Staff Network Engineer Infrastructure

Job Description

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg to harness the power of technology to pursue some of society’s most ambitious goals — from curing or preventing all disease to transforming how students learn.

At CZI, you’ll join a deeply collaborative, mission-driven community where your work helps drive breakthroughs across our flagship nonprofit organizations, Biohub and Learning Commons. Whether enabling scientific breakthroughs via open science and AI-powered biology or strengthening the tools teachers and students rely on every day, your contributions help turn bold ideas into real-world impact.

Our teams operate at the intersection of innovation and scale, building the infrastructure, partnerships, and capabilities that allow scientists, educators, and innovators to tackle some of the most complex challenges of our time — and to do so with urgency, integrity, and optimism.

The Team

The Operations team is a key partner in enabling Biohub’s pioneering work to combine frontier AI with frontier biology to solve disease and Learning Commons’ mission to build AI infrastructure that aligns how students learn with the tools that shape their learning experiences.

Operations includes our Central Tech, Finance, Marketing & Communications, People, and Real Estate / Workplace / Events / Facilities / Security (REWFS) teams. Together, these teams create the systems, programs, and experiences that empower our partners and colleagues across Biohub and Learning Commons to drive impact.

This work requires strategic and operational rigor, creativity, and deep collaboration. Whether designing world-class employee experiences, safeguarding data and infrastructure, or shaping how we communicate our impact, Operations plays a critical role in helping deliver meaningful change at scale

The Opportunity

The Staff Network Engineer will play a key role in designing, deploying, and managing critical network infrastructure that supports world-class science. This position offers an opportunity for a highly capable, self-motivated engineer to make meaningful contributions within a growing, privately-funded network of research institutes of national—and increasingly global—significance.

The Staff Network Engineer will support the design, deployment, and ongoing management of wired and wireless network services across enterprise systems and foundational IT infrastructure at multiple sites. The role also supports on-premise and cloud-based High Performance Computing (HPC) environments optimized for life science research.

This position requires deep expertise across a broad range of networking technologies, including routing and switching, firewalls, wireless, and optical networks. Core responsibilities include managing routers, switches, cable plants, and wireless infrastructure. The Senior Network Engineer will oversee installation, monitoring, maintenance, troubleshooting, and optimization of all wired and wireless network hardware, software, and communication links.

The ideal candidate communicates clearly and effectively with end users, colleagues, leadership, and external partners. They bring strong problem-solving skills, follow through on technical challenges, and collaborate closely with IT engineers at all levels to meet the unique technology needs of CZI and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

What You’ll Do

• Monitor, manage, and troubleshoot wired/wireless networks and services across local and remote sites.
• Design, deploy, and maintain new network infrastructure at existing and future Biohub locations.
• Collaborate with the Information Security team to secure network components, infrastructure, and connected devices.
• Provide advanced support, including second-level help desk escalation and troubleshooting complex cross-functional issues.
• Apply security patches, upgrades, and configuration changes in line with change management policies.
• Perform ongoing system and network maintenance, with occasional travel as required.

What You’ll Bring

• 8 years of professional networking experience with strong skills in installing, configuring, and maintaining network equipment (including, but not limited to, Juniper switches/routers).
• Expertise in next-generation firewalls, security protocols, and core networking services (DNS, DHCP, BGP, OSPF).
• Hands-on experience with wireless networking, including configuration, optimization, AP placement, and performance tuning.
• Strong troubleshooting abilities, with proven success diagnosing and resolving complex network and system issues.
• Proficiency in UNIX system administration, change management practices, and patch cycles.
• Familiarity with physical networking (cabling, connectors, transceivers) and use of monitoring tools to ensure performance and reliability.
• Excellent communication and documentation skills, with the ability to collaborate across technical and non-technical teams while managing multiple priorities.
• Preferred: experience in research or HPC environments, automation/Infrastructure-as-Code, Palo Alto Networks, and Infiniband networking.

Compensation

The Chicago, IL base pay range for a new hire in this role is $130,000 -$178,200. New hires are typically hired into the lower portion of the range, enabling employee growth in the range over time. Actual placement in range is based on job-related skills and experience, as evaluated throughout the interview process.

Better Together

As we grow, we’re excited to strengthen in-person connections and cultivate a collaborative, team-oriented environment. This role is a hybrid position requiring you to be onsite for at least 60% of the working month, approximately 3 days a week, with specific in-office days determined by the team’s manager. The exact schedule will be at the hiring manager’s discretion and communicated during the interview process.

Benefits for the Whole You

We’re thankful to have an incredible team behind our work. To honor their commitment, we offer a wide range of benefits to support the people who make all we do possible.

• Provides a generous employer match on employee 401(k) contributions to support planning for the future.
• Paid time off to volunteer at an organization of your choice.
• Funding for select family-forming benefits.
• Relocation support for employees who need assistance moving

If you’re interested in a role but your previous experience doesn’t perfectly align with each qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply as you may be the perfect fit for this or another role.

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