Network Engineer

About Us:

Valent North America LLC is the shared services organization of Valent U.S.A. LLC and Valent BioSciences LLC, which are part of the Valent group of companies. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., Valent North America unites the corporate Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal, and Environmental Health & Safety functions to maximize service delivery practices across the Valent group of companies.

Valent U.S.A. engages in the development, registration, sales, and marketing of integrated technological solutions for crop production and pest management that deliver value for customers and stakeholders. Valent BioSciences is a worldwide leader in the research, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of biorational products for the agriculture, public health, and forest health markets. Sumitomo Chemical is one of Japan’s leading chemical companies, offering a diverse range of products globally that support a wide variety of industries and help enhance peoples’ daily lives.

General Description:

This role serves as a technical resource and network engineer within the IT Operations team, supporting both the IT Service Desk and Infrastructure sub-teams. The position is responsible for designing, maintaining, and troubleshooting all company networks across office locations and datacenters in North America, including cloud and virtual networking environments. It also contributes to resolving Service Desk and Infrastructure tickets that involve network or related technical issues.

The engineer provides both on-site and remote support while developing network-related architectural designs for IT systems and applications. This includes work involving switches, routers, firewalls, cloud platforms (AWS), laptops, desktops, servers in both on-premises and cloud environments, printers, networks, peripherals, and vendor-supported software. The role maintains and creates all network diagrams and documentation related to the company’s IT infrastructure.

In addition, this position leads networking-related infrastructure projects and initiatives, collaborating closely with the Enterprise Architect/Team Lead and the Senior Manager of IT Service Delivery and Operations. Overall, it combines the responsibilities of a network engineer with elements of an IT infrastructure engineer, with a strong emphasis on networking functions.

Principal Responsibilities:

• Designs, maintains, and supports all North American company networks across offices, datacenters, and cloud environments
• Maintains and administers the SD-WAN infrastructure
• Assists with IT infrastructure tasks and resolves non-network Service Desk tickets as assigned
• Takes full ownership of IT issues, driving them to timely resolution and ensuring all deadlines are met
• Serves as the owner of all network uptime-related SLAs for the organization
• Functions as an escalation point for Service Desk and Infrastructure network alerts
• Responds to after-hours alerts and incidents as required
• Collaborates closely with the Enterprise Architect/Team Lead to achieve Service Desk and Infrastructure goals and initiatives
• Delivers exceptional IT customer service, maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and follow-through
• Provides frequent and clear communication to end users throughout the ticket resolution process.
• Implements, manages, and maintains network infrastructure including firewalls, routers, switches, and related components
• Designs, supports, and maintains all networking hardware within the organization
• Designs, supports, and maintains cloud networking and virtual infrastructure environments, primarily within AWS
• Manages patching processes for firewalls, switches, routers, and access points to ensure security compliance
• Supports remote access technologies such as VPN and RDP
• Creates and maintains IT knowledge base articles and documents IT systems, processes, and procedures
• Participates in cybersecurity initiatives and incident response, maintaining a security-first mindset at all times
• Maintains accurate IT asset documentation and ensures the asset database remains up to date
• Disposes of retired IT assets in accordance with company e-waste recycling procedures
• Monitors software licensing and provides periodic compliance reporting
• Participates in CAB (Change Advisory Board) meetings and submits change requests for planned project work.
• Provides hands-on L1, L2, and L3 IT support across both network-related and general infrastructure Service Desk requests as needed.
• Utilizes ServiceNow to manage Service Desk tickets and consistently meet SLA commitments.
• Ensures compliance with all SLAs, KPIs, uptime requirements, and Service Desk performance metrics
• Performs additional duties and responsibilities as assigned

Required Skills/Experience:

• Proven experience in network architecture, including the design, implementation, and support of large enterprise networks across on-premises, cloud (AWS), and hybrid environments
• Hands-on expertise with enterprise-grade networking equipment, particularly Fortinet/Fortigate solutions
• Background in SD-WAN technologies and internet backhauling
• Skilled in deploying, managing, and maintaining virtual networking appliances
• Strong, advanced knowledge of networking fundamentals, including subnetting
• Extensive IT troubleshooting capabilities across end-user devices and infrastructure (Windows laptops, Windows Server, iPhones, AWS environments, and network systems)
• Experience working with AWS and/or Azure cloud platforms
• Proficiency with Active Directory, including GPOs, DNS, DHCP, and domain/forest trusts
• Experience with virtualization technologies such as VMware and/or Hyper-V
• Familiarity with enterprise change management processes and participation in Change Management Boards
• Ability to participate in a rotating on-call schedule
• Excellent communication skills with a strong emphasis on customer service

Preferred Experience:

• ServiceNow, CyberArk, LastPass, Okta, Maas360, Tanium, smtp.com
• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
• Microsoft O365 experience
• Apple/Mac, Unix/Linux experience

Education:

• Bachelor’s in computer science or relevant IT certifications: CCNA, CCNP, CCIE, MCITP/MCSE
• 5+ years of related experience, 8+ years preferred

Travel: 15% as required

Physical Demands and Work Environment (OFFICE Position)

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Physical Demands include constant sitting, walking, standing, simple grasping and fine manipulation with hands; frequent bending at the neck and waist; and occasional squatting, climbing, kneeling, crawling, twisting at the neck and waist, power grasping, pushing and pulling with hands, reaching above shoulder level, lifting and carrying up to 25 lbs.
• Work Environment includes exposure to or working in or around equipment and machinery including a computer keyboard and mouse.
• Frequency Definitions:  Constant = Over 40% / Frequent = Up to 40% / Occasional = Up to 10%

What We Offer:

We recognize that compensation and benefits play a crucial role in your career decisions. That’s why we’re dedicated to equitable pay practices and transparency in how we reward our employees.

Base Salary: The estimated annual base salary for this position ranges from:

$109,000 to  $133,000 Individual pay is based upon location, skills, experience, and other relevant factors.

Incentives: All full-time employees are eligible for an incentive program or profit-sharing program in addition to their base salary.

Benefits:

• High-quality healthcare coverage starting on day one, with options for medical (HSA/HRA), vision, and dental plans
• 5% company contribution to your 401(k), plus a quarterly discretionary bonus
• Immediate 100% vesting of all retirement contributions
• Financial assistance programs to support your goals
• Life and disability insurance for added security
• Generous paid time off, including vacation, holidays, and volunteer days
• Flexible work arrangements available

Our Commitment to a Sustainable Future

At Valent Group of Companies, we’re proud to power a sustainable future through our work. Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have been at the core of our culture since the beginning. Today, they continue to drive everything we do.

Join us in making a meaningful impact and contributing to a better world.

• Valent U.S.A., Valent North America LLC, Valent BioSciences LLC and Mycorrhizal Applications LLC are an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation and/or identity, national origin, citizenship, immigration status, disabilities, or protected veteran status.

* #LI-HYBRID: