The Lead Senior Network Operations Center (NOC) Engineer (Tier 3) serves as the highest technical escalation point within the global NOC organization. This role delivers advanced troubleshooting expertise, architecture-level insight, and deep subject matter knowledge across complex, multi-vendor network environments. The Tier 3 Engineer leads root-cause analysis efforts, oversees major incident response, influences network design standards, and partners closely with engineering teams to drive network stability, scalability, and operational excellence.
Responsibilities:
Acts as the final escalation point for all high-severity network incidents, performing advanced packet analysis, protocol decoding, and cross-platform correlation.
Leads deep-dive root cause analysis (RCA), producing engineering-quality post-incident reports and recommending long-term corrective and preventive actions.
Directs network recovery efforts during major outages involving routing instability, security incidents, hardware failures, or cloud connectivity disruptions.
Demonstrates expert proficiency with Palo Alto firewalls, Palo Alto Cloud Security, and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange services, including troubleshooting complex, multi-tier network and security architectures.
Applies strong knowledge of security automation, API-driven provisioning, and lifecycle management within large-scale environments, including experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) pipelines.
Provides expert-level support for Cisco ASA, Palo Alto NGFW, IPSec architectures, segmentation policies, and enterprise security posture validation.
Proactively validates, enforces, and improves security architectures and industry best practices.
Defines and governs Zero Trust access architectures using Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) and Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), enabling secure user-to-application connectivity without traditional network-based trust models.
Demonstrates mastery of packet analysis and monitoring tools, including BlueCat, SolarWinds, APCON, Wireshark, and NetFlow/sFlow platforms.
Develops and maintains automation scripts to support configuration validation, monitoring, and incident response workflows.
Evaluates, integrates, and optimizes new operational tools and observability platforms to enhance network visibility and reliability.
Partners with Network Engineering teams to validate new designs, perform pre-deployment testing, and influence architectural and operational standards.
Mentors junior and mid-level NOC engineers through technical coaching, lab guidance, and development of training materials.
Engages directly with vendors on escalated TAC cases, hardware issues, and architectural reviews.
Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent practical experience.
8+ years of enterprise network operations or engineering experience supporting large-scale, mission-critical environments.
Expert-level knowledge of network security architecture, with deep expertise in Palo Alto and Zscaler platforms.
Extensive hands-on experience with Cisco, Juniper, Brocade, Palo Alto, Aruba, and F5 technologies.
Proven ability to lead major incidents under pressure with clear communication and strong technical leadership.
Preferred Certifications; CCNP, CCIE, JNCIP/JNCIE, PCNSE, F5 Certified Admin or Engineer, AWS Advanced Networking
Special Requirements:
Participation in a 24x7 Tier 3 on-call escalation rotation.
Availability to support after-hours change execution and major incident coverage as needed.
Special Factors
Sponsorship
Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.About Vanguard
At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission—we're on a mission.
To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.
How We Work
Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent practical experience
- 8+ years enterprise network operations or engineering experience supporting large-scale, mission-critical environments
- Expert-level knowledge of network security architecture with deep expertise in Palo Alto and Zscaler platforms
- Extensive hands-on experience with Cisco, Juniper, Brocade, Palo Alto, Aruba, and F5 technologies
- Expert proficiency with Palo Alto firewalls, Palo Alto Cloud Security, and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange (ZIA/ZPA)
- Hands-on mastery of packet analysis and monitoring tools (BlueCat, SolarWinds, APCON, Wireshark, NetFlow/sFlow)
- Experience with security automation, API-driven provisioning, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) pipelines
- Proven ability to lead major incidents under pressure with clear communication and technical leadership
- Participation in a 24x7 Tier 3 on-call escalation rotation
- Availability to support after-hours change execution and major incident coverage as needed
- Proven experience directing vendor escalations and interacting with TAC for hardware and architectural issues
- Mentoring and technical coaching of junior and mid-level NOC engineers, developing training materials
- Preferred certifications: CCNP, CCIE, JNCIP/JNCIE, PCNSE, F5 Certified Admin/Engineer, AWS Advanced Networking
Vanguard Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Vanguard and has not been reviewed or approved by Vanguard.
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Retirement Support — Retirement support appears unusually strong through a 401(k) design that includes a match plus an additional employer contribution, which can materially lift long-term total rewards. HSA seeding and an enhanced employer match further strengthen the savings-and-benefits value of the package.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing and lifestyle support is reinforced by a sizable annual FlexFund stipend that can be applied across many day-to-day categories such as fitness, childcare, and other personal expenses. On-site or virtual clinics and fitness options add practical health and wellness convenience.
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Affordable Benefits — Healthcare and related benefits are positioned as comparatively affordable via heavily subsidized medical plans and broad coverage options. This affordability can offset moderate base pay for employees who place higher value on out-of-pocket cost reductions.
Vanguard Insights
What We Do
We are a community of 30 million who think – and feel – differently about investing. Together, we’re changing the way the world invests. Since our founding in 1975, helping our investors achieve their goals is our sole reason for existence. With no other parties to answer to and therefore no conflicting loyalties, we make every decision—like keeping investing costs as low as possible—with only your needs in mind. Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment companies, offering a large selection of high-quality low-cost mutual funds, ETFs, advice, and related services. Individual and institutional investors, financial professionals, and plan sponsors can benefit from the size, stability, and experience Vanguard offers. As of April 30, 2019, we managed more than $5.6 trillion in global assets. In addition, we have 189 funds in the United States and 225 funds in global markets. For Commenting Guidelines & Important information, visit here: http://vanguard.com/linkedin Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.
