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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Fault Engineer

💰 $75,000 - $120,000

EngineeringInformation TechnologyTelecommunicationsNetwork Operations

🎯 Role Definition

A Fault Engineer is a critical first-responder and technical expert within our operations team, dedicated to ensuring the highest levels of service availability and performance. This role is at the forefront of maintaining our robust infrastructure by rapidly identifying, diagnosing, troubleshooting, and resolving network, system, and service-related faults. You will own the entire incident lifecycle, from initial automated detection and customer reporting through to in-depth root cause analysis and the implementation of preventative measures, guaranteeing the stability and reliability that our customers depend on. This position requires a proactive mindset, a deep technical curiosity, and the ability to perform under pressure in a 24/7 operational environment.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Network Operations Center (NOC) Analyst / Technician
  • Tier 2/3 Technical Support Engineer
  • Junior Network Administrator
  • Field Service Engineer

Advancement To:

  • Senior Fault Engineer / Principal Engineer
  • Incident Manager / Major Incident Commander
  • Network Operations Team Lead
  • Service Assurance Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Network Engineer (Design & Implementation)
  • Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)
  • DevOps Engineer
  • Network Security Engineer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Proactively monitor the health and performance of global network infrastructure and critical services using advanced monitoring platforms (e.g., SolarWinds, Zabbix, Datadog) to detect and respond to anomalies before they impact service.
  • Perform rapid, end-to-end fault management, including troubleshooting, diagnosis, and resolution of complex technical issues across multi-vendor network environments including Cisco, Juniper, and Arista.
  • Manage and prioritize a high-volume queue of incident tickets within ticketing systems like ServiceNow or Jira, ensuring strict adherence to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for response and resolution times.
  • Conduct thorough Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for major and recurring incidents, meticulously documenting findings and presenting actionable recommendations to engineering and product teams to prevent future occurrences.
  • Act as the primary technical point of contact, liaising directly with enterprise customers, third-party vendors, and internal engineering teams to coordinate troubleshooting efforts and provide clear, concise communication throughout the incident lifecycle.
  • Execute and verify network changes, software upgrades, and patch deployments during scheduled maintenance windows to enhance system stability, performance, and security.
  • Develop and maintain comprehensive technical documentation, including network diagrams, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and knowledge base articles to empower the wider Network Operations team.
  • Utilize command-line interface (CLI) and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to investigate and resolve issues on routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, and other core network devices.
  • Perform deep-dive packet capture and analysis using tools like Wireshark and tcpdump to diagnose complex network connectivity, latency, and performance problems at a granular level.
  • Manage fault escalations to senior engineers, Tier 3 support, and external suppliers, retaining complete ownership of the incident until a satisfactory resolution is confirmed and communicated.
  • Isolate and troubleshoot faults within a wide array of network technologies, including BGP, OSPF, MPLS, SD-WAN, and complex VPN tunnels (IPsec/SSL).
  • Provide 24/7 on-call support as part of a rotational shift schedule to ensure continuous operational coverage and rapid response to critical infrastructure alerts and outages.
  • Contribute to the continuous improvement of fault management processes and monitoring systems by identifying coverage gaps, automating manual tasks, and suggesting enhancements to tooling.
  • Analyze system logs, performance metrics, and alarm data from multiple disparate sources to correlate events and accurately pinpoint the source of a fault.
  • Lead or actively participate in incident management bridge calls, providing technical leadership and clear status updates to business and technical stakeholders during high-priority service outages.
  • Verify complete service restoration with the customer or affected end-users and formally close incident tickets with detailed resolution notes upon successful recovery.
  • Assist in network capacity planning by analyzing performance trends, traffic patterns, and identifying potential future bottlenecks in the infrastructure.
  • Troubleshoot issues related to optical transport networks, including DWDM, SONET/SDH, and fiber-optic circuits, and coordinate with field engineers for physical layer repairs.
  • Perform initial configuration and fault management on security appliances, including next-generation firewalls and IDS/IPS systems, to address and mitigate security-related incidents.
  • Validate the functionality of disaster recovery (DR) systems and participate in scheduled failover testing exercises to ensure business continuity and resilience.
  • Generate and present regular performance reports detailing network health, incident trends, Mean Time To Resolution (MTTR), and SLA compliance to senior management.
  • Act as a technical subject matter expert for service delivery teams during the turn-up of new circuits and services, ensuring they are integrated smoothly and meet operational readiness standards.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to investigate performance trends.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by providing operational insights.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements for monitoring.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the operations and engineering teams.
  • Train and mentor junior analysts and technicians on advanced troubleshooting methodologies and internal processes.
  • Participate in post-incident reviews to identify lessons learned and drive concrete process improvements across the organization.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Expert-level knowledge of network routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, ISIS).
  • Strong proficiency in Layer 2 switching technologies (VLANs, Spanning Tree Protocol, LACP, vPC).
  • Hands-on experience with multi-vendor network hardware (Cisco IOS/NX-OS, Juniper JUNOS, Arista EOS).
  • Proficiency with network monitoring and management tools (e.g., SolarWinds, Nagios, Zabbix, PRTG, Grafana).
  • In-depth understanding of the TCP/IP networking suite, IP subnetting, and the OSI model.
  • Experience with packet analysis tools like Wireshark and tcpdump for deep-dive troubleshooting.
  • Familiarity with firewall technologies and security concepts (Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco ASA).
  • Strong knowledge of WAN technologies such as MPLS, SD-WAN, and VPNs (IPsec, GRE, SSL).
  • Proven experience working within a 24x7 Network Operations Center (NOC) or similar high-availability environment.
  • Proficiency with IT Service Management (ITSM) ticketing systems like ServiceNow, Jira, or BMC Remedy.
  • Basic scripting skills (Python, Bash, or PowerShell) for automating repetitive tasks and log analysis.
  • Understanding of optical transport technologies (DWDM, SONET/SDH) is a plus.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional analytical and methodical problem-solving skills.
  • Superior communication skills (written and verbal) for engaging with both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Ability to perform effectively under high pressure in a fast-paced, 24/7 operational environment.
  • Meticulous attention to detail and a disciplined approach to troubleshooting and documentation.
  • A strong customer-centric mindset with a commitment to service excellence and user satisfaction.
  • A powerful sense of ownership and accountability for incident resolution from start to finish.
  • Collaborative team player with excellent interpersonal skills and a willingness to share knowledge.
  • Adept at managing multiple competing priorities and tasks without sacrificing quality.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Associate's or Bachelor's degree in a relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience and certifications.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science, Information Technology, or Telecommunications Engineering.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Networking
  • Information Systems
  • Telecommunications
  • Electrical Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3-7 years of experience in a Network Operations, Technical Support, or a similar network-focused role.

Preferred:

  • Experience in a large-scale enterprise, Internet Service Provider (ISP), or managed services provider (MSP) environment.
  • Professional certifications such as Cisco Certified Network Associate/Professional (CCNA/CCNP), Juniper Networks Certified Associate (JNCIA), or equivalent are highly desirable.
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