Reporting To: Director Manager
Summary:
Network engineers set up, develop and maintain computer networks within an organisation or between organisations. You'll offer support to users, who can be staff, clients, customers and suppliers, and troubleshoot any problems. In some cases, this may involve designing new networks.
Your aim is to ensure the integrity of high availability network infrastructure to provide maximum performance for your users. You may work internally as part of an organisation's IT support team or externally as part of an outsourced IT networking consultancy firm working with several clients.
Networks can include:
computer
voice
firewall
Types of network
You could work with a variety of network types, such as:
LANs - local area networks, linking a limited area such as a home, office or a small group of buildings
MANs - metropolitan area networks, linking a large area such as a campus
WANs - wide area networks, which link nationally or internationally
WLAN - wireless local area network
GANs - global area networks, combining all of the above with satellite mobile communication technologies
SAN - storage/system/server/small area network
CAN - campus area network, covers an educational or corporate campus
PAN - personal area network
DAN - desk area network, interconnecting workstations and multimedia devices
VoIP - voice over internet protocol, method and group of technologies delivering voice communications and multimedia sessions.
Responsibilities
As a network engineer, you'll need to:
establish the networking environment by designing system configuration, directing system installation and defining, documenting and enforcing system standards
design and implement new solutions and improve resilience of the current environment
maximise network performance by monitoring performance, troubleshooting network problems and outages, scheduling upgrades and collaborating with network architects on network optimisation
undertake data network fault investigations in local and wide area environments using information from multiple sources
secure network systems by establishing and enforcing policies, and defining and monitoring access
support and administer firewall environments in line with IT security policy
report network operational status by gathering and prioritising information and managing projects
upgrade data network equipment to the latest stable firmware releases
configure routing and switching equipment, hosted IP voice services and firewalls
provide remote support to on-site engineers and end users/customers during installation
provide remote troubleshooting and fault finding if issues occur upon initial installation
undertake capacity management and audit of IP addressing and hosted devices within data centres
liaise with project management teams, third-line engineers and service desk engineers on a regular basis
speak to customers via email and phone for initial requirement capture
Salary for contracting Position
Salaries at entry level start at around $200,000
With experience, you can expect to earn around $200,000 a year
Senior network engineers can earn from $50,000 to in excess of $270,000 a year. Salaries for experienced contract workers may be higher and rates can vary from $475 to in excess of $1500 per day.
Benefits can include a pension, car allowance, private health insurance and a bonus scheme. Salaries vary depending on the size, type and sector of the organisation you work for and the size and scope of the computer and network installations.
Working hours
You'll typically work a standard week. However, you may be on call outside office hours, at weekends or in the evenings, and need to be flexible in case of major technical problems occurring.
Self-employment and freelance contract work are possible with experience.
What to expect
The work is office-based, although you may need to work across different sites, depending on the size of the organisation and its network. More frequent travel may be involved if you work as a consultant.
Jobs are available throughout Australian organisations with large, sophisticated IT systems or with consultancies providing support to clients.
The job can be challenging, particularly when things go wrong, as companies are dependent on their computer networks.
Women are underrepresented in the job and the gender imbalance across the IT industry is a recognised issue. Steps are being taken to redress the balance.
Systems support roles such as network engineering involve less programming, so you should consider this before committing to a career in this area if that is something you really enjoy.
Qualifications
You'll usually need a degree in a subject such as:
computer science
computer software/computer systems engineering
computer systems and networks
electrical/electronic engineering
mathematics
network security management
physics
It may be possible to enter this career without a degree, provided you have significant experience. Employers will usually expect you to do further study to get professional qualifications if you don't already have them.
Skills
You will need:
an up-to-date knowledge and understanding of your employer's business and industry needs, as well as the technical demands
to recognise the importance of customer focus and/or of serving the needs of the end user
excellent communication skills for communicating with staff who aren't technically trained
the skill to take on a variety of tasks and pay attention to detail
analytical and problem-solving ability
teamwork skills and the ability to feel comfortable working with different teams, clients and groups of staff across an organisation
organisational skills and the ability to prioritise your workload
Work experience
Relevant work experience, for example through vacation work and summer placements, is useful as recruiters often look for evidence of skills developed through project work and placements. Experience in related areas such as IT support, service and repair can be useful if you want to move into network engineering.
Being on the user end of IT systems is also helpful as this will give you an idea of the types of problems that may arise.
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