Principal Network Engineer

H-E-B’s Digital Tech Network Engineering Teams design, build, and support foundational wired and wireless network and security infrastructure solutions that allow H-E-B to compete as one of the nation’s top omnichannel retailers.
As a Principal Network Engineer, you’ll support the end-to-end lifecycle management, automation, security, design, deployment, capacity planning, operations, observability, and reliability for H-E-B’s enterprise network. You’ll install and maintain infrastructure to support these engineering solutions, and analyze current processes and systems, assist in automating repetitive operational functions, and engage in problem-management efforts for complex network outages.
Once you’re eligible, you’ll become an Owner in the company, so we’re looking for commitment, hard work, and focus on quality and Customer service. “Partner-owned” means our most important resources—People—drive the innovation, growth, and success that make H-E-B The Greatest Omnichannel Retailing Company.
Do you have a:
HEART FOR PEOPLE… you use diplomacy and communication to achieve brand consensus on technical approaches
HEAD FOR BUSINESS… you impact business with utmost proficiency in technology, process, and leadership
PASSION FOR RESULTS… you can break down complex initiatives and dependencies that span multiple teams to ensure well-scoped delivery estimates

We are looking for:

• 12+ Years of experience or relevant and transferrable skills preferred
• Architect with a track record of delivering several “end-to-end” major products or initiatives
• Skilled communicator, problem solver, and strategic thinker

What is the work?

• Design & Development / Information Technology:
• Develops / designs / implements / supports / secures / maintains network software, hardware, and services critical to network health
• Performs 24/7 on-call duties in a rotation with other Engineers
• Develops conceptualize / develop / maintain automation of network infrastructure operational activities to reduce toil (e.g., device certification, onboarding, provisioning, migrations, patching, refreshes, upgrades, decommissions, observability, triaging)
• Embodies technical team leadership; coaches / mentors within team and organization; proactively shares ideas and insights for improving inter- / intra-team behaviors
• Supervises peer reviews; provides feedback; ensures alignment with coding / configuration standards, approaches, and defined best practices
• Leads technical deep dives to improve escalation and emergency response with detailed postmortem, root cause analysis, systematic prevention of future occurrences, and incorporation of findings, fixes into DevOps sprint planning cycle
• Designs / deploys suitable testbeds to test networking software / hardware components
• Builds / develops / publishes quality policies, standards, procedures, technical documents pertinent to network domain environment
• Formulates / evangelizes key network service performance metrics to meet enterprise network service availability requirements
• Proactively drives / manages projects and business as usual task priorities, deadlines, and deliverables with consistent workload planning using Agile methodologies
• Leads evaluation of new and emerging technologies to stay ahead of competition and determine if they could be incorporated into team architecture
• Manages project implementation and provides training and assists with proposal writing.
• Responsible for overseeing the firm's internet access, e-commerce, data, and communications network systemsDevelops the strategy, planning, development, and implementation of hardware and software systems to support online activities and data management
• Highly visible within their organization and beyond. Influences multiple teams around them and seen as a general technologist
• Accountable for multiple major projects that span organizations. Sets strategy for functional area. Ensures that work is aligned to department and company strategy
• Deliver the strategy, planning, development, and implementation of hardware and software systems to support online activities and data management

Datacenter & Cloud Network Engineering

• Subject matter expertise in technologies such as software-defined networking (Arista, Fortinet, Cisco, Palo Alto), load balancing (F5, AVI, Nginx), ChatOps (Slack API), and automation (Python, Ansible, GitLab); enjoyment of learning new ones as they emerge
• Subject matter expertise in architectural technologies such as Spine-Leaf, DWDM data center interconnects, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, network segmentation, etc.; openness to learning

Enterprise Wireless Network Engineering

• Subject matter expertise in conducting / reporting on wireless RF predictive and live site surveys (e.g., inSSIDer, Ekahau, AirMagnet, AirPort Utility)
• Subject matter expertise in wireless technologies, solutions, and protocols, namely Aruba Instant Access Points (IAP, RAP), Aruba wireless LAN controllers, Aruba ClearPass, Cisco wireless LAN controllers, Cisco Autonomous Access Points, cloud-based wireless solutions (Aruba Central, Meraki, Mist), 802.11 protocols, WPA / WPA2, 802.1x EAP, PEAP, RADIUS, TACACS+, EAP-TLS, and vendor roaming algorithms
• Edge Manufacturing/Warehouse/Transportation/Corporate Admin Network Engineering
• Subject matter expertise in edge LAN / WAN / firewall / core network technologies, architectures, and solutions (e.g., L2 / L3 VPNs, EVPN, P2P, EVPLS, DIA, SD-WAN, IoT, satellite, cellular APN, 4G LTE, 5G, DNS, IPAM, NTP, DHCP, HSRP / VRRP / GLBP, ARP, STP, trunks, port-channel, LACP, L2 ECMP 802.1x), NAC, stateful firewalls, non-stateful filtering, and packet inspection

Edge Stores Network Engineering

• Subject matter expertise in edge LAN / WAN / firewall / core network technologies and solutions (e.g., L2 / L3 VPNs, EVPN, P2P, EVPLS, DIA, SD-WAN, IoT, satellite, cellular APN, 4G LTE, 5G, DNS, IPAM, NTP, DHCP, HSRP / VRRP / GLBP, ARP, STP, trunks, port-channel, LACP, L2 ECMP 802.1x), NAC, stateful firewalls, non-stateful filtering, packet inspection

Network Site Reliability Engineering

• Experience resolving SLO / SLA gaps and incident mitigation and resolution via network observability, telemetry, monitoring, alerting tooling and initiatives
• Subject matter expertise in core networking technologies / standards and network fundamentals (e.g., IP routing, switching, troubleshooting), NAC, LAN / WAN, network monitoring and alerting, Syslogging, VPN, VLAN, DNS / DHCP / IPA / NTP management, and packet capture technology (e.g., Wireshark, SolarWinds)
• Subject matter expertise in network observability, configuration management, and DDI / NTP platforms
• Subject matter expertise in network-focused internal / vendor service level objectives (SLOs) and service level agreements (SLAs)

What is your background?

• A related degree or comparable formal training, certification, or work experience
• 12+ years of experience supporting / managing large-scale multi-vendor, multi-protocol enterprise networks or network projects
• 12+ years of experience in network routing and security protocols and functions, stateful firewalls, non-stateful filtering and packet inspection to support configurations, troubleshooting, and network performance tuning
• 12+ years of experience in professional software development coding in higher-level languages (e.g., Python, C++, Go, Rust)
• 12+ years of experience in network automation (e.g., automated provisioning and remote configuration of switches, routers, firewalls; flow-based analysis and predictive modeling of traffic in dynamic routing environments)
• Experience successfully developing network and security solutions programmatically
• Domain-specific expert level network certifications a plus

Do you have what it takes to be an H-E-B Principal Network Engineer?

• Accomplished at structuring highly technical work and full spectrum of skillsets needed to deliver capabilities at enterprise scale
• Anticipates technical risks, effectively communicates them, and influences the technical direction to compensate
• Influence peers, stakeholders, leaders
• Ability to collaborate and mentor and openly share ideas with a team of junior level engineers
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and assigned tasks to meet deadlines and objectives
• Expert knowledge of automation technologies, frameworks, network vendor APIs, workflow systems (e.g., Ansible, Puppet, Jenkins, Terraform, REST, YAML, JSON, Batfish, Jinja2, Netmiko, NetBox, Git, Slack ChatOps)
• Expert working understanding of edge networking and security architectures
• Comprehensive working understanding of process implementation, workflows, and organization expectations
• Comprehensive understanding / awareness of process for designing, coding, executing, and documenting results, network / security builds, changes, incidents, etc.
• Expert analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-analysis skills
• Advanced prioritization and workload management skills
• Advanced verbal / written communication and ability to bring clarity to projects & ideas
• Advanced presentation skills across multiple audiences at all levels of the organization Ability to prepare / present quality-specific information
• Self-motivated; sense of urgency; leads
• Passion for quality and attention to detail
• Exceptional interpersonal & collaboration skills
• Ability to work independently. Provides regular supervision and mentorship to others. Exercises wide latitude in determining objectives and approaches to critical assignments
• Ability to provide clarity on contribution expectations based on knowledge, application, problem solving, impact, collaboration, and supervision

Can you…

• Work 24/7 team on-call rotation; drive to work for critical events and needs as required
• Sit for extended periods while maintaining a high level of alertness

• H-E-B is one of the largest, independently owned food retailers in the nation, operating over 400 stores throughout Texas and Mexico, with annual sales generating over $26 billion 
• We hire talented people (116,000+ Partners), and give them autonomy to be creative in how they impact the business 
• We're a Partner-driven company with a Bold Promise--Because People Matter 
• We embrace Diversity and Inclusion as core values, and support them with thriving company-wide programs 
• We're a truly original Texas-based company that created the Spirit of Giving to help Texas communities every day 
• Once eligible, our Partners become Owners in the company. 'Partner-owned' means our most important resources--People--drive the innovation, growth, and success that make H-E-B The Greatest Retailing Company