Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Resident Engineer

🎯 Role Definition

A Resident Engineer is a highly experienced technical expert who operates as a long-term, on-site extension of our team within a key client's environment. This role is fundamentally about building a deep, trusted partnership with the customer. You'll serve as the go-to authority for our products and technologies, providing proactive guidance, operational support, and strategic advice. More than just a troubleshooter, the Resident Engineer ensures the customer maximizes the value of their investment by optimizing their infrastructure, preventing issues before they occur, and aligning our solutions with their evolving business goals. This position demands a unique blend of profound technical-know-how, exceptional communication skills, and a commitment to customer success.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Network Engineer / Senior Systems Engineer
Tier 3/4 Technical Support Engineer or Escalation Engineer
Professional Services Consultant

Advancement To:

Senior or Principal Resident Engineer
Solutions Architect / Consulting Engineer
Technical Account Manager (TAM)

Lateral Moves:

Sales Engineer / Pre-Sales Consultant
Product Line Manager (with business acumen)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Act as the primary on-site technical contact, providing hands-on support and expert-level guidance for the customer's network infrastructure and our deployed solutions.
Proactively monitor network health, performance, and security, identifying potential issues and recommending optimization or remediation strategies before they impact service.
Lead the technical troubleshooting and root cause analysis for complex, high-priority incidents, coordinating with the customer's teams and our own back-end support to ensure swift resolution.
Develop and maintain a deep understanding of the customer's specific business objectives, technical environment, and operational procedures to provide tailored, context-aware recommendations.
Plan, design, and assist with the implementation of network expansions, upgrades, and migrations, ensuring minimal disruption and adherence to best practices.
Author and maintain comprehensive network documentation, including diagrams, configuration standards, and operational runbooks, to ensure knowledge is standardized and accessible.
Perform regular network and system audits, presenting findings and strategic recommendations to customer stakeholders to drive continuous improvement and stability.
Serve as a trusted technical advisor to the customer, offering insights on technology roadmaps, new feature adoption, and industry trends to help them achieve their long-term goals.
Develop and deliver customized training sessions and knowledge transfer workshops for the customer’s engineering and operations staff to enhance their self-sufficiency.
Test and validate software/hardware updates, patches, and new configurations in a lab environment before they are deployed into the production network to mitigate risk.
Interface directly with our internal engineering and product management teams, acting as the "voice of the customer" to provide valuable feedback for product enhancements and bug fixes.
Generate and present regular operational performance reports to customer leadership, highlighting key metrics, incident trends, and the value delivered by the residency.
Assist the customer in developing and refining their network management, automation, and orchestration strategies to improve operational efficiency.
pre-sales- Assist the customer in developing and refining their network management, automation, and orchestration strategies to improve operational efficiency.
Take complete ownership of technical issues from initial report to final resolution, ensuring a seamless and positive support experience for the customer.
Guide the customer in creating and validating Methods of Procedure (MOPs) for critical network changes and maintenance activities.
Analyze and interpret complex diagnostic data, including packet captures, logs, and system outputs, to isolate the most challenging and intermittent problems.
Build and foster strong, long-lasting relationships with key technical staff and management within the customer's organization.
Stay current with the latest advancements in our product portfolio and the broader networking industry to maintain your status as a subject matter expert.
Review and consult on the customer’s network architecture and design, ensuring it is scalable, resilient, and aligned with their strategic vision.
Coordinate and manage escalations to higher-level support and engineering resources, maintaining clear communication and ownership throughout the process.

Secondary Functions

Support and mentor the customer's junior engineers, helping to build up their internal skill set and confidence.
Contribute to our internal knowledge base, sharing insights and solutions from your on-site experiences to benefit the wider technical community.
Collaborate with the account management team to identify opportunities for service expansion or new technology adoption that would benefit the customer.
Participate in quarterly business reviews (QBRs), providing the technical perspective on account health, challenges, and successes.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Expert-level Routing & Switching: Deep knowledge of network protocols such as BGP, OSPF, ISIS, MPLS, and Spanning Tree.
Vendor-Specific Expertise: Hands-on mastery of a major networking vendor's hardware and OS (e.g., Cisco IOS/NX-OS, Juniper JUNOS, Arista EOS).
Network Security: Strong understanding of firewalls, VPNs, access control lists (ACLs), and security best practices.
Scripting & Automation: Proficiency in a scripting language like Python, Perl, or Ansible for network automation and data analysis.
Diagnostic Tooling: Skilled in using network analysis tools like Wireshark, iPerf, and platform-specific diagnostic commands.
Datacenter Technologies: Familiarity with datacenter architectures, including spine-leaf, VXLAN, and EVPN.
Cloud Networking: Understanding of networking concepts within major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP).
Technical Documentation: Ability to create clear, detailed network diagrams, MOPs, and technical reports.
System Administration: Foundational knowledge of Linux/UNIX environments.
High-Availability Concepts: Strong grasp of technologies and design principles for building resilient networks (e.g., VRRP, HSRP, LAG/LACP).

Soft Skills

Client Relationship Management: Ability to build and maintain trust and rapport with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Problem-Solving & Critical Thinking: A methodical and analytical approach to troubleshooting complex, high-pressure situations.
Exceptional Communication: Capable of clearly articulating complex technical concepts to a varied audience, both verbally and in writing.
Composure & Professionalism: Maintains a calm, confident, and customer-centric demeanor under pressure.
Ownership & Accountability: A proactive, self-starting attitude with a strong sense of responsibility for customer outcomes.
Diplomacy & Influence: Adept at navigating customer politics and influencing decisions through technical credibility and sound reasoning.
Adaptability: Thrives in dynamic and sometimes ambiguous customer environments.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant technical field or equivalent demonstrated experience and knowledge.

Preferred Education:

Master’s Degree in a relevant field.
High-level, active industry certifications (e.g., CCIE, JNCIE).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Information Technology / Networking
Telecommunications

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5-10+ years of progressive experience in network engineering, implementation, and/or high-level technical support.

Preferred: Prior experience in a client-facing role such as a professional services consultant, escalation engineer, or a similar resident engineering position is highly desirable.