Lead Network Engineer (RapidScale)

At RapidScale, exceptional technology is powered by exceptional people. As a growing leader in secure, reliable managed cloud solutions, we help SMBs and enterprises alike simplify IT and unleash innovation. With a broad portfolio of managed services spanning AWS, Azure and Google to a full set of Private Cloud and Cybersecurity solutions, along with a robust professional services suite of offerings, RapidScale helps companies turn technology into their biggest competitive advantage. As part of the Cox family of companies, we offer best-in-class benefits, a commitment to work-life balance, and an award-winning workplace experience
We, the RapidScale Managed Network Operations (MNO) team, are seeking a Lead Network Engineer to serve as the highest escalation point for complex network challenges while also supervising a team that provides proactive health monitoring of customer-managed networks and services. This role blends deep technical expertise with proven leadership experience, requiring a critical thinker who can navigate complex network architectures, resolve advanced issues, and drive operational excellence through effective team leadership.
In addition to expert troubleshooting, the Lead Network Engineer will take ownership of a third-party offshore alert monitoring team to ensure seamless 24/7 network performance. The role includes high-impact responsibilities such as incident command, case ownership, SLA management, and mentoring of both internal engineers and external support resources.
This is a high-visibility role ideal for someone who is equally skilled at solving difficult technical problems and leading cross-functional teams to deliver high-performance outcomes.
Key Responsibilities

• Supervise and mentor a third-party offshore alert monitoring team, ensuring seamless 24/7 oversight of network health and service performance
• Act as the primary subject matter expert (SME) and senior escalation point for complex network issues within the MNO Support organization
• Provide Tier-3 support, assisting in deep technical troubleshooting, customer escalations, and critical incident resolution
• Lead incident response efforts for high-priority outages, serving as incident commander and ensuring coordination across teams
• Take ownership of support queue and case assignments, ensuring appropriate prioritization and visibility across technical teams
• Implement data-driven SLA tracking and enforcement, and support leadership in improving SLA attainment across the organization
• Proactively engage in escalations and high-impact cases, working directly with engineers, customers, and vendors to ensure resolution
• Partner with MNO leadership to evaluate team performance against SLAs and support capacity planning based on caseload trends
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Datacenter, Implementation, Product, and Technology teams on large-scale network projects
• Guide Tier-1 and Tier-2 MNO Support and Sales Engineering teams in technical issue resolution and process standardization
• Lead and enhance alert monitoring processes, coach frontline engineers, and support consistent case resolution and escalation workflows
• Conduct regular team meetings and knowledge-sharing sessions, driving performance alignment and continuous improvement
• Identify and drive process improvements to improve support efficiency, customer satisfaction, and issue response time
• Coordinate with Cox NOC, Service Assurance, network vendors, and ISPs/MSPs to ensure comprehensive support escalation paths
• Serve as the bridge between technical operations, customer teams, and internal stakeholders to ensure clear communication and alignment
• Stay up to date on evolving business, technology, and infrastructure requirements, serving as an advisor for forward-looking solutions
• Occasional after-hours or on-call responsibilities may be required

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related discipline and 6 years of experience in a relevant field; or a master's degree and 4 years of experience; or a Ph.D. and 1 year of experience; or 10 years of directly applicable experience
• Proven ability to lead and mentor operational teams, including offshore or third-party monitoring resources
• Demonstrated experience in support queue management, case assignment, and prioritization in a high-volume technical environment
• Strong background in SLA enforcement, tracking, and improvement, with a data-driven approach to performance management
• Comfortable joining escalations as a senior resource, and serving as an escalation point of contact for high-visibility incidents
• Deep understanding of the OSI or TCP/IP models and associated protocols
• Hands-on expertise with TCP/UDP, Routing & Switching, SSL/IPsec, VPN, VLAN, BGP, QoS, MPLS, DHCP, and NGFW
• Extensive experience with LAN, WAN, SD-WAN, and Wi-Fi technologies
• Proficient with network performance monitoring and orchestration tools (e.g., LogicMonitor, PRTG, FortiManager, VeloCloud Orchestrator)
• Experience mentoring engineers and managing performance in a metrics-driven environment
• Understanding of server virtualization and how it intersects with network performance
• Industry certifications such as CCNP, JNCIP, Fortinet NSE4, or VeloCloud VCP

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven SD-WAN experience with vendors such as VeloCloud, Fortinet, or Meraki
• Strong ability to monitor and troubleshoot hybrid infrastructure performance issues across cloud and on-prem environments
• Experience with VMware virtualization
• Experience with Fortinet NGFW (physical and virtual)
• Advanced certifications such as CCIE, JNCIE, or Fortinet NSE7