Senior Network Engineer

Overview

Senior Network Engineer – American Credit Acceptance (ACA)

Location: Spartanburg, SC or Boise, ID

Position Overview: American Credit Acceptance (ACA) is seeking a highly skilled Senior Network Engineer with a minimum of 8 years of experience and strong Cisco expertise to join our IT infrastructure team. The ideal candidate will play a pivotal role in managing, maintaining, and advancing ACA’s network infrastructure. This role requires someone who is not only technically proficient but also a strong collaborator capable of aligning network solutions with the company's growth and security objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

• Network Design & Implementation:
• Design, deploy, and manage robust LAN, WAN, and SD-WAN infrastructure across ACA’s datacenters and branch offices.
• Lead the architecture and implementation of scalable and secure network solutions, ensuring low latency and high availability for business-critical applications.
• Collaborate with internal teams and vendors to drive network projects from concept to completion, ensuring alignment with ACA’s IT modernization strategy.
• Network Security & Compliance:
• Implement and manage advanced security protocols such as VPNs, firewalls, network access control (NAC), and segmentation.
• Perform network hardening, vulnerability assessments, and remediation activities to ensure compliance with internal policies and industry regulations (e.g., PCI-DSS).
• Monitor, analyze, and respond to network security incidents and proactively address potential risks.
• Operational Support & Troubleshooting:
• Provide day-to-day operational support, including troubleshooting and resolution of network-related issues, focusing on minimizing downtime and improving performance.
• Lead efforts in managing upgrades, patches, and firmware updates for network devices, ensuring optimal functioning and security.
• Administer and maintain routing and switching protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP) across ACA’s enterprise network.
• Diagnosing and resolving problems across a variety of hardware platforms and vendors including Cisco, F5, Palo Alto, Solarwinds, ForeScout and more.
• Network Optimization & Performance Monitoring:
• Use monitoring tools (e.g., SolarWinds, Splunk, Nagios) to evaluate network performance, detect anomalies, and ensure efficient bandwidth usage.
• Lead continuous improvement efforts, optimizing network performance by reviewing traffic patterns, capacity planning, and load balancing.
• Oversee QoS (Quality of Service) strategies for prioritizing critical application traffic and improving end-user experience.
• Collaboration & Leadership:
• Partner closely with the cybersecurity, DevOps, and other Infrastructure teams to ensure secure, scalable, and future-proof network architecture.
• Act as the lead engineer during major network incidents, providing guidance to junior engineers and working with cross-functional teams to ensure swift issue resolution.
• Mentor and guide junior network engineers, fostering a collaborative and learning-oriented environment.
• Vendor & Project Management:
• Manage relationships with external vendors and service providers, ensuring that services align with ACA’s technical and business needs.
• Lead network-related projects, including migrations, hardware upgrades, and infrastructure expansions, ensuring timely and successful completion.
• Participate in Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings, driving the approval of network changes and ensuring minimal impact to business operations.

Required Qualifications:

• Education:
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or related field preferred.
• Experience:
• Minimum 8 years of hands-on experience in network engineering, including design, implementation, and management of complex network infrastructures.
• Proven experience with Cisco technologies, including Cisco switches, routers, firewalls, and wireless controllers.
• Certifications:
• Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) required.
• Knowledge of industry standards and frameworks (e.g., ITIL, NIST).
• Technical Skills:
• Strong expertise in routing and switching protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP), as well as network security protocols (IPsec, SSL VPN).
• Experience with network automation and scripting (Python, Ansible) is a plus.
• Fam