Roles · Network Engineer · Lead
9 core skills, 53 in total. Expectations per skill, and what changes at the next level.
This page lists what a Lead } is expected to know and do, skill by skill. Core skills are the ones a manager and peers assess in a review cycle; the rest count only in self-assessment. Main areas: Cloud & Infrastructure, Security, Networking & Telecom.
Grouped by area. The label on the right is the expected depth: Awareness, Working, Advanced or Expert.
Establishes load balancing standards for the network engineering team and makes architectural decisions. Defines the technical roadmap incorporating this skill. Mentors senior engineers and influences practices of adjacent teams.
Defines network strategy for the organization. Makes decisions on network vendors, technologies and architecture. Manages the network team.
Establishes VPN and network isolation standards for the network engineering team and makes architectural decisions. Defines the technical roadmap incorporating this skill. Mentors senior engineers and influences practices of adjacent teams.
Establishes network security standards for the network engineering team and makes architectural decisions. Defines the technical roadmap incorporating this skill. Mentors senior engineers and influences practices of adjacent teams.
Defines routing strategy for the entire datacenter network. Makes decisions on BGP design, peering policy and prefix filtering. Manages the network team.
Defines DNS architecture for the organization. Makes decisions on DNS providers (Route53, Cloudflare). Manages DNS operations. This skill is critically important for successful performance in the role.
Defines firewall strategy and security policy for the organization. Makes decisions on next-gen firewall vendors. Manages the network security perimeter.
Defines Network as Code strategy for the organization. Manages the transition from manual to automated network operations. Introduces GitOps for network configuration.
Defines network standards and SLAs for the platform. Makes architectural decisions on transport protocol (TCP vs QUIC). Manages network capacity planning.
Not assessed by the team, but part of the self-assessment and the development plan.
0 skills get a higher expectation or become core when moving from Lead to Principal. The biggest jumps first.
} in the open competency matrix: 53 skills across 5 levels. The matrix is free for individuals and stays free.