“DJ is phenomenal. They find amazing candidates, make hiring extraordinary devs easy. Think of it as having a top recruiter, HR, and payroll departments in dozens of countries.”
Hire senior, pre-vetted network engineers, dedicated, full-time, and matched to your infrastructure stack within two weeks. Not freelancers. Not a resume dump. We headhunt passive senior talent, run a four-stage technical screen, and hand you a shortlist of engineers who can actually own your network.
Andres
Recruitment Expert
Verified
Most infrastructure problems aren't caused by bad code — they're caused by poorly designed, under-documented, or unmaintained networks. A strong network engineer takes that off your plate entirely. Here's what you can bring on:
Design and implement LAN/WAN, SD-WAN, and hybrid cloud network topologies that are built to scale from day one. Senior engineers document every decision so the next person can maintain it without calling them at 2 a.m.
Configure VPCs, VNets, Transit Gateways, ExpressRoute, Direct Connect, and cloud-native load balancers. Engineers who understand both the on-prem and cloud sides of a hybrid environment are increasingly rare — and increasingly essential.
Automate repetitive configuration and compliance tasks with Python, Ansible, and Terraform. The best network engineers in 2026 write code — manual CLI-only work doesn’t scale and doesn’t survive team turnover.
Implement firewall policies, network segmentation, least-privilege access, secrets management, and Zero Trust architecture. Security is no longer a separate team’s job — it’s baked into network design from the start.
Set up end-to-end visibility with tools like Prometheus, Grafana, Zabbix, or SolarWinds — plus runbooks that turn a 2 a.m. outage into a 20-minute fix instead of an all-hands war room.
Configure overlay networks, service meshes (Istio, Cilium), and Kubernetes networking for teams running containerized workloads. As more infrastructure moves to Kubernetes, network engineers need to be fluent in both worlds.
Migrate aging on-prem infrastructure to modern cloud-hybrid architectures with zero-downtime cutovers and rollback plans, preserving business continuity while eliminating technical debt.
Not every engineer who lists Cisco on their resume has production-level experience. Here’s what separates a capable network engineer from someone who’s only worked in a lab environment.
Deep understanding of TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, MPLS, VLANs, and DNS/DHCP. These are the building blocks — engineers who can’t reason about routing and switching under the hood will stall on anything non-trivial.
Hands-on experience with Cisco (CCNA/CCNP/CCIE), Juniper, Palo Alto, or Fortinet depending on your stack. Certifications matter here — a CCNP or higher signals real, tested knowledge, not just resume keywords.
Production experience with AWS (VPC, Transit Gateway, Direct Connect), Azure (VNet, ExpressRoute, NSGs), or GCP networking. Most networks are hybrid now — engineers who only know on-prem are a half-solution.
Python scripting, Ansible playbooks, and Terraform modules for network configuration. This is the dividing line between mid-level and senior in 2026 — automation fluency is table stakes for anyone managing infrastructure at scale.
Firewall policy design, network segmentation, IDS/IPS, Zero Trust principles, and secrets management. Engineers who treat security as an afterthought create expensive problems.
The ability to instrument a network end-to-end and diagnose failures quickly under pressure. This is where you separate engineers who are good in calm conditions from the ones you want on-call.
Testimonials
“DJ is phenomenal. They find amazing candidates, make hiring extraordinary devs easy. Think of it as having a top recruiter, HR, and payroll departments in dozens of countries.”
“DistantJob took the time to talk about the job description and explore what was important to us. They came back with a great candidate on the first try!”
“I can easily say that I’ve never worked with a more dedicated, patient, and productive developer. DistantJob made the remote engagement painless. Win-win!”
“We have 3 employees from DistantJob right now. Phenomenal. For the dollar value that we are spending, we are far ahead of what we would find locally or offshore.”
“Hiring through DistantJob (…) surpassed my expectations. I had no opinion before, neither for [remote work] or against, but this experience definitely put it on the radar for me.”
“DistantJob is great for helping you find technical folks especially when your local area doesn’t have the right pool of talent for the job.”
“The remote developers presented by DistantJob] delivered a caliber of quality, skill and technical expertise, beyond my best expectations, far exceeding our local team members.”
“Working with DistantJob made everything about recruiting a highly technical employee easier and cost-effective.”
Every placement is tailored to your infrastructure. Here’s the caliber and range you can expect:
Senior network engineers with SD-WAN automation, multi-cloud networking, and Zero Trust experience are scarce in any single metro. Expanding your search globally means you find the exact certification stack and domain experience your infrastructure demands — not just whoever’s available locally.
This isn’t about “cheap” labor. A senior network engineer in Eastern Europe or Latin America earns well above their local market rate while costing you significantly less than a US equivalent. You get the architectural depth you need at a budget that doesn’t derail your hiring plan.
Recruiting, vetting, onboarding, payroll, and global compliance are real drains on your team. We handle all of it so your infrastructure leads stay focused on the network, not the paperwor/
We don’t forward inbound applications. We headhunt passive senior talent and put every candidate through a four-stage screen. Fewer than 7% of inbound candidates clear the first stage — and that’s before the technical bar.
Our recruiters review every candidate’s employment history, certifications (CCNA/CCNP/CCIE, AWS, Azure), GitHub, and references. We look for measurable production impact — uptime improvements, automation coverage, migration scope — not just job titles.
A senior engineer runs a 60–90 minute session probing routing and switching fundamentals, cloud networking architecture, automation depth, and security design decisions. Candidates who recite vendor documentation but stall on trade-offs don’t move on.
A take-home that mirrors actual client work — designing a network topology, writing an Ansible playbook, or diagnosing a simulated failure. We assess depth of reasoning, documentation quality, and how the candidate handles ambiguity.
Technical skill is the price of entry; the hire-or-pass decision happens here. We assess English fluency, async communication, ownership, and alignment with your team’s working style. Engineers who clear this stage integrate into your standups on day one.
Network infrastructure isn’t a project — it’s ongoing. Match the model to the work:
| Model | Best when | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer (Upwork/Fiverr) | A one-off audit, a specific migration task | No continuity; no ownership of your environment long-term |
| Marketplace (Toptal/Turing) | Fast access to vetted contractors | Premium hourly rates; you manage the relationship |
| Dedicated hire / staff aug (DistantJob) | Ongoing infrastructure ownership, monitoring, and improvement | A ~2-week search up front — which pays back in reliability and retention |
| In-house local | On-site data center access required | 8–12 week hiring, full US salary, limited local talent pool |
DistantJob places dedicated full-time engineers, because network infrastructure benefits more from continuity and institutional knowledge than from hourly flexibility.
Cloud migration or hybrid architecture. Moving workloads to AWS, Azure, or GCP — or connecting on-prem to cloud — requires network engineering expertise that goes well beyond “spin up a VPC.”
Network automation and IaC adoption. If your team is still configuring switches by hand, you’re accumulating risk and technical debt with every change. A NetDevOps engineer who writes Ansible and Terraform turns that into a repeatable, auditable process.
Security hardening and Zero Trust rollout. Perimeter-based security doesn’t hold in a hybrid, remote-first world. Network engineers who design Zero Trust architectures are in high demand and short supply.
Scaling infrastructure for growth. When traffic grows faster than your network was designed for, you need an engineer who can redesign for scale without a full cutover outage.
Improving observability and reducing MTTR. If your team spends more time finding problems than fixing them, a network engineer who builds end-to-end monitoring and writes incident runbooks pays for themselves quickly.
Networking protocols & hardware: TCP/IP · BGP · OSPF · MPLS · VLANs · SD-WAN · DNS/DHCP · Cisco (CCNA/CCNP/CCIE) · Juniper · Palo Alto · Fortinet · Arista
Cloud networking: AWS (VPC, Transit Gateway, Direct Connect, Route 53) · Azure (VNet, ExpressRoute, NSGs, Azure Firewall) · GCP (VPC, Cloud Interconnect, Cloud Armor)
Automation & IaC: Python · Ansible · Terraform · Nornir · NAPALM · NetBox
Container & service networking: Docker networking · Kubernetes (CNI plugins, Calico, Cilium) · Istio service mesh · Envoy
Security: Zero Trust · firewall policy design · IDS/IPS · network segmentation · secrets management · Vault · Zscaler · Cloudflare
Monitoring & observability: Prometheus · Grafana · Zabbix · SolarWinds · Datadog · ELK Stack · Wireshark · NetFlow
| Model | Best For | What You Get | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|---|
| DistantJob (Placement) | Long-term ownership | Full-time Network dev in your team; U.S. overlap; HR handled | Not for one-off gigs |
| Outsourcing agency | Managed project | Vendor team delivers scope | Less control, vendor IP/process |
| Marketplace/freelancers | Short tasks | Fast, flexible | Turnover; you manage vetting/compliance |
| Job boards/DIY | Big applicant pools | Control | Slow; heavy screening work |
Hiring remotely gives you access to a global talent pool — critical for a role where specific certifications (CCNP, CCIE) and domain experience (SD-WAN, Zero Trust, cloud networking) are hard to find in any single location. Remote network engineers can work within your time zone, own your infrastructure long-term, and cost significantly less than a US equivalent without compromising on seniority or quality.
Most clients start interviewing vetted candidates within 2 weeks. We headhunt and vet developers specifically for your requirements — no generic talent pools.
Core TCP/IP and routing/switching fundamentals, vendor platform depth (Cisco, Juniper, or Palo Alto), cloud networking experience (AWS/Azure/GCP), and — increasingly essential — automation skills in Python and Ansible. Security fluency (Zero Trust, segmentation, firewall design) and observability experience round out the senior profile. Engineers who only work through CLI without automation are a mid-level hire at best.
By hiring developers from regions with a lower cost of living, you can save up to 40% compared to U.S.-based salaries — while your developer earns above their local market rate. Contact us for a detailed quote based on your requirements.
Four stages: resume and background screening (fewer than 7% pass), a live technical interview focused on networking fundamentals and architecture trade-offs, a real-world scenario challenge, and a cultural and communication fit interview. Only candidates who clear all four reach your desk.
Yes. We handle global contracts, payroll, benefits, and HR onboarding, so you can focus on your infrastructure, not international tax law.
Yes. We manage contracts, NDAs, payroll, benefits, and local labor law compliance for your developer — so you can focus on building product, not navigating international HR.
When you partner with DistantJob for your next hire, you get the highest quality developers who will deliver expert work on time. We headhunt developers globally; that means you can expect candidates within two weeks or less and at a great value.
Increase your development output within the next 30 days without sacrificing quality.
