Position: IT Network Consultant
Location: Irvine, CA (hybrid – 3-days in office) – Need Local candidates only
Duration: 12 Months Contract
Rate: $60/hr on C2C Max.
Job Description:
Position Overview
We are looking for an experienced IT Network Engineer to support day‑to‑day network operations and assist with ongoing infrastructure upgrades across multiple manufacturing sites. This role is primarily operational (60%), including troubleshooting, break/fix work, and supporting production‑critical network issues. The remaining 40% will focus on project work such as firewall upgrades, SD‑WAN modernization, and plant network refresh initiatives. The ideal candidate has deep hands‑on experience with routing and switching (Cisco preferred), Palo Alto Networks firewalls, and ideally some background supporting manufacturing/OT environments.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Support (≈ 60%)
- Handle day‑to‑day break/fix tickets for LAN/WAN, wireless, and firewall systems.
- Troubleshoot routing, switching, and security issues across plant and enterprise networks.
- Resolve network issues impacting production lines, sensors, OT devices, plant-floor apps, and IoT/Industry 4.0 platforms.
- Monitor network health and help drive stability, performance, and resilience improvements.
- Participate in on-call rotation for critical network incidents.
Project Work (≈ 40%)
- Support Palo Alto firewall upgrades, policy refinement, and migration tasks.
- Assist with SD‑WAN transformation projects (Prisma SASE/Prisma SD‑WAN or VeloCloud).
- Contribute to network modernization: switch refresh, cabling, redesign, VLAN segmentation.
- Implement approved changes following established change management processes.
- Collaborate with cross‑functional IT, OT, and vendor teams to ensure smooth deployments.
Required Skills & Experience
- Strong hands‑on experience with Cisco routing and switching (Catalyst/Nexus/ISR/ASR).
- Solid understanding of OSPF, BGP, STP, VLANs, trunking, EtherChannel, ACLs, QoS.
- Palo Alto Networks firewall experience including policy management, zones, NAT, App‑ID, and GlobalProtect.
- Experience supporting networks in a manufacturing environment (preferred but not required).
- Solid understanding of:
- WAN/MPLS/SD‑WAN architectures
- Layer 2 and Layer 3 enterprise design
- VPN (IPsec, SSL)
- High availability (HA) concepts
- Familiarity with wireless networking (Cisco, Aruba, or equivalent).
- Strong documentation practices (Visio, diagrams, configs, runbooks).
Preferred Skills (Nice to Have)
- Cisco ISE experience (authentication, authorization, policy sets, TACACS+).
- Prisma SD‑WAN (formerly CloudGenix) deployment or administration experience.
- VeloCloud SD‑WAN experience (profiles, business policies, overlays).
- Manufacturing OT networking exposure (EtherNet/IP, industrial VLANs, segmented PCN/PMS environments).
- Experience with DNS/DHCP/IPAM (Infoblox or similar).
- Experience with network monitoring tools (PRTG, SolarWinds, Meraki Dashboard, etc.).
- Certifications: CCNA/CCNP, PCNSE, or equivalent hands‑on knowledge.
Soft Skills
- Strong communication and teamwork abilities.
- Ability to operate effectively in fast‑paced manufacturing/plant environments.
- Organized, proactive, and capable of managing multiple priorities.
- Self‑starter with strong problem‑solving skills.
