{"schemaVersion":"jobsearcher.job.v1","id":"16b5a8a32ebff85fc9e6c91c","url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/16b5a8a32ebff85fc9e6c91c","canonicalUrl":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/16b5a8a32ebff85fc9e6c91c","title":"Core Network Engineer","description":"We are seeking a highly skilled Network Engineer to join our Core Network Engineering team. This is a senior-level, hands-on engineering position responsible for designing, deploying, scaling, and supporting FirstLight's carrier-class backbone network.\nThe ideal candidate will have strong experience with optical transport, DWDM, SONET, Carrier Ethernet, and IP/MPLS networking technologies and will lead network projects from concept through deployment and operational turnover.\n\nPosition Summary\n\nThe Core Network Engineer is responsible for the deployment, capacity expansion, security, troubleshooting, and operational support of FirstLight's production backbone network. This role combines network engineering, project leadership, capacity planning, and Tier 3 escalation support.\nThe successful candidate will lead network deployments from initial design through implementation, migration, testing, and operational acceptance. They will work closely with Operations, Service Delivery, Construction, Outside Plant, and vendor teams to ensure successful execution of network projects while maintaining the reliability and scalability of FirstLight's backbone infrastructure.\nThis position plays a critical role in the ongoing evolution of the network, including supporting growth initiatives involving the latest transport technologies.\n\nKey Responsibilities\nNetwork Engineering & Deployment\nLead network deployments from planning and design through implementation, testing, migration, and operational handoff.\nDevelop engineering designs, implementation plans, migration procedures, test plans, and rollback strategies.\nOwn network expansion, augmentation, and modernization projects from start to finish.\nEnsure deployed solutions meet operational, scalability, resiliency, and performance requirements.\nCoordinate with internal teams and external vendors to ensure successful project execution.\nDesign, deploy, and troubleshoot carrier-class optical transport networks.\nEngineer and scale DWDM infrastructure supporting backbone growth and service expansion.\nEngineer, design, and implement upgrades to the IP Core backbone.\nPlan and implement capacity upgrades supporting flex-grid transport technologies.\nSupport optical path engineering, wavelength provisioning, network resilience, and transport optimization.\nDesign, deploy, and troubleshoot large-scale Carrier Ethernet backbone networks.\nMaintain expert-level knowledge of Layer 2 transport technologies and Ethernet service architecture.\nSupport Ethernet transport technologies\nDevelop and maintain engineering standards and best practices.\nDesign, deploy, and support carrier-grade IP/MPLS backbone infrastructure.\nMaintain strong expertise in MPLS and IP networking Protocols\nSupport backbone routing, network resiliency, and service provider interconnection initiatives.\nDeploy, administer, and optimize Fortinet FortiGate and Cisco Firepower security solutions.\nConfigure and maintain firewall policies, IPS/IDS, VPNs, NAT, application controls, and threat prevention services.\nPerform network security assessments, vulnerability remediation, and security hardening initiatives.\nCapacity Planning & Network Growth\nLead capacity planning initiatives across optical, transport, and routing platforms.\nAnalyze utilization trends and forecast network growth requirements.\nDevelop solutions for increasing network scale, performance, and resiliency.\nSupport long-term technology roadmaps and network evolution strategies.\nEvaluate new technologies, hardware platforms, and software solutions.\nTechnical Leadership & Escalation Support\nServe as a Tier 3 escalation resource for complex network issues and outages.\nLead troubleshooting efforts across optical, DWDM, SONET, Ethernet, MPLS, and IP routing environments.\nConduct root cause analysis and develop corrective actions for major network events.\nWork directly with vendors to resolve complex hardware, software, and interoperability issues.\nMentor and support Operations and Engineering teams on network technologies and best practices.\nRequired Qualifications\nBachelor's degree or equivalent in Engineering, Computer Science, Telecommunications, or equivalent experience.\n7+ years of experience in service provider, telecommunications, carrier, or large-scale network engineering.\nStrong experience designing, deploying, and troubleshooting:\nDWDM Transport Networks\nOptical Transmission Systems\nSONET Infrastructure\nCarrier Ethernet Networks\nIP/MPLS Networks\nExperience leading network deployment, migration, and infrastructure expansion projects.\nStrong troubleshooting skills across Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3 technologies.\nExperience working in multi-vendor carrier network environments.\nAbility to develop implementation plans, migration procedures, testing methodologies, and operational documentation.\nStrong verbal and written communication skills.\nMust be a team player.\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience with carrier-grade platforms such as:\nCiena\nCisco\nJuniper\nNokia\nAdva\nExperience supporting large-scale optical and packet backbone networks.\nExperience with coherent optical technologies and modern transport architectures.\nIndustry certifications such as:\nCCNP / CCIE\nJNCIP / JNCIE\nMEF Certifications\nCISSP\nExperience supporting networks utilizing 100G, 400G, and 800G+ transport technologies.\nFamiliarity with DDoS mitigation, network automation, and security compliance frameworks\nWorking Conditions\nParticipation in a rotating on-call schedule is required.\nMust be available to support emergency outage restoration activities and critical network events outside normal business hours.\nParticipation in scheduled maintenance windows and after-hours implementation activities is expected.\nOccasional travel may be required to support network deployments, central office builds, vendor engagements, and infrastructure projects.\nAbility to work in a fast-paced environment supporting a 24x7 carrier network.\nAbout FirstLight:\nFirstLight, headquartered in Albany, New York, provides fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast connecting more than 13,000 locations in service with more than 125,000 locations serviceable by our more than 25,000-route mile network. FirstLight offers a robust suite of advanced telecommunications products featuring a comprehensive portfolio of high bandwidth connectivity solutions including Ethernet, wavelength, and dark fiber services as well as dedicated Internet access solutions, data center, cloud and voice services. FirstLight’s clientele includes national cellular providers and wireline carriers and many leading enterprises, spanning high tech manufacturing and research, hospitals and healthcare, banking and financial, secondary education, colleges and universities, and local and state governments.\nFirstLight Fiber is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with state and federal laws, FirstLight’s equal opportunity policy is that all applicants and employees are treated equally by the company with respect to employment opportunities, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status or veteran disability.","company":"Firstlight","rawCompany":"firstlight","city":"Manchester","state":"NH","isRemote":false,"isActive":false,"createdAt":"2026-08-09T15:05:03.380Z","occupations":[{"code":"15-1241.00","title":"Computer Network Architects","slug":"computer-network-architects"},{"code":"15-1299.08","title":"Computer Systems Engineers/Architects","slug":"computer-systems-engineers-architects"},{"code":"15-1244.00","title":"Network and Computer Systems Administrators","slug":"network-and-computer-systems-administrators"}],"industries":[{"code":"517111","title":"Wired Telecommunications Carriers","slug":"wired-telecommunications-carriers"},{"code":"541512","title":"Computer Systems Design Services","slug":"computer-systems-design-services"},{"code":"517810","title":"All Other Telecommunications","slug":"all-other-telecommunications"}],"jobPosting":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"JobPosting","title":"Core Network Engineer","description":"We are seeking a highly skilled Network Engineer to join our Core Network Engineering team. This is a senior-level, hands-on engineering position responsible for designing, deploying, scaling, and supporting FirstLight's carrier-class backbone network.\nThe ideal candidate will have strong experience with optical transport, DWDM, SONET, Carrier Ethernet, and IP/MPLS networking technologies and will lead network projects from concept through deployment and operational turnover.\n\nPosition Summary\n\nThe Core Network Engineer is responsible for the deployment, capacity expansion, security, troubleshooting, and operational support of FirstLight's production backbone network. This role combines network engineering, project leadership, capacity planning, and Tier 3 escalation support.\nThe successful candidate will lead network deployments from initial design through implementation, migration, testing, and operational acceptance. They will work closely with Operations, Service Delivery, Construction, Outside Plant, and vendor teams to ensure successful execution of network projects while maintaining the reliability and scalability of FirstLight's backbone infrastructure.\nThis position plays a critical role in the ongoing evolution of the network, including supporting growth initiatives involving the latest transport technologies.\n\nKey Responsibilities\nNetwork Engineering & Deployment\nLead network deployments from planning and design through implementation, testing, migration, and operational handoff.\nDevelop engineering designs, implementation plans, migration procedures, test plans, and rollback strategies.\nOwn network expansion, augmentation, and modernization projects from start to finish.\nEnsure deployed solutions meet operational, scalability, resiliency, and performance requirements.\nCoordinate with internal teams and external vendors to ensure successful project execution.\nDesign, deploy, and troubleshoot carrier-class optical transport networks.\nEngineer and scale DWDM infrastructure supporting backbone growth and service expansion.\nEngineer, design, and implement upgrades to the IP Core backbone.\nPlan and implement capacity upgrades supporting flex-grid transport technologies.\nSupport optical path engineering, wavelength provisioning, network resilience, and transport optimization.\nDesign, deploy, and troubleshoot large-scale Carrier Ethernet backbone networks.\nMaintain expert-level knowledge of Layer 2 transport technologies and Ethernet service architecture.\nSupport Ethernet transport technologies\nDevelop and maintain engineering standards and best practices.\nDesign, deploy, and support carrier-grade IP/MPLS backbone infrastructure.\nMaintain strong expertise in MPLS and IP networking Protocols\nSupport backbone routing, network resiliency, and service provider interconnection initiatives.\nDeploy, administer, and optimize Fortinet FortiGate and Cisco Firepower security solutions.\nConfigure and maintain firewall policies, IPS/IDS, VPNs, NAT, application controls, and threat prevention services.\nPerform network security assessments, vulnerability remediation, and security hardening initiatives.\nCapacity Planning & Network Growth\nLead capacity planning initiatives across optical, transport, and routing platforms.\nAnalyze utilization trends and forecast network growth requirements.\nDevelop solutions for increasing network scale, performance, and resiliency.\nSupport long-term technology roadmaps and network evolution strategies.\nEvaluate new technologies, hardware platforms, and software solutions.\nTechnical Leadership & Escalation Support\nServe as a Tier 3 escalation resource for complex network issues and outages.\nLead troubleshooting efforts across optical, DWDM, SONET, Ethernet, MPLS, and IP routing environments.\nConduct root cause analysis and develop corrective actions for major network events.\nWork directly with vendors to resolve complex hardware, software, and interoperability issues.\nMentor and support Operations and Engineering teams on network technologies and best practices.\nRequired Qualifications\nBachelor's degree or equivalent in Engineering, Computer Science, Telecommunications, or equivalent experience.\n7+ years of experience in service provider, telecommunications, carrier, or large-scale network engineering.\nStrong experience designing, deploying, and troubleshooting:\nDWDM Transport Networks\nOptical Transmission Systems\nSONET Infrastructure\nCarrier Ethernet Networks\nIP/MPLS Networks\nExperience leading network deployment, migration, and infrastructure expansion projects.\nStrong troubleshooting skills across Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3 technologies.\nExperience working in multi-vendor carrier network environments.\nAbility to develop implementation plans, migration procedures, testing methodologies, and operational documentation.\nStrong verbal and written communication skills.\nMust be a team player.\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience with carrier-grade platforms such as:\nCiena\nCisco\nJuniper\nNokia\nAdva\nExperience supporting large-scale optical and packet backbone networks.\nExperience with coherent optical technologies and modern transport architectures.\nIndustry certifications such as:\nCCNP / CCIE\nJNCIP / JNCIE\nMEF Certifications\nCISSP\nExperience supporting networks utilizing 100G, 400G, and 800G+ transport technologies.\nFamiliarity with DDoS mitigation, network automation, and security compliance frameworks\nWorking Conditions\nParticipation in a rotating on-call schedule is required.\nMust be available to support emergency outage restoration activities and critical network events outside normal business hours.\nParticipation in scheduled maintenance windows and after-hours implementation activities is expected.\nOccasional travel may be required to support network deployments, central office builds, vendor engagements, and infrastructure projects.\nAbility to work in a fast-paced environment supporting a 24x7 carrier network.\nAbout FirstLight:\nFirstLight, headquartered in Albany, New York, provides fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast connecting more than 13,000 locations in service with more than 125,000 locations serviceable by our more than 25,000-route mile network. FirstLight offers a robust suite of advanced telecommunications products featuring a comprehensive portfolio of high bandwidth connectivity solutions including Ethernet, wavelength, and dark fiber services as well as dedicated Internet access solutions, data center, cloud and voice services. FirstLight’s clientele includes national cellular providers and wireline carriers and many leading enterprises, spanning high tech manufacturing and research, hospitals and healthcare, banking and financial, secondary education, colleges and universities, and local and state governments.\nFirstLight Fiber is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with state and federal laws, FirstLight’s equal opportunity policy is that all applicants and employees are treated equally by the company with respect to employment opportunities, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status or veteran disability.","datePosted":"2026-08-09T15:05:03.380Z","dateModified":"2026-08-09T15:05:03.380Z","hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Firstlight","sameAs":"https://jobsearcher.com"},"jobLocation":{"@type":"Place","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Manchester","addressRegion":"NH","addressCountry":"US"}},"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"JobSearcher","value":"16b5a8a32ebff85fc9e6c91c"},"url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/16b5a8a32ebff85fc9e6c91c"}}