Lead Network Engineer - Secret Clearance - On-Site

Lead Network Engineer

Location: Washington, DC – On-Site (Five (5) days per week)
Clearance Requirement: Active Secret Clearance (U.S. Citizenship Required)
Salary Range: $140,000 – $150,000 annually

Who We Are

RCG is a fast-growing federal contracting firm proudly Certified™ as a Great Place to Work®. We are committed to fostering a culture of innovation, inclusion, and excellence. At RCG, we deliver technology and mission support services that help government agencies succeed.

We are currently seeking a Lead Network Engineer to support an ongoing federal contract in Washington, DC. This is a full-time, on-site position requiring five (5) days per week on location. The role supports a nationwide enterprise environment for a U.S. Federal agency with more than 3,000 users.

Please note: Due to the secure nature of this government agency, all candidates must be U.S. citizens with an active Secret clearance and DoD 8570/8140-compliant certifications.

The selected candidate will receive a contingent offer pending the successful completion of a government background investigation. This process may take several weeks, and employment may not begin until clearance is finalized.

The Opportunity

This senior-level position is ideal for an experienced network professional who thrives in large-scale, mission-critical environments. The Lead Network Engineer will design, implement, and maintain a nationwide network infrastructure while leading ITIL v4-aligned service management practices.

In this role, you will serve as a senior technical authority, directly supervising five (5) Junior to Mid-level NOC engineers, providing both technical leadership and operational oversight. This position is part of a seven-year contract and offers long-term stability and growth opportunities.

This role requires participation in rotating after-hours on-call schedules and occasional extended coverage, shared among the engineering team, to support continuous operations.

What You’ll Do

Network Design & Engineering

• Design, implement, monitor, and troubleshoot nationwide WAN environments
• Plan and oversee installation, configuration, and testing of routers, switches, firewalls, and related network devices
• Ensure network reliability, scalability, security, and performance across enterprise environments
• Engineer wired, wireless, and unified communications (voice, data, video) solutions

Technical Leadership & Operations

• Serve as senior technical authority for enterprise network services and functions
• Lead and support advanced IT systems software and hardware projects
• Supervise and provide leadership to engineers assigned to the Network Operations Center (NOC)
• Assist the Task Order Program Manager with contract deliverables

Network Management & Monitoring

• Monitor and optimize LAN, WAN, and cloud-based network systems
• Configure and utilize network management and monitoring tools
• Manage WAN technologies including MPLS, IPSec VPNs, QoS, routing protocols, ACLs, and bandwidth management
• Monitor ticket queues and escalate issues in accordance with SLAs

Collaboration, Documentation & Compliance

• Partner with internal and external stakeholders to support national network operations
• Work with third-party providers to provision site-to-site IPSec VPNs
• Document network designs, configurations, standards, and procedures
• Ensure compliance with IT acquisition management, testing, and operational evaluations
• Promote training and professional development opportunities for network staff

Qualifications

Required

• Seven (7) or more years of experience leading and managing large-scale network engineering projects
• Proven experience supervising technical teams and delivering enterprise network solutions
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and decision-making skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to work directly with clients and stakeholders to assess needs and deliver solutions

Desired Certifications

• CCNP, CCIE, CCNA
• ITIL (v4 preferred)
• F5, CCDP, CISSP, JNCIP
• AWS or Azure networking certifications

Work Environment

• Full-time, on-site position in Washington, DC
• Five (5) days per week on location
• Participation in rotating after-hours on-call schedules and occasional extended coverage, shared among the engineering team, as required

Physical Demands

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this role.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

RCG, Inc. does not discriminate against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities. RCG prohibits discrimination against all individuals based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin