{"id":1503080,"url":"https://alion.io/job/by-light-optical-network-planning-engineer","title":"Optical Network Planning Engineer","company":{"id":1964053,"name":"By Light","domain":"bylight.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/bylight","size_band":"11-50","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"iCIMS","truth_index":null},"role":"Networking","role_family":"Networking","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Fort Meade, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":101000,"max_usd":221000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":223},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Layer 2","optional":false},{"name":"Model Context Protocol","optional":true}],"status":"closed","first_seen_at":"2026-09-30T04:41:54Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-30","last_verified_at":"2026-10-03T16:46:24Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":"2026-10-03T16:46:24Z","days_open":3,"trust":{"level":"not_scored","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":3},"description":"Company Overview\nBy Light Professional IT Services LLC readies warfighters and federal agencies with technology and systems engineered to connect, protect, and prepare individuals and teams for whatever comes next. Headquartered in McLean, VA, By Light supports defense, civilian, and commercial IT customers worldwide.\nPosition Overview\nBy Light Professional IT Services is seeking an Optical Network Technology Planning Engineer to join our DISA team at Ft Meade, MD. This is an exciting key position to a major Department of Defense initiative. The candidate will work all aspects of optical network equipment planning for the DOD’s global optical transport network. The candidate will work to develop hardware (Major Bill of Material) deployment plans including system configurations, routing of the 10/100/400G circuits over the network, providing plans to operations of the circuits in “Wavelength Plan format” to meet service requirements. The candidate will support the DISA operations during the implementation of the hardware and services.\nResponsibilities\nBased on the direction from government assess the service requirements and strategic technology requirements to develop deployment plans that include hardware requirements, transition plans and capturing the service routing in Wavelength Plan for implementation. \nProvide in-depth engineering analysis, deployment, and transition plans of transport level equipment in support of government strategic modernization efforts.\nInterface with DISA operations and implementation vendors in the implementation of developed deployment and Wavelength Plans.\nRequired Experience/Qualifications\nMinimum 2 years’ experience working in the planning of transport technologies such as Optical Transport System (a.k.a. DWDM), OTN/Packet switching, L1/L2 switches, legacy SONET/SDH technologies. \nMinimum 5 years of experience in a technical or related field.\nFamiliarity with ITU-T, OIF and IETF standards. Knowledge of transport protocols such as ITU-T G.709, Layer 1/Layer 2 protocols, and Ethernet. \nPreferred Experience/Qualifications\nPrior experience with a major Optical Manufacturer equipment a plus: Ciena, Cisco, Infinera or Nokia\nFamiliarity with QPSK, QAM is highly desirable.\nKnowledge of network management and experience with wave length planning tools such as One Planner, Transport Planner, Ciena MCP/Navigator, Blue Planet, or Cisco Optical Network Planner. \nDoD 8570-01-M IAT Level II or higher to include one of the following: CCNA-Security, CySA+, GICSP, Security+, GSEC, SSCP, or higher level cert. \nSpecial Requirements/Security Clearance\nActive Secret Clearance","description_format":"text","description_chars":2635,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Cybersecurity","Military","Science & Engineering"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-30T04:41:54Z"},{"event":"close","at":"2026-10-03T16:46:24Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":null,"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/by-light-optical-network-planning-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/by-light-optical-network-planning-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-04T01:44:42Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":2323,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":2677,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-10-05T00:00:00Z"}}}