Network Engineer

Job Name

Network Engineer

Brief description

The Network Design Engineer role is to provide detailed designs for IP/data networks to ensure that a consistent, stable & secure infrastructure is in place to support telecommunications requirements. (Seek.com.au, 10 August, 2007)

The Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org, 11 August, 2007) describes the Network planning and design process as "an interative process, encompassing topological design, network-synthesis, and network-realization, and is aimed at ensuring that a new network or service meets the needs of the subscriber and operator."

Network Engineer described as planning, designing, and implementation of Local and Wide Area Networks (LANs and WANs). Network engineers usually design and implement large heterogeneous networks, and are required to have significant expertise in designing and administering network hardware and software from vendors like Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, and CheckPoint. (Thomson course technology, 13 August, 2007).

Duties & responsibilities of this role

Duties and responsibilities of the Network Engineer roles, identified during advertisement searches include:

Working with other highly regarded IT and T professionals, and having the understanding as to how their requirements can be integrated into the current network environment; (Seek.com.au, 10 August, 2007)
Assist with the administration and maintenance of the clients data infrastructure; (Seek.com.au, 27 July, 2007)
Assist with the implementation of system upgrades to the data infrastructure; (Seek.com.au, 27 July, 2007)
Identifying / rectifying customer problems associated with the project; (Seek.com.au, 27 July, 2007)
Providing input for designed solutions; (Seek.com.au, 27 July, 2007)
Work as part of a team to design and implement corporate and service provider networks to clientele ranging from Internet Service Providers through to Financial Institutions. (Mycareer.com.au, 26 July, 2007)
Hands-on IP network design, implementation, and management. (Mycareer.com.au, 12 August, 2007)
Implement and maintain IP network infrastructure in a production global environment in an effective and timely manner. (Mycareer.com.au, 12 August, 2007)
provide operational support for IP network
interface with suppliers on teir 4 issues
Managing the expansion of an IP network to maintain quality and reliability

Job requirements

Key requirements identified in employment advertisements include:

Skills Required:

Excellent communication skills; (Seek.com.au, 27 July, 2007)
Good interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills; (Seek.com.au, 10 August, 2007)
Ability to work under pressure and meet the constant demands of the corporate objectives. (Seek.com.au, 10 August, 2007
Must show and use their initiative to be able to adapt to the constantly evolving and changing demands (Seek.com.au, 12^th August, 2007)
Must have 'strong technical documentation skills' (Seek.com.au, 12^th August, 2007)
Show excellent 'Troubleshooting skills' related to network design problems.(Seek.com.au, 12^th August, 2007)

Formal Qualifications:

A minimum of CCNA with at least 3 years experience in a large network environment with a CCNP desirable as is any knowledge of web hosting environments; (Seek.com.au, 27 July, 2007)
Cisco CCIE, CCNP, CCDP or CCIP qualified; (Seek.com.au, 10 August, 2007; 2 August, 2007; Mycareer.com.au, 26 July, 2007)
Tertiary qualifications in IT or Telecommunications; (Seek.com.au, 10 August, 2007)
10 years experience in IP design and management (unwired fiji, job description. 11 January, 2007)

Knowledge Requirements:

Strong understanding of telecommunications technologies - ATM, Frame-relay, MPLS, xDSL, DDN, voice and converged networks; (10 August, 2007; Seek.com.au, 27 July, 2007)
A detailed knowledge of IP/WAN/LAN telecommunications design related to switches and routers; (Mycareer, 2 August, 2007; 10 August, 2007; Seek.com.au, 27 July, 2007)
A good knowledge of network security and firewalls, including Cisco PIX, ASA, VPNs and CheckPoint/Netscreen firewalls ; (Seek.com.au, 10 August, 2007; 2 August, 2007; Mycareer.com.au, 26 July, 2007)
A good knowledge of telecommunications design; (Seek.com.au, 10 August, 2007)
Understands the current network design standards and the current network environments along with the ramifications of new telecommunications features, products & technologies on the current network. (Seek.com.au, 10 August, 2007)

Experience Requirements:

strong experience in IP Networking to included skills in MPLS, BGP, OSPF, EIGRP and IS-IS. (2 August, 2007, Mycareer.com.au, 26 July, 2007)
Broad experience in design of information technology and telecommunciations services; (Seek.com.au, 10 August, 2007)
Experience in PRINCE 2 Project Management is of high interest;(Mycareer.com.au, 26 July, 2007)
5+ years experience in production level network design, implementation, management and troubleshooting. (mycareer.com.au, 2 August, 2007)
IPSEC and VPN experience designing and implementing VPN connectivity between different companies using disparate hardware (mycareer.com.au, 2 Agust, 2007)

Additional Requirements:

Flexibility to be on-call and work during off hours when needed (Mycareer.com.au, 2 August, 2007)

Salary

$125,000 - $140,000 + Super (Seek.com.au, 1 August, 2007; Mycareer.com.au, 26 July, 2007)

The average salary range for a network designer / engineer in Australia is around "$85,555 per annum. With the maximum being around $160,000 per year and the minium being around $40,000 per year." (mycareer.com.au, 13^th August, 2007)

However these are only guidelines, and salaries will change depending on the demands and nature of the work.

Industry/Organisation

The type of industry that a network engineer would be associated with would be the IT and telecommunications industry, in both the private and public sector.

Job listings

Mycareer.com.au (26 July, 2007). Cisco network Design Architect, Retrieved 11 August, 2007 http://mycareer.com.au/jobs/sydney-2000-nsw/it-telecommunications/network-engineering/5277822+cisco+network+design+architect.aspx

Mycareer.com.au (2 August, 2007). Network Engineer (Senior), Retrieved 12 August, 2007

http://mycareer.com.au/jobs/brisbane-4000-qld/it-telecommunications/network-engineering/5299383+network+engineer+senior.aspx?from=browse&returnUrl=/ 

Seek (27 July, 2007). Network Communication Design, Retrieved 11 August, 2007 http://it.seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=108&PageNumber=1&JobID=9946224

Seek (1 August, 2007). Solutions Architect / Network Design Solaris SUN Nortel HP TCP/IP CCNA CCNP CCDP, Retrieved 11 August, 2007 http://it.seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=99&PageNumber=1&JobID=10086333

Seek (10 August, 2007). Network Design Engineer X 2 (M4), Retrieved 11 August, 2007 [http:/]/it.seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=85&PageNumber=1&JobID=1017698 (Note: link does not work had to add back in after it was overwritten and job is no longer advertised)

Seek (9 August, 2007). Networks & Systems, Retrieved 12 August 2007http://it.seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=76&PageNumber=1&JobID=10156410

Differences observed

In terms of salary some organisations prefer not list the proposed salary others have hourly type of negotiable salaries.

The formal qualification section of this page indicates a strong requirement for Network Engineers to hold a Cisco professional qualification, with the majority, if not all, of the job advertisement links requiring this qualification. In contrast, only one job advertisement link, as at 19thAugust, indicated a desire for the Network Engineer to hold a tertiary qualification in IT or Telecommunications.

Although, the requirement for a formal Cisco qualification was common to all advertisements, the level of the Cisco qualification required varied from the attainment of an associate level Cisco Certification, that is the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certificate to the requirement that the applicant by a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), the highest level obtainable.
Also common was the requirement for all applicants to have experience and/or good knowledge of network security and firewalls, including the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and firewalls. Naturally the understanding of telecommunications technologies and protocols were also common requirements.

Most of the differences observed relate to the individusalisation of the job to the specific organisation, especially between IP organistaions and telecommunications organisations. in terms of IP organisations this role is important in the maintenance of the service and has a leading role in the development and growth of the product in order to continually satisfy demand. i also found that there may be numerous network engineers in the one organisation all focused on individual roles. eg one might manager expansion while the ohter might focus on the implementation of the network.

Other References used

Wikipedia. (last modified 13 November, 2006). Network planning and design. Retrieved 11 August, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_planning_and_design

MyCareer (13 August, 2007) Advice and Research, Retreived 13 August, 2007 from

{+}http://content.mycareer.com.au/salary-centre/it-telecommunications/+

Thomson course technology (last modified, 2007). Retrieved 13 Augest, 2007. Refer to:

http://www.course.com/careers/glossary/itjobs.cfm

www.unwired.com.fj

Network Engineer

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