How to hire a network management engineer

How to hire a network management engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step network management 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 management engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new network management engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your network management 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 management 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?

   Yes

   No

   A network management engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, network management engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents network management engineer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Network Management Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Network Management 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.	$31-60
   NOC Technician	A NOC (Network Operations Center) technician is responsible for providing the highest customer service by resolving the customers' technical and network issues that affect the performance and stability of the systems operations. NOC technicians diagnose system failures and create support tickets for immediate troubleshooting... Show more	$14-32
   Network Operation Technician	A network operation technician is responsible for providing technical assistance with computer network issues. Network operation technicians repair and troubleshoot networks and routers, identifying the source of defects by listening to the customers and determining step-by-step guidelines for resolution... Show more	$19-47

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Switches
   • Routers
   • Technical Support
   • DOD
   • Linux
   • Juniper
   • Firewall
   • TCP/IP
   • Tcp Ip
   • SQL
   • Customer Service
   • Network Infrastructure
   • BGP
   • IP

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage corporate internal and external DNS servers.
   • Write UNIX shell and Perl scripts to simplify and automate administration tasks.
   • Ensure business continuity by managing and monitoring all infrastructure backups, and notifying business partners of fail backup jobs.
   • Deploy Cisco routers throughout the Philadelphia area for network operations and remote locations.
   • Support multiple network management tools including Zenoss, SolarWinds, Sciencelogic/EM7, and Splunk
   • Assist and work with equipment vendors with replacement & configuration of fail Cisco routers & Alcatel-Lucent switches.

   More network management engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the network management engineer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A network management engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a network management engineer in Iowa may be lower than in New Jersey, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level network management engineer. Additionally, a network management engineer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average network management engineer salary

   $91,203yearly

   $43.85 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level network management engineer salary

   $65,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average network management engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$115,505	$56
   2	New Jersey	$112,540	$54
   3	Washington	$112,199	$54
   4	Massachusetts	$100,942	$49
   5	Virginia	$95,333	$46
   6	New York	$94,184	$45
   7	Maryland	$93,220	$45
   8	North Carolina	$92,713	$45
   9	Michigan	$90,575	$44
   10	Florida	$89,002	$43
   11	Arizona	$88,245	$42
   12	Texas	$86,833	$42
   13	Colorado	$81,320	$39
   14	Minnesota	$81,048	$39
   15	Alaska	$80,212	$39
   16	Illinois	$73,804	$35
   17	Georgia	$73,793	$35

   Average network management engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Google	$118,361	$56.90	167
   2	American Tower	$104,553	$50.27	6
   3	CDW	$104,023	$50.01	19
   4	Nokia	$101,953	$49.02	17
   5	General Dynamics Mission Systems	$96,161	$46.23	36
   6	Pwc	$93,541	$44.97	240
   7	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$92,153	$44.30	1,185
   8	Ford Motor	$90,619	$43.57	49
   9	Pinnacle Technical Resources	$90,118	$43.33	8
   10	National Grid plc	$85,312	$41.02
   11	Accenture	$85,156	$40.94	1,146
   12	T-Mobile	$84,602	$40.67	4
   13	Hewlett Packard Enterprise	$83,944	$40.36	75
   14	Presidio	$83,572	$40.18	11
   15	Kratos Defense & Security Solutions	$83,281	$40.04	6
   16	Hughes	$82,265	$39.55
   17	Spectrum	$79,642	$38.29
   18	Alcatel Networks Inc	$78,877	$37.92
   19	Aqueduct Technologies	$78,701	$37.84	1
   20	Palo Alto Unified School District	$74,903	$36.01

4. Writing a network management engineer job description

   A network management engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a network management engineer job description:

   Network management engineer job description example

   The Division of Information Technology Services (ITS) is currently seeking a talented individual to fill the role of Network Management Engineer within the Communication Infrastructure team. This position will serve as a technical lead and escalation point for all things related to network management. This role will be responsible for establishing and implementing a global network management framework focused on improving monitoring, logging, and telemetry visibility, reducing mean time to response and resolution as well as developing and reporting on key relevant performance indicators. In addition, this position will also be responsible for the administration and evolution of all related network management platforms.
   
   We are looking for a collaborative individual who embraces contemporary SRE principals to help us drive transformation across Northeastern's global network infrastructure. Successful candidates will work closely with within ITS and Communication Infrastructure as well as with members of the University community to help provide the best experience for our students, faculty, and staff. The ideal candidate should possess skills in programming, problem solving, innovative thinking and have a functional understanding of campus networking.
   
   To ensure that essential services are provided to the university community, the employee may be required to work outside his/her regular working hours and university holidays.
   8am to 5pm Monday to Friday
   
   At Team ITS, your success matters as much as the mission. Learn more about our flexible, highly dynamic, and values-first culture at careers.its.northeastern.edu.
   
   This position is eligible for remote work.
   
   Qualifications
   
   Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems/Technology related field or equivalent working experience.
   
   Functional experience with campus network performance monitoring and benchmarking systems and support
   
   Previous experience in automation or scripting.
   
   Ability to perform service level planning and technical design.
   
   Proven track record of creating and implementing MOP's/SOP's for a network services organization
   
   Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
   
   Desire and ability to work in a highly collaborative work environment with faculty, staff, scientists, and students to achieve a common goal.
   
   Experience implementing/supporting campus networking
   
   Experience working in a higher education environment supporting faculty and students.
   
   Functional knowledge of LAN/WAN technologies and IP protocols such as TCP/IP networking (IPv4/IPv6), DNS, and DHCP.
   
   Preferred Qualifications
   
   Experience defining Service Level Objectives (SLO) and the corresponding Service Level Indicators (SLI) to meet the organizational reliability and emergency response objectives
   
   Understanding of the various data gathering methods available for networks - SNMP, syslog, streaming telemetry, etc.
   
   Expertise in determining the ideal methods for collecting different network state data points
   
   Experience in correlating data points from multiple sources
   
   Experience using a DCIM tool similar to netbox or nautobot
   
   Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities
   
   Network Management
   
   Helps develop overall monitoring/alerting framework
   
   Collaborates with team members to define Service Level Objectives for network services amongst our globally distributed campuses
   
   Collaborates with team members to define Service Level Indicators which measure actual performance against Service Level Objectives
   
   Uses tools to generate actionable reports about network state
   
   Optimizes monitoring and alerting methods
   
   Network Monitoring Systems
   
   Performs periodic tool analysis to ensure the tools we use meet the requirements of our monitoring/alerting strategy. This includes consolidating tools with overlapping function
   
   When applicable, works with vendors to perform basic system administration for monitoring tools and platforms
   
   Automation and Integration
   
   Works with team members to develop integration between DCIM and monitoring systems
   
   Develops integrations between monitoring systems and paging systems for on-call alerting
   
   Documentation/Training
   
   Maintains NMS documentation base in accordance with pre-defined documentation standards
   
   Focuses on developing expert level knowledge, skills and abilities in the NMS functional domain
   
   Learns python and contributes to code base in central repository
   
   Operations
   
   Assists with operational tasks as needed

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find network management engineers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any network management engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level network management engineers with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   To find network management engineer candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit network management engineers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a network management 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 management engineer

   Once you've decided on a perfect network management engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your 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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new network management engineer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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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