Manager Network Operations

Work Hours:  Monday – Friday, 8:00 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. (EST)
*Hours may vary due to work assignments, or projects.*

Work Location: The Edney Innovation Center
1100 Market Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402

FLSA Status:  This is an Exempt position.
Salary: GS. 13 $69,240 - $83,649

Department:  Technology Services

CLASSIFICATION SUMMARY:

Incumbent will lead the planning, implementation, and operational management of its advanced city-wide network infrastructure, leveraging Chattanooga's unique fiber optic network. This critical role within the Infrastructure, Security, and Camera Operations Division of the Information Technology Department is responsible for ensuring the reliability, performance, security, and scalability of the city's high-speed data and voice networks, supporting essential services including public safety systems, administrative functions, and the city-wide camera network. The Manager will lead a team of network engineers and administrators, and collaborate extensively with other IT teams, city departments, and external vendors, capitalizing on Chattanooga's innovative technology environment. This position demands a strong technical understanding of modern network technologies, exceptional leadership and project management skills, and a strong grasp of the security considerations inherent in a large-scale public sector network environment, particularly within the context of Chattanooga's advanced infrastructure.

SERIES LEVEL: 
The Manager Network Operations is a stand-alone position.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

(The following duties ARE NOT intended to serve as a comprehensive list of all duties performed by all employees in this classification, only a representative summary of the primary duties and responsibilities. Incumbent(s) may not be required to perform all duties listed and may be required to perform additional, position-specific duties.)

Supervises staff to include prioritizing and assigning work; conducting performance evaluations; ensuring staff are trained; ensuring that employees follow policies and procedures; maintaining a healthy and safe working environment and making hiring, termination and disciplinary recommendations.

Develop and execute a comprehensive plan for Chattanooga's network infrastructure in alignment with the city's overall IT strategic goals. This includes network architecture design, technology roadmaps and capacity planning to support future growth.

Oversee the design, architecture, configuration, implementation and management of the City’s high-speed wired and wireless network infrastructure, advanced routing protocols optimized for the city's topology, high-performance switching technologies, robust firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), and secure VPNs. 

Implement and enforce robust network security measures tailored to the threats facing local government. Use access controls aligned with city policies, intrusion detection systems and vulnerability management practices including advanced firewall management, granular access control lists and network segmentation to protect city assets. Maintain compliance with city security policies and relevant cybersecurity frameworks, including those specific to Tennessee. Collaborate with other DTS divisions as required and needed to accomplish these outcomes. Act proactively to ensure that the safety and integrity of the City’s overall enterprise operating environment and related data are maintained.

Manage the day-to-day operations of Chattanooga's network infrastructure, including proactive network monitoring utilizing advanced tools, performance tuning to maximize the benefits of the fiber network, capacity management, configuration management, rapid troubleshooting of network issues specific to the local infrastructure, and ensuring high availability and optimal performance for city services.

Oversee and manage Chattanooga's wireless network infrastructure ensuring robust coverage, enterprise-level security and optimal performance and availability for both internal and guest users.

Assess regularly the current and future network capacity needs for the City of Chattanooga based on application growth, increasing data demands, and strategic initiatives. Develop accurate capacity plans and forecasts to ensure adequate network resources are available to support city operations.

Assists with the planning and development of disaster recovery and business continuity plans tailored to Chattanooga's environment, considering local and regional risks and constraints. 

Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor the health, performance, and capacity of Chattanooga's network infrastructure. Implement proactive measures to optimize network performance and resource utilization.

Oversees periodic audits of related network system usage and connections. Ensures compliance with Safeguarding Member Information Standards and Procedures and City policies to guard against unauthorized users and to prevent the introduction of any undesirable or destructive software on the network.

Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation for Chattanooga's network infrastructure, including detailed network diagrams reflecting the fiber optic topology, IP addressing schemes, configuration standards specific to the city's environment, operating procedures, and troubleshooting guides relevant to the local setup.

Lead and manage complex network infrastructure projects, including system upgrades, migrations, new deployments and expansions to support city initiatives, data center initiatives, and security enhancements. Adhere to department and city procurement processes, timelines, budgets, and quality standards. Utilize formal project management methodologies.

Conducts and oversees research for compute, storage, backup and archiving technology solutions and creates proposals and project plans for possible future implementation. Engage team members for support and learning in this work. Collaborate with the Director for focus areas and priorities to pursue.  

Works with the Director and Business Management division to develop and review supplier SOWs and related contracts for networking equipment, software, and services. 

Manage relationships with network hardware and software vendors, telecommunications providers, and other relevant providers as needed to ensure service level agreements (SLAs) are met.

Participates in forecasting, preparing and administering the Network Operations team's budget. Assists the Director with annual budgeting. Prepares cost estimates for budget recommendations and related justifications. Assists the Director with monitoring and controlling budget expenditures.

Monitors continuously emerging trends and advancements in networking technologies relevant to the City. Recommends to the Director which trends and technologies need to be incorporated into annual and multi-year plans.

Manages, reviews and participates in the development of a variety of reports, work papers, communications, schedules and/or other related documents to and from internal departments, governmental entities, external agencies, contractors and/or other interested parties concerning network infrastructure and operations.

Builds, trains, supervises, and mentors Network Operations team members responsible for the design, implementation, and support of Chattanooga's advanced network infrastructure. Creates an efficient work environment that is conducive to teamwork, collaboration, and encourages good communication between employees and management. Fosters a culture of accountability, innovation, and collaboration among the team. 

Establishes an efficient and high-performing work environment focused on leveraging the City's technological advantages to deliver City services. Develops annual plans and goals for the team. Monitors progress against goals, provides feedback and coaching as required. Conduct performance conversations and reviews on a regular basis consistent with Department and City policies and practices. Maintains a healthy and safe working environment

Manage the day-to-day operations of the Network Operations team. Prioritizes and assigns work, ensuring timely completion of assignments with high-quality and consistent with established policies and procedures. Provides technical leadership, mentoring and coaching for all employees. Prepares annual technical skills training and certification plans for each team member and ensures completion.

Collaborates with internal departments, applicable Boards and Commissions, task forces, advisory groups, the general public, external agencies, contractors, attorneys and/or other interested parties to coordinate activities, review work, exchange information and resolve problems related to the network infrastructure.

Represents the Network Operations team at a variety of meetings, public events, training sessions, on committees and/or other related events or groups in order to receive and convey information about network operations.

Uses, carries and answers their cell phone for business purposes as determined by the assigned job duties and the department head. Meets regular attendance requirements.

Must meet regular attendance requirements.

Must be able to maintain good interpersonal relationships with staff, co-workers, managers and citizens.

Must accomplish the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodations, in a timely manner.

Performs other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: 

Bachelor's Degree with training emphasis in Computer Science, Information Systems technology or other closely related field. Equivalent experience will be considered.

Minimum seven years (7) of progressive experience in network operations with extensive working knowledge of network principles, network security practices, and complex networked systems. Any combination of equivalent experience and education is acceptable.

Minimum five (5) years experience supervising team members working in the IT field and/or subordinate employees.

LICENSING AND CERTIFICATIONS:

Valid Driver's License

Preferred:

Information Technology Management and Leadership Professional (ITMLP)
ITIL Certifications
CompTIA Certifications (CompTIA Infrastructure+, CompTIA Networking+, CompTIA Security+)
Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) or higher (CCIE)
Certified Wireless Network Professional (CWNP) certifications
Project Management Professional (PMP)® or CompTIA Project+
Six Sigma or Lean/SixSigma Green Belt
CJIS Certification at relevant level (can be obtained after employment)

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

Knowledge of analytical and problem-solving abilities; proficiency in data analysis and performance metrics; regulatory compliance knowledge, preferably within a municipal setting; policy/procedure development, financial accounting/budgeting; network principles, applicable operating systems/software for network management, current networking technologies, network topology, cloud networking concepts and hybrid network environments, with an understanding of how they integrate with high-speed local networks, and network troubleshooting and resolutions tools, practices, and methods; understanding of server hardware, operating systems, virtualization, storage, backup/recovery, and cloud concepts relevant to local government; understanding of DR principles and experience contributing to DR plans for local government systems.

Ability to lead and motivate a technical team focused on serving the City of Chattanooga.

Skilled in communication skills, written and verbal; interpersonal skills, including conflict resolution, as applied to interaction with team members, colleagues, peers, leaders, and others; project management skills.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Positions in this class typically require stooping, kneeling, crouching, reaching, standing, walking, pushing, pulling, lifting, fingering, grasping, talking, hearing, seeing and repetitive motions. 

WORK ENVIRONMENT: Medium Work: Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 20 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects. Incumbents may be subjected to electrical currents. 

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: 

Safety Sensitive: N 

Department of Transportation - CDL: N

Child Sensitive: N 

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:
This position requires pre-employment screening(s) that include: background check / drug screening / lift test / TB screening questionnaire / TB Skin Test / Complete Physical screening / DOT Clearinghouse / HepB Titer / fingerprinting / CJIS check.

The City of Chattanooga, Tennessee is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourage both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.