Network Administrator: Office of Innovative Technologies - UTK

Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at University of Tennessee

Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at University of Tennessee

Knoxville, TN, USA

Posted on Apr 15, 2026

This position is for an experienced networking expert in deploying, managing, and evolving wired and wireless network projects and solutions across a production network enterprise architecture. Deploys and manages wired and wireless network projects and solutions across a production network enterprise infrastructure. Operates independently for all sizes of systems, networks, and/or databases. Works as a team member under the direction of senior staff for large-scale projects, new implementations, system upgrades, etc. Work is completed with minimal oversight with a high level of accuracy and quality. Provides direction and support to junior staff. Must have the ability to learn, implement, and operate new technologies. These positions will participate in on-call rotation. The on-call support covers non-business hours including the week-end. On-call support is for one week and may be required for three to four weeks within a year.


The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has shaped leaders, changemakers, and innovative thinkers since its founding in 1794. The university is home to more than 38,000 students and 10,000 statewide employees—the Volunteers—who uphold the university’s tradition of lighting the way for others through leadership and service.

UT Knoxville offers over 900 programs of study across 14 degree-granting colleges and schools. As Tennessee’s flagship land-grant university, its footprint spans the entire state. The university holds the highest Carnegie classification for research activity and has deep partnerships with industry leaders and the US Department of Energy’s largest multidisciplinary laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Knoxville campus serves and recruits for UT Knoxville, including the Institute of Agriculture and the Space Institute, as well as the UT Institute of Public Service.

UT Knoxville considers its employees its number one asset. With values that focus on work-life balance, compensation, and innovation leadership, all Vols are supported to advance professionally. Employees have access to career development and coaching, continued education, and an extensive list of development and training possibilities. The Volunteer employee experience implements structures and practices to attract and retain top-tier talent, fostering a strong staff community and supporting a culture of involvement and engagement for everyone.

The university holds a strong commitment to its land-grant mission of learning and engagement, with a tradition of service and leadership that carries that Volunteer spirit throughout the state and around the world. It has been ranked nationally as “Best Employer for New Graduates,” “One of America’s Best Large Employers,” and “Best Workplace for Women,” and has been designated as “Best Place for Working Parents” by Forbes Magazine.

Apply today and join the Tennessee Volunteer community!

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is seeking a Network Services Admin III to design, implement, support, and maintain a highly secure, resilient, and high-performance wired and wireless network infrastructure that empowers academic research, educational excellence, and seamless university operations.

Required Qualifications

  • Education: Associate's Degree in a related field or equivalent related experience.
  • Experience: Four (4) years of direct industry-related experience in network administration and/or network engineering.
  • Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:
    • Strong ability to work independently of direct supervision and in line with strategic direction.

    • Intermediate ability to manage projects.

    • Strong verbal and written communication skills.

    • Intermediate working knowledge of networking concepts: WAN/LAN, DNS/DHCP, Layer 3/2, TCP/IP, Wi-Fi, firewalls, and security policies such as access control lists.

    • Ability to glean network requirements from users, technical and conceptual drawings.

    • Intermediate working knowledge of network infrastructure and supporting systems: routers, switches, wireless controllers, wireless access points, IDS/IPS, gateways, firewalls, NAC, virtual private clouds, structured cabling.

    • Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Azure networking services.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without need now or in the future for sponsorship for employment-based visa status.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Education:
    • Bachelor’s degree
    • Professional certifications such as CCNA, CCNP, ACMA, ACMP, AZ-500, AZ-900, Security+
  • Experience:
    • Experience in large-scale campus network environments supporting any of the following: wireless, firewalls, virtual cloud networks.
    • Experience with hybrid cloud infrastructure.
    • Experience with security networking to include firewalls, VPNs, vulnerability management.
    • Experience in networking and advanced network engineering.
  • Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:
    • Ability to effectively perform in a hybrid environment.

    • Intermediate working knowledge of automation tools and their application to this role: scripting, API integration, authentication, version control systems, and others.

    • Intermediate working knowledge of network diagnostic, monitoring, and performance analysis tools and techniques: SolarWinds, netflow, Ekahau, Wire Shark, fault isolation, trace route, Nmap, HPe User Experience Insight, packet capture, and others.

    • Working knowledge of Cisco, Aruba, Arista, Fortinet, and Juniper network products.

    • Experience providing enterprise network support in a higher education environment.

    • Basic knowledge of network automation tools such as Ansible, Terraform, GitLab.

    • Basic knowledge of open-source platforms such as Linux and FreeRADIUS.

    • Basic knowledge of major cloud service providers: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform.

Work Location: This is an on-campus position in Knoxville, Tennessee with some flexibility for hybrid/remote work.

Compensation and Benefits

  • UT market range: MR14 (Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here)
  • Anticipated hiring range: $75,000-$90,000
  • Regular Full Time Exempt

  • Benefits include: (Find more information on UT Benefits here)
    • Generous paid leave, accruing up to 24 days of vacation and 12 days of sick leave annually, plus 14 paid holidays and administrative closing days

    • Education benefits for employees and their dependents at UT System campuses

    • Retirement and deferred compensation plans, including 401(k), 403(b), etc.

    • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance plans

    • Employee discounts to attractions, services, and goods

Application Instructions

All applicants must upload the following attachments. The documents should directly address the required qualifications.

  • Resume

  • Cover Letter


  • Infrastructure Design & Deployment: Design, implement, and maintain high-performance enterprise network infrastructure, including routers, switches, VPN systems, firewalls, and Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs).

  • Performance Monitoring & Risk Mitigation: Actively monitor network telemetry to defend the environment, identify risks, and improve overall functionality and capacity.

  • Project Life Cycle Management: Lead and support network infrastructure projects through all phases—discovery, design, implementation, and closure—ensuring all wired and wireless requirements are met.

  • Security & Compliance Enforcement: Research and evaluate emerging networking technologies and threats to safeguard the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of the university’s enterprise systems.

  • Advanced Troubleshooting & Support: Proactively triage and resolve tier-2/3 support requests for wired and wireless services via the service management system or direct instruction.

  • Stakeholder Collaboration & Reporting: Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders for planned or unplanned service disruptions and publish routine progress reports and updates.

  • Technical Documentation: Maintain accurate and available technical records, including network topology diagrams, as-built documentation, hardware inventories, and databases.

  • Collaborate with on- and off-campus partners during planned or emergency outages.

  • Ensure network services meet high standards of reliability, scalability, and security.