direct Connect, transit architectures).

• Automation/scripting experience (Python, PowerShell, Ansible, Terraform, API-based tooling).

• Familiarity with Zero Trust networking concepts and secure network management patterns.

• Relevant certifications (preferred, not required): CCNP/CCIE, PCNSE, CWNP, Aruba/Juniper equivalents.

Key Competencies:

• Expert-level troubleshooting and systems thinking.

• Strong influence skills and ability to drive alignment across infrastructure, security, and business teams.

• Ability to lead through ambiguity and manage risk effectively.

• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to present designs and decisions clearly.

• Bias for operational excellence (stability, maintainability, repeatability).

Working Conditions:

• Primary work location: Farmers Branch, TX (onsite/hybrid based on business need).

• Occasional travel to other FormFactor sites for implementations and critical support.

• Participation in an on-call rotation may be required for critical incidents and major changes.

• After-hours maintenance windows expected periodically for enterprise network changes.

Farmers Branch, TX

Benefits offered for this role include medical, dental, vision, EAP, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance, flexiblespendingand savings accounts, 401(k),ESPPand paid time off.