Network Engineer Jobs in Illinois

Location

GGP Chicago - 350 N Orleans Street, Suite 300

Business

Headquartered in Chicago, IL, GGP is a leading retail real estate company with a portfolio of 95+ high-performing retail assets, encompassing over 95 million square feet of space across the United States. As an owner-operator, we’re committed to creating vibrant destinations that bring people and brands together. With a team of 1,200+ employees and a legacy of leadership in retail real estate, we’re shaping the future of the industry by delivering exceptional value to our partners and the communities we serve.

If you’re ready to be a part of our team, we encourage you to apply.

Job Description

The Network Engineer is responsible for designing, implementing, automating, monitoring, and supporting complex multi-vendor network environments across campus, SD-WAN, wireless, and cloud platforms in a high-volume, ticket-driven environment. This role operates at the intersection of network engineering, cybersecurity vulnerability remediation, and automation — building and maintaining enterprise-grade infrastructure while advancing GGP’s network operations maturity through scripting, tooling, and observability solutions.

Success in this role is measured by the reliability and security of the network infrastructure maintained, the quality and reusability of automation solutions developed, and the speed and accuracy of vulnerability remediation delivered across a multi-site, multi-vendor environment.

Key Responsibilities

Network Operations & Automation:

- Implement, maintain, monitor, and troubleshoot enterprise LAN, WAN, wireless, SD-WAN, and cloud network infrastructure.
- Support Cisco and Arista switching environments including deployment, configuration, optimization, code upgrades, and vulnerability remediation.
- Support Prisma SD-WAN, Aruba Central, Aruba wireless infrastructure, and Aruba ClearPass including 802.1X, guest access, device profiling, and role-based access policies.
- Provide operational support in a ticket-based environment using ServiceNow with compliance to company standards and operational procedures.
- Participate in on-call rotation (1 week per month), after-hours maintenance windows, and occasional travel to retail centers, commercial properties, and remote office locations as needed.
- Configure, administer and optimize SolarWinds monitoring platforms including NPM, NCM, and SAM, while developing dashboards, alerting, reporting, and observability solutions.
- Develop and maintain automation solutions using Python, Ansible, and PowerShell to support configuration management, compliance validation, provisioning, operational tasks, and CI/CD-based network deployments.
- Create reusable automation frameworks and operational runbooks for vulnerability remediation and other projects.

Cybersecurity & Vulnerability Remediation:

- Identify, prioritize, and remediate cybersecurity vulnerabilities through firmware upgrades, secure configuration standards, patch management, NAC, segmentation, and Zero Trust initiatives.
- Implement secure network configurations and hardening standards aligned with enterprise security policies.
- Participate in security assessments, penetration test remediation, and risk mitigation activities.
- Maintain documentation of remediation activities, patch compliance, and security exceptions.

Aruba Wireless & NAC:

- Administer, configure and support Aruba Central cloud-managed environments and Aruba wireless infrastructure including APs and controllers.
- Manage Aruba ClearPass policies including but not limited to NAC authentication, Role-based access, Guest access, Device profiling, and 802.1X integration.
- Support secure wired and wireless access initiatives.

Documentation & Collaboration:

- Maintain technical documentation, network diagrams, operational procedures, and remediation records while participating in incident response, root cause analysis, and problem management activities.
- Collaborate with vendors, property management teams, cybersecurity, architecture, systems, and application teams on operational and project initiatives.
- Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications and Technical Skills

- High school diploma or GED required.
- Minimum 5 years of enterprise network engineering experience, including hand-on work in multi-vendor, multi-site environments.
- Hands-on experience with Cisco switching and routing (IOS, NX-OS), Cisco Catalyst Center, and SolarWinds Observability Suite (NPM, NCM, SAM).
- Experience with network automation and network operations practices, including scripting with Python, Ansible, and/or PowerShell for configuration management, compliance validation, and CI/CD-based deployments.
- Experience with cybersecurity vulnerability remediation, patch management, and secure network configuration standards.
- Strong working knowledge of TCP/IP, DNS/DHCP, VLANs, and network security principles.
- Experience with enterprise wireless networking and NAC solutions.
- Proficiency with network diagnostic and monitoring tools including Wireshark, SNMP, Syslog, and NetFlow.
- Strong technical writing skills, including the ability to produce clear operational runbooks, network diagrams, and remediation documentation.

Preferred Qualifications and Technical Skills

- Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Network Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
- Industry certifications such as Cisco Systems CCNA, CCNP, CISSP, Arista Networks ACE.
- Experience with ITIL operational practices, Agile or network operations methodologies.
- Experience supporting retail, commercial real estate, or property management environments.
- Familiarity with project management systems including Monday.com.
- Knowledge of operating and network management systems including, but not limited to, Arista EOS, Arista Cloud Vision, Aruba Central, ClearPass, Prisma SD-WAN, and Cisco SD-WAN (not Meraki).

Travel

- Up to 5% travel required.

Compensation

- Salary type: Exempt
- Pay Frequency: Bi-weekly
- Annual Base Salary Range: $105,000 - $135,000
- Annual Bonus: 10%

Benefit Information

- Competitive compensation
- Medical, Dental and Vision beginning day 1
- 401(k) Company matching
- 401(k) Vests on Day 1
- Career development programs
- Charitable donation matching
- Generous paid time off (i.e., vacation, personal holidays, paid sick time)
- Paid Volunteer Hours
- Paid Parental Leave
- Family planning assistance including IVF, surrogacy, and adoption options
- Wellness and mental health resources
- Pet insurance offering
- Childcare Assistance
- Commuter benefits
- A culture on our values of Act with Integrity, Build Mutual Trust, Take Initiative and Win Together.

We are proud to create a diverse environment and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are grateful for your interest in this position, however, only candidates selected for pre-screening will be contacted.