Field Network Engineer
Location: Hybrid / Field-Based — regular on-site work required at assigned customer locations
Job Type: Full-time
Travel: Regular local/regional travel required; occasional overnight travel may be required
Schedule: Evenings, weekends, and off-hours work as needed
Salary: Competitive, based on experience and qualifications
About Central Technologies
Central Technologies is a leading provider of advanced networking, security, wireless, and infrastructure solutions for businesses, schools, and public-sector organizations. We design, deploy, secure, and support high-performance wired and wireless networks that keep our customers connected and operational.
We are seeking a Field Network Engineer to serve as an embedded engineering resource for assigned customer environments. This position is responsible for supporting, maintaining, improving, and documenting customer network infrastructure both physically and logically.
This is a proactive field engineering role, not simply a reactive support position. The Field Network Engineer will report directly to assigned customer locations for agreed-upon onsite time each week and will act as a trusted technical resource for the customer’s network operations, planning, troubleshooting, and ongoing improvement.
The Field Network Engineer will also work alongside Central Technologies’ senior-level network engineering department for oversight, mentorship, escalation support, and technical assistance. While this role requires independence and ownership of assigned customer environments, it is supported by an experienced engineering team to help ensure customer networks are maintained to a high standard.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as the primary embedded network engineering resource for assigned customer accounts.
- Report onsite to assigned customer locations during agreed-upon schedules and time periods.
- Monitor, support, maintain, and improve customer network infrastructure.
- Ensure network uptime, availability, and performance for customer devices and systems.
- Troubleshoot and resolve network-related issues involving switches, wireless, firewalls, routing, VLANs, DHCP, DNS, and connected systems.
- Perform physical network work including rack/closet cleanup, cable tracing, labeling, patching, switch replacements, AP replacements, UPS replacements, and device installation.
- Rack, mount, organize, route, label, and dress network cabling and equipment in IDF/MDF closets, racks, and cabinets in a clean and professional manner.
- Make approved network configuration changes to improve performance, reliability, security, and manageability.
- Proactively review customer environments for potential issues, risks, outdated configurations, poor documentation, or opportunities for improvement.
- Maintain accurate network documentation including diagrams, IP addressing, VLANs, switch locations, port usage, device inventory, configurations, implementation notes, and change notes.
- Work directly with customer IT staff, administrators, vendors, and Central Technologies internal teams.
- Collaborate with Central Technologies’ senior network engineering department for technical oversight, escalation, design review, and assistance with complex issues.
- Communicate clearly with customers regarding work completed, issues discovered, recommendations, and upcoming needs.
- Assist with project planning, network upgrades, wireless improvements, security enhancements, lifecycle replacement planning, cutovers, migrations, and post-project support.
- Follow change management procedures and ensure customer approval is received when required.
- Escalate complex issues when needed while maintaining ownership and communication through resolution.
- Provide professional onsite representation of Central Technologies at all times.
- Stay current with manufacturer best practices, security standards, and emerging networking technologies.
Required Skills and Experience
- Experience supporting enterprise, education, public-sector, or multi-site customer network environments.
- Strong understanding of TCP/IP networking, switching, routing, VLANs, trunking, DHCP, DNS, NAT, ACLs, wireless networking, and basic firewall concepts.
- Hands-on experience with network hardware such as switches, wireless access points, firewalls, UPS units, patch panels, racks, and cabling.
- Ability to troubleshoot both physical and logical network issues across Layer 1 through Layer 7.
- Experience with wireless systems, controller/cloud-managed networking platforms, and network monitoring tools.
- Ability to read and create network documentation, diagrams, scopes of work, equipment inventories, and implementation notes.
- Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical users.
- Ability to work independently while also collaborating with senior engineers for guidance, oversight, and escalation.
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to clean, professional work.
- Ability to manage priorities across assigned customer needs and scheduled onsite time.
- Understanding of basic rack layout, power requirements, UPS placement, cable management, patching, and equipment installation best practices.
- Professional communication skills and the ability to work directly with customers, vendors, and internal teams.
Preferred Experience
- Experience with Aruba, Extreme, Juniper/Mist, Cisco, Cisco Meraki, Fortinet, SonicWall, Palo Alto, Ubiquiti, or similar platforms.
- Experience working in K-12, higher education, government, healthcare, or multi-site customer environments.
- Familiarity with network access control, 802.1X, RADIUS, ClearPass, Microsoft NPS, firewall policies, VPNs, and network segmentation.
- Experience with project-based network upgrades and customer-facing engineering work.
- Low-voltage cabling knowledge including copper, fiber, patch panels, racks, IDFs/MDFs, labeling, testing, and cable dressing.
- Experience supporting VoIP environments, call quality troubleshooting, and QoS.
- Experience with IP cameras, access control, intercoms, paging, or physical security systems.
- Experience with network monitoring and management platforms.
- Familiarity with scripting or automation tools such as PowerShell, Python, APIs, or configuration templates.
- Relevant certifications such as Network+, Security+, CCNA, Aruba, Fortinet, Extreme, Juniper, Palo Alto, CWNA, or equivalent experience.
Qualifications and Requirements
- Ability to pass State of Tennessee TBI and Federal FBI background checks.
- Valid U.S. work authorization.
- Valid driver’s license.
- Ability and willingness to travel to assigned customer locations on a regular basis.
- Ability and willingness to work occasional evenings, weekends, maintenance windows, and off-hours as needed.
- Commitment to ongoing training, professional development, and manufacturer certifications.
- Strong communication, documentation, organization, and customer service skills.
- Ability to work independently, manage priorities, and collaborate effectively with a technical team.
Expectations for the Role
The Field Network Engineer is expected to take ownership of assigned customer environments. This includes understanding how the network is designed, how it is being used, what issues exist, and what improvements should be recommended.
This position requires regular onsite presence with assigned customers. While emergency support and troubleshooting may be part of the role, the primary focus is proactive maintenance, improvement, documentation, and customer confidence.
A successful Field Network Engineer should be able to walk into a customer environment, understand the current state of the network, identify what needs attention, communicate clearly, and help move the customer toward a more reliable and better-documented infrastructure. They should also know when to engage senior engineering resources for additional guidance, validation, or escalation.
Work Environment
- Regular onsite work at assigned customer locations.
- Occasional travel to other customer sites as needed.
- Some after-hours work may be required for scheduled maintenance, outages, upgrades, or project work.
- Must be able to work in network closets, MDF/IDF rooms, classrooms, offices, and other customer facilities.
- Must be able to lift, move, mount, and install network equipment as needed.
Benefits
- Competitive salary based on experience and qualifications.
- Health, dental, and vision insurance.
- Paid Time Off.
- 401(k) with employer match.
- Hybrid work environment.
- Training and certification opportunities.
- Opportunity to work with a wide range of enterprise networking, wireless, security, and infrastructure technologies.
- Opportunity to grow within a supportive engineering team with senior-level mentorship and escalation support.
Position Type
Full-time Field Engineering position.
Reporting Structure
This position reports internally to Central Technologies Engineering leadership while also serving as a direct embedded engineering resource for assigned customer accounts. The Field Network Engineer will work in coordination with Central Technologies’ senior network engineering department for oversight, mentoring, escalation, and technical support.
If you are a Field Network Engineer who enjoys working directly with customers, taking ownership of real-world network environments, improving infrastructure, and being part of a growing technical team, we would like to hear from you.
Apply today and join Central Technologies in delivering secure, reliable, high-performance network solutions.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: From $55,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Referral program
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
