Hardware Network Engineer at Microsoft
Redmond, WA
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Jul 26, 2026
Redmond, WA
Jul 29, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This role owns the design, deployment, and day-to-day operations of lab network infrastructure supporting hardware development and validation programs at Microsoft's Redmond campus. The engineer builds and maintains L2/L3 topologies, VLAN segmentation, routing, DHCP/DNS/PXE, and out-of-band access, while partnering with hardware engineering, security, and facilities teams. It suits an experienced network engineer comfortable with both hands-on lab troubleshooting and driving operational improvements at scale.
Senior level · 6+ years · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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
Roughly 190 people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (network and computer systems administrators). range 40–280
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $106,737 (middle half $85,847–$139,716).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 29, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
The role sits at the boundary between network administration (15-1244) and network architecture (15-1241). The posting emphasizes hands-on lab operations, troubleshooting, and on-call support, which tips it toward 15-1244, but the design and planning responsibilities are substantial.
The 6+ years of network engineering/administration experience is the stated overall floor; the 4+ years of L2/L3 experience is a sub-requirement captured on that skill.
Degree requirement is marked None because the posting explicitly accepts 'equivalent experience' as an alternative to any of the listed degree paths.
Arista (ACE Specialist+) and Cisco (CCNP Enterprise+) certifications are listed as required; Arista is captured as the primary skill with Cisco as an alternative since the posting treats them as interchangeable platforms.
Automation scripting tools (Ansible, PowerShell, Python, Bash) appear in the requirements section but are framed as 'experience with… or similar', so Ansible is the primary with the others as alternatives.
Cloud networking (Azure/AWS/GCP), load balancing (NGINX/HAProxy), Linux/Windows, and Azure DevOps appear in the requirements section but with softer framing ('experience with', 'familiarity with', 'exposure to') — marked as preferred accordingly.
No compensation range is stated in the posting.
Ignored 1 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): IP address management.
Read the full posting
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