Network Engineer – Junior at ASM Research
Fairfax, VA
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Jul 7, 2026
Fairfax, VA
Jul 20, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
An entry-level network engineering role within a federal IT environment, focused on configuring and maintaining routers, switches, firewalls, and virtual network components across on-premises and cloud infrastructure. Day-to-day work spans implementing routing protocols, supporting SDN and automation tooling, monitoring and troubleshooting network performance, and keeping architecture documentation current. The position suits candidates with 1–3 years of hands-on networking experience who can obtain a Secret clearance.
Junior level · 1+ years · National · Secret clearance
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $101,310 (middle half $79,725–$129,425).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
Location is not specified in the posting; the federal/DoD context and Secret clearance requirement strongly suggest an on-site or hybrid US-based position, but no city or state is named.
The degree requirement states 'Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience)', so no formal degree is hard-gated.
Python and Ansible are listed together as scripting tool examples ('such as Python or Ansible') in the required qualifications; Python is captured as the primary skill with Ansible as an alternative. Ansible also appears separately under preferred qualifications as an infrastructure-as-code/automation tool.
The clearance requirement is to 'obtain and maintain an active Secret clearance' — candidates must be eligible, not necessarily already cleared.
Cloud provider familiarity (VPCs, peering, VPN gateways, load balancers) appears only under Preferred Qualifications and is listed without naming a specific provider; AWS is used as the representative skill with Azure and GCP as alternatives.
The role's day-to-day work is primarily operating and maintaining network infrastructure under senior guidance, which aligns with 15-1244; however, the automation/scripting and SDN elements introduce some overlap with 15-1299 (Computer Occupations, All Other) or even 15-1252.
Requires a Secret clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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