Roles · Network Engineer · Mid-level
9 core skills, 53 in total. Expectations per skill, and what changes at the next level.
This page lists what a Mid-level } 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.
Confidently applies load balancing for network engineering in non-standard tasks. Independently selects the optimal approach and tools. Analyzes trade-offs and proposes improvements to existing solutions.
Configures enterprise networks: VLAN/VxLAN, STP/RSTP, LACP aggregation, QoS policy. Understands routing protocols at a practical level. Documents network topology.
Confidently applies VPN and network isolation for network engineering in non-standard tasks. Independently selects the optimal approach and tools. Analyzes trade-offs and proposes improvements to existing solutions.
Confidently applies network security for network engineering in non-standard tasks. Independently selects the optimal approach and tools. Analyzes trade-offs and proposes improvements to existing solutions.
Configures BGP peering sessions and OSPF areas in enterprise networks. Implements route filtering, community tagging and route policy. Troubleshoots routing problems with tcpdump and BGP looking glass.
Configures authoritative DNS servers (BIND, PowerDNS). Implements split-horizon DNS. Diagnoses DNS problems and understands TTL, negative caching.
Designs firewall rule sets for enterprise networks. Configures next-gen firewalls (Palo Alto, Fortinet) and WAF (Cloudflare/AWS WAF). Implements microsegmentation.
Automates network tasks with Ansible network modules. Uses NAPALM for multi-vendor management. Writes Python scripts for network data collection.
Analyzes and optimizes TCP performance: MTU tuning, window scaling, Nagle algorithm, TCP BBR congestion control. Troubleshoots network latency with tcpdump and network analysis tools.
Not assessed by the team, but part of the self-assessment and the development plan.
53 skills get a higher expectation or become core when moving from Mid-level to Senior. The biggest jumps first.
} in the open competency matrix: 53 skills across 5 levels. The matrix is free for individuals and stays free.