How to hire a network infrastructure engineer

How to hire a network infrastructure engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step network infrastructure engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a network infrastructure engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new network infrastructure engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a network infrastructure engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your network infrastructure engineer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a network infrastructure engineer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

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   Hiring the perfect network infrastructure engineer also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of network infrastructure engineer salaries for various roles:

   Type of Network Infrastructure Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Network Infrastructure Engineer	Computer networks are critical parts of almost every organization. Network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operation of these networks.	$27-57
   Network Support Technician	A network support technician specializes in optimizing a company's information technology (IT) networks for a smooth and efficient workflow. Their responsibilities revolve around addressing issues and concerns, troubleshooting, installing systems, executing upgrades, conducting diagnostic tests, and performing corrective measures as needed... Show more	$18-29
   Engineer	Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects... Show more	$31-62

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Network Infrastructure
   • Switches
   • Cloud
   • Nexus
   • Firewall
   • F5
   • VMware
   • Routers
   • BGP
   • Virtualization
   • Lan Wan
   • Troubleshoot
   • VPN
   • OSPF

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage VOIP on Cisco base network.
   • Manage network addressing subsystems, DNS and DHCP services.
   • Manage MPLS that used OPSF for primary route control and BGP to control outside advertisement.
   • Manage installation projects from planning through implementation: order equipment, determine required headcount, and order switches and materials.
   • Implement, update, and support routing protocols OSPF and BGP.
   • Upgrade IOS in ASR routers.

   More network infrastructure engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your network infrastructure engineer job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A network infrastructure engineer can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, network infrastructure engineers' average salary in florida is 46% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level network infrastructure engineers 52% less than senior-level network infrastructure engineers.
   • Certifications. A network infrastructure engineer with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a network infrastructure engineer's salary.

   Average network infrastructure engineer salary

   $82,895yearly

   $39.85 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level network infrastructure engineer salary

   $57,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average network infrastructure engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$127,538	$61
   2	Washington	$108,191	$52
   3	Nevada	$101,999	$49
   4	Rhode Island	$101,030	$49
   5	Massachusetts	$100,654	$48
   6	Maryland	$95,126	$46
   7	Utah	$92,961	$45
   8	New Jersey	$92,125	$44
   9	New York	$88,887	$43
   10	Oregon	$88,767	$43
   11	West Virginia	$87,523	$42
   12	New Hampshire	$86,319	$42
   13	Delaware	$83,859	$40
   14	Arizona	$83,376	$40
   15	Connecticut	$81,232	$39
   16	Virginia	$77,069	$37
   17	North Carolina	$74,895	$36
   18	Pennsylvania	$74,735	$36
   19	Illinois	$74,059	$36
   20	District of Columbia	$73,944	$36

   Average network infrastructure engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$165,550	$79.59	481
   2	Apple	$145,945	$70.17	92
   3	Amazon	$132,117	$63.52	423
   4	BNY Mellon	$113,059	$54.36	10
   5	Autodesk	$111,790	$53.75
   6	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$105,775	$50.85	83
   7	Riot Games	$100,741	$48.43	1
   8	Lowe's Companies	$99,020	$47.61
   9	Costco Wholesale	$98,952	$47.57
   10	Booz Allen Hamilton	$96,684	$46.48	185
   11	Monster Products	$91,652	$44.06
   12	Versa Networks	$90,712	$43.61	3
   13	Oracle	$90,494	$43.51	1,903
   14	Spectraforce Technologies	$89,619	$43.09
   15	Populus Group	$89,439	$43.00
   16	Randstad North America, Inc.	$88,422	$42.51	11
   17	Bechtel Corporation	$88,258	$42.43	1
   18	Dahl Consulting	$88,224	$42.42	3
   19	Oxford Solutions	$88,152	$42.38
   20	Jk-Co	$87,139	$41.89

4. Writing a network infrastructure engineer job description

   A good network infrastructure engineer job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a network infrastructure engineer job description:

   Network infrastructure engineer job description example

   Our Team
   
   Technology Services Group (TSG) is the technology enabler for our firm. Our services provide a strong, resilient, and stable platform to host business processes while enabling innovation.
   
   We are a global team that provides all infrastructure, end user computing and production support services. Our goal is to provide reliable, resilient, next-generation enterprise technology infrastructure and support that enables BNY Mellon employees to deliver client commitments and business solutions around the world.
   
   As part of TSG, the Infrastructure Engineering team is focused on providing stable, scalable, and robust infrastructure for the firm while leading the strategy of our integrated engineering solutions.
   
   The Role
   
   As a Network Infrastructure Engineer, you will work on a highly technical team to drive BNYM to be the leaders in this area. . You will provide leadership for technical roadmap, architecture, and designs as the team is responsible for End User Architecture and Engineering globally.
   
   Duties and Responsibilities:
   
   * Responsible for the roadmap and engineering design standards for the end-user network - these technologies include LAN, wide area, SD-WAN, wireless, remote access, and user access control.
   * Responsible for the roadmap and engineering design standards for the data center and cloud network - these technologies include service access, storage access, hyperconverged access, data center fabrics, Azure/AWS cloud networking, as well as the banks name services both on-premise and in the cloud(s)
   * Responsible for the roadmap and engineering design standards for the network security - these technologies include firewalls, threat detection, proxy infrastructure, and micro-segmentation both on-premise and in the cloud.
   * Provide automation standards and build an automation framework for networking that includes device provisioning, compliance verification, and change management thru a CI/CD structure.
   * Test vendor and open source solutions and products in a lab environment.
   * Plan and conduct major technical phases of significant projects by coordinating the efforts of technical support staff and the performance of assigned projects.
   
   BNY Mellon is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Minorities/Females/Individuals With Disabilities/Protected Veterans.
   
   Our ambition is to build the best global team - one that is representative and inclusive of the diverse talent, clients and communities we work with and serve - and to empower our team to do their best work. We support wellbeing and a balanced life, and offer a range of family-friendly, inclusive employment policies and employee forums.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right network infrastructure engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with network infrastructure engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit network infrastructure engineers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your network infrastructure engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit network infrastructure engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit network infrastructure engineers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a network infrastructure engineer applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new network infrastructure engineer

   Once you've selected the best network infrastructure engineer candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new network infrastructure engineer. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a network infrastructure engineer?