INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST III (NOC Specialist), Grade 26

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST III (NOC Specialist), Grade 26

Salary

$89,721.00 - $144,272.00 Annually

Location

100 Maryland Ave Rockville MD 20850 USA

Job Type

Permanent

Remote Employment

Flexible/Hybrid

Job Number

2026-00532

Department

Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions

Division

TBS 34 OBP Network Operations Center (NOC)

Opening Date

09/04/2026

Closing Date

9/11/2026 11:59 PM Eastern

FLSA

Exempt

• Description
• Benefits
• Questions

About the Position

Please note: The salary range above represents this position's earning potential. The anticipated hiring range for this position will be $89,721.00 to $127,764.00, based on the candidate's qualifications and experience.

WHO WE ARE

The mission of the Department of Technology & Enterprise Business Solutions (TEBS) is to use information technology to:

• Enable our employees to provide quality services to our citizens and businesses
• Deliver information and services to citizens at work, at home, and in the community
• Increase the productivity of government and citizens.

TEBS is a fully integrated enterprise in which all Montgomery County Government Departments and Offices can use reliable, accurate, and secure information to perform the government services and functions essential to the citizens of Montgomery County.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Montgomery County is seeking a highly motivated individual to join our 24x7 Network Operations Center (NOC) serving Montgomery County Government Departments and County Agencies. Customers include Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery College, Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission, Washington Metropolitan Park & Planning Commission, and Housing Opportunities Commission. Duties focus on the overall operation of the County's FiberNet, composed of over 600 miles of optical fiber, 1500 Cisco switches and routers, Aruba 802.11 access points, and all supporting infrastructure. Other network topologies include Passive Optical Network (PON) and Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM). The NOC Specialist will be responsible for monitoring network dashboards, analyzing problems, troubleshooting incidents, coordinating, and reporting all operational information regarding the enterprise network infrastructure to stakeholders and leadership. The successful applicant will serve as an on-duty and on-call technical resource to resolve complex network-related issues and support staff.

What Youll Be Doing

The Fibernet NOC operates 24x7, using a (3) three-shift schedule. NOC staff are expected to work any assigned shift. To more fully develop relevant experience and technical skills, NOC staff may be expected to work periodically as field technicians. The county will provide all materials and equipment necessary to perform assigned duties. Roles and responsibilities may include:

• Maintain situational awareness, which includes monitoring and analyzing all network-related activity in the enterprise environment - up/down activity, bandwidth patterns, wireless health, hardware environmental sensors, routing, and firewall traffic.
• Using the ticketing system to keep a record of events, troubleshooting efforts, customer requests, and providing hands-on diagnosis
• Providing front-line response to customer communications via email, phone, or Teams. The NOC will serve as the sole point of contact during off-hours and will communicate daily with customers, vendors, IT staff, and carriers.
• Administration of utilized software may include keeping a clean database of network equipment and resources to be monitored, ensuring devices are sending configuration files appropriately, and tracking resource management for inventory and projects.
• Creating network diagrams and documentation as necessary to be used by the NOC or shared with customers and leadership.
• Staging hardware replacements, providing new configurations that match the latest Cisco and security recommendations, and performing software upgrades of Cisco network equipment and power supplies.
• Escalation of complex problems to senior staff and management

Telework: This position may be eligible for limited hybrid telework, up to two days per week, after the initial training and probation period.

Work Schedule: This position may require occasional evening and weekend hours based on program needs.

A criminal background (and credit history) check will be conducted on the selected candidate prior to appointment and will be a significant factor in the hiring decision.

This position requires the ability to attend meetings or perform work at locations outside the office.

The individual selected for this position will be considered an Essential Employee. Essential employees must report to work during a period of general emergency or liberal leave.

Minimum Qualifications

EXPERIENCE: Three (3) years of professional experience in the information technology field in such areas as programming, systems analysis, and data/telecommunications, depending on the duties of the position.

EDUCATION: Graduated from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent work experience.

EQUIVALENCY: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

Medical Protocol: This position requires completion of a pre-employment Medical History Form to assess your ability to safely perform the essential duties of the role.

Preferred Criteria, Interview Preferences

All Applicants will be reviewed by the Office of Human Resources (OHR) for minimum qualifications. Those applicants who meet minimum qualifications will be rated "Qualified," placed on the Referred List, and may be considered for an interview. Preference for interviews will be given to applicants with experience in the following:

• Three (3) years of experience providing customer-facing network support in an enterprise environment consisting primarily of Cisco equipment

• Two (2) years of experience with SolarWinds network monitoring system.

• One (1) year of experience supporting Adtran DWDM technologies.

• One (1) year of experience supporting Tellabs PON technologies.

• Strong experience using SolarWinds. Experience with Statseeker is also a valuable plus. The ideal candidate will utilize these tools for environmental notifications, monitoring up/down activity, asset management, and configuration repository maintenance. Candidates should be familiar with administering these platforms or working closely with an administrator to develop tasks and custom alerts.

• Identifying customer and contact information based on environmental activity, issuing initial communications, and engaging customers in joint troubleshooting calls when necessary. Responding to phone calls and emails while creating tickets accurately. Providing clear and concise activity summaries to customers and leadership.

• Direct experience working with Aruba wireless technologies, supporting both public connectivity and 802.1x environments. Experience using AirWave for monitoring and supporting Aruba systems is a strong plus. Additional preference will be given to candidates with knowledge of point-to-point applications, radio frequency troubleshooting, or experience working with Siklu meshed radios.

• Experience supporting both PON and DWDM environments, with a strong preference for those familiar with Tellabs and Adtran technologies, as these are our primary vendors. Our team utilizes Panorama to support Tellabs systems and Mosaic to support DWDM operations. Applicant experience should include managing whole-site or multi-site topologies, along with a brief description of each environment they have supported.

• Hands-on experience providing direct network support without relying on escalations to engineers or vendors. The candidate should be able to log into Cisco network equipment, review syslogs and interface statistics, identify potential misconfigurations that could impact customers, and clearly communicate findings and recommended fixes to those customers.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The Office of Human Resources (OHR) reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position.

Montgomery County Government(MCG) is an equal opportunity employer, committed to workforce diversity. Accordingly, as it relates to employment opportunities, the County will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, in accordance with the law. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should email OHR at Hiring@montgomerycountymd.gov. Individual determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made in accordance with all applicable laws.

MCG also provides hiring preference to certain categories of veterans and veterans/persons with a disability. For more information and to claim employment preference, refer to the Careers webpage on Hiring Preference.

All applicants will respond to a series of questions related to their education, relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities required to minimally perform the job. The applicants responses in conjunction with their resume and all other information provided in the employment application process will be evaluated to determine the minimum qualifications and preferred criteria or interview preference status. Based on the results, the highest qualified applicants will be placed on an Eligible List and may be considered for an interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are the same grade will be placed on the Eligible List as a "Lateral Transfer" candidate and may be considered for an interview.

This will establish an Eligible List that may be used to fill both current and future vacancies.

If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.

Montgomery County Ethics Law: Except as provided by law or regulation, the Countys "Public Employees" (which does not include employees of the Sheriffs office) are subject to the Countys ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code. Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.

Leave Benefits

Our generous leave package starts with non-MLS permanent and term employees earning 15 days of sick leave and 15 days of annual leave in their first year, as well as up to three additional personal days each calendar year. Positions in MLS earn 35 days of paid time off each year. In addition, we offer all employees 10 paid holidays. Our leave policies adhere to the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, and we provide six weeks of paid parental leave for new parents.

Retirement Benefits

All permanent and term positions are eligible for robust retirement plans. Public safety positions are eligible for a defined benefit pension plan in which they are vested after only five years. Employees in non-public safety positions can participate in retirement plans that contribute up to 12 percent of their annual salary. All employees can also participate in a supplemental retirement plan, the 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, to contribute even more to their retirement goals.

Tuition Assistance & Student Loan Forgiveness

Montgomery County employees are eligible to participate in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Participants who meet all requirements may qualify for forgiveness on the remaining balance on their Direct Loans after making 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time in a qualifying public service position. To learn more about PSLF, please visit the Student Loan Repayment Benefits page. Our tuition assistance program allows you to receive up to $2,130 annually in tuition assistance to help you achieve a degree that supports your career path.

Free Mass Transit Benefit

County employees are entitled to use the RideOn Bus service for free with a valid County-employee ID. This benefit can be used any time of the day or evening, including weekends. We also offer a pre-tax flexible spending account to reduce the cost of other mass-transit options such as MARC trains and Metro.

Reduced Child and Health Care Costs

Working for Montgomery County also entitles permanent and term employees to participate in healthcare and childcare Flexible Spending Accounts. These plans allow eligible employees to save on a pretax basis for healthcare and dependent care costs incurred during the plan year.

Employee Wellbeing

We deeply care about your holistic wellness. Our award-winning wellness program, LiveWell, will support you in improving and maintaining your physical, mental, financial, social, and intellectual well-being.

Learn more about our wonderful benefits available to you once you join our team. Montgomery County Benefits

01

What is your highest level of completed education?

• N/A
• High School/GED
• Associates Degree
• Bachelors Degree
• Masters Degree
• Doctorate

02

Do you have a degree in Computer Science or a related field from an accredited college or university?

• Yes
• No

03

How many years of professional experience do you have in the information technology field in such areas as programming, systems analysis, and data/telecommunications?

• Less than 1 Year of Experience
• 1 Year Experience
• 2 Years Experience
• 3 Years Experience
• 4 Years Experience
• 5 Years Experience
• 6 Years Experience
• 7 Years Experience
• 8+ Years Experience

04

Do you have a minimum of three (3) years of experience providing customer-facing network support in an Enterprise environment consisting primarily of Cisco equipment?/b>

• Have 3 years Experience
• N/A

05

Do you have a minimum of two (2) years of direct, hands-on experience in Solar Winds network monitoring system?

• Have 2 Years of experience
• N/A

06

Do you have a minimum of one (1) direct, hands-on experience in supporting Adtran DWDM technologies?

• Have one year of experience
• N/A

07

Do you have a minimum of one (1) direct hands-on experience in supporting Tellabs PON technologies?

• Have one year of experience
• N/A

08

Are you able to perform shift work to support a 24x7 operations schedule?

• Yes
• No

09

At what level is your understanding and troubleshooting ability with Cisco CLI?

• Cisco Certified Technician - able to identify hardware and perform software upgrades
• Cisco Certified Network Associate - deep understanding of networking fundamentals, IP addressing and subnetting, able to configure a switch or router using appropriate protocols and routing, and identify and protect against network threats
• Cisco Certified Network Professional - able to design and implement enterprise level network infrastructures and troubleshoot complex issues. Understanding of the difference of Cisco hub to spoke and mesh topologies, and able to deploy VPN solutions utilizing IPSec tunnels or SDWAN
• Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert - Able to design, deploy, operate and optimize a complex enterprise-level network infrastructure. Considered an architect and a resource for junior staff to rely on.

10

Describe your previous work experience with troubleshooting of Cisco network environments.

11

Choose the options that best describe your duty in your previous network related position.

• Actively monitor the environment to identify problems via the network monitoring system. Create tickets and escalate to appropriate party to be addressed.
• Actively monitor the environment to identify problems. Required to login to a variety of equipment to check syslogs and use CLI to identify problems within the network that are leading to impact. Create tickets and escalate appropriately.
• Act as on-call support and communicate with customers to inform them of an estimated time frame when an engineer will be available to support.
• Act as on-call support to aid customers, document problems appropriately, and actively troubleshoot with intention of being able to identify problems and provide an initial fix or summary of what is required for fix.

12

What network monitoring systems do you experience with and briefly describe your primary use.

13

Describe your roles in project support and experience with keeping track of your project management.

14

Chose the option that best describes your experience with customer communication.

• Respond to phone and emails, directing customers to appropriate parties.
• Respond to phone and emails, recording tickets for customer complaints and/or requests and provide customer with a ticket number and next step in ticketing process.
• Respond to phone calls and emails, record tickets for customer complaints and/or requests, and provide live troubleshooting and resolution of problems.
• Identifying customer and contact information based on environmental activity, sending out initial communication and pulling customers into joint effort troubleshooting calls if necessary. Responding to phone and emails, while creating tickets appropriately. Providing summary of activity to customers and leadership.

15

Do you have any experience with supporting wireless technologies? If so, please describe.

16

Describe your experience with supporting optical networks including PON and/or DWDM.

Required Question

Employer Montgomery County (MD)

Address 101 Monroe Street

7th Floor

Rockville, Maryland, 20850

Phone 240-777-5000

Website https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/ohr