Principal Network Engineer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 1, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 10, 2026.
As an operator of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), MITRE staff are tasked with applying their skills to impact programmatic and technical decisions of highest importance to the nation. The Intelligent Network Services Department which is part of the MITRE Technology and Engineering Infrastructure, Networking, and Communications Division, has as its mission to provide premier communications network engineering services for our customers at all classification levels. Our engineers have expertise in research, design, analysis, modeling and simulation, lab experimentation, field testing, and implementation of networks across a diverse set of networked communication environments including virtual, wired, and wireless. We are adept at combining networking research and innovation with practical hands-on experience to provide risk reduction and deployable solutions for our customers.
We seek to expand our department with staff capable of leading and performing communications network engineering research and analysis tasks. They should have a solid understanding of and interest in networking protocols and principles, as well as the desire to learn more and focus in this area.
Roles & Responsibilities:
Specific duties will generally include a combination of research, design, analysis, testing, experimentation, and modeling & simulation of communications networks to solve our nation’s most complex problems. Those activities will include one or more of following:
- Build lab-based testbeds and conduct proof-of-concept experiments
- Model the performance and behavior of networks in tactical environments
- Work with cyber and infrastructure automation technologies
- Research emerging technologies and assess applicability to sponsor missions
- Assist sponsors in analyzing, modernizing, and advancing their programs
If a specific project requires skills or knowledge of technologies with which you are unfamiliar, your responsibilities will also include reaching back to fellow network research engineers across the MITRE corporation to bring their expertise to bear.
Basic Qualifications:
- Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 8 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 5 years’ experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
- Strong leadership and interpersonal skills to work with customers and effectively lead collaboration efforts across multiple organizations and engineering disciplines
- Demonstrated expertise and leadership in one or more of the department's focus areas:
- Wireless and tactical networks, including 5G
- Network security and management
- Emerging network technologies including cloud networking, SDN, and NFV
- Network modeling, simulation, emulation, and analysis
- Proficiency in one or more scripting or programming languages such as C, C++, Java, and Python
- Knowledge of modern networking technologies such as software-defined networking (SDN), network function virtualization (NFV), cloud networking
- Strong foundational knowledge of TCP/IP networking fundamentals and OSI stack, including wireless networking and modern network security
- Possess excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills
- Work well in a collaborative team environment with inter-disciplinary and geographically dispersed teams
- Willingness to expand into and master network protocol, technology and skill areas listed above with which the candidate may not yet have experience
- Must have an active Top Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government’s eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.
- This position has an on-site requirement of 5 days a week on-site.
Preferred Qualifications:
- MS or PhD in engineering discipline with 10+ years relevant experience
- Proficiency in one or more network configuration and orchestrations frameworks such as Ansible, NETCONF, and YANG
- Experience with modeling and simulation of communications and networking, utilizing tools such as: EMANE, OPNET/Riverbed, and Exata
- Expertise in tactical network architectures, designs, and challenges; including familiarity with Naval or other DoD tactical networks
- Knowledge of DoD smart routing technologies such as DyNAMO, CaaS, etc.
- Foundational knowledge of network and cyber security, including recent concepts such as Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA)
- Experience with systems engineering processes for networking systems, e.g., requirements development & review, V&V, etc.
- Ability to maintain a DoD Top Secret Clearance (U.S. Citizenship required)
This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):
Top SecretThis requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):
Top Secret/SCISalary compensation range and midpoint:
$162,400 - $203,000 - $243,600 AnnualWork Location Type:
OnsiteCommitment to Non-Discrimination
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.
MITRE intends to maintain a website that is fully accessible to all individuals. If you are unable to search or apply for jobs and would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of MITRE’s employment process, please email [email protected] for general support and [email protected] for intern positions. This service is for individuals requiring reasonable accommodation requests. Please note that vendor solicitations will not receive a reply.
Benefits information may be found here.
Copyright © 1997-2026, The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. MITRE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. Material on this site may be copied and distributed with permission only.