NOC Engineer Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Are you searching for a NOC engineer job description? Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a NOC engineer. Feel free to use our job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a NOC engineer.
Who is a NOC Engineer?
A Network Operations Center (NOC) Engineer is an expert who primarily monitors large computer networks and servers for issues from a centralized location or via satellite. They analyze the issues, put troubleshooting and incident response into action on the system, and interact with field technicians to find a better solution to satisfy corporate goals or objectives.
As a NOC Engineer, you are responsible for resolving any problems with your IT services. The NOC Engineer employs established methods to analyze and fix any network-related issues. They constantly collaborate with other IT teams, clients, and suppliers to improve route performance.
One of the primary tasks of the network operation center engineer is to resolve any technical and quality-related problems. Sometimes the problems are too complicated to be resolved fast. The NOC engineer must then ask for help from top management at this point. To keep everyone informed of any concerns, they must be in constant contact with the team and the vendors.
A NOC engineer’s job requires them to communicate with clients frequently. Additionally, they ought to serve the consumers with tact and courtesy. Although the NOC engineer’s job varies a little depending on the circumstance, they are responsible for handling both the customer’s non-technical and technical requirements.
The NOC engineer supports the network by collaborating closely with clients and vendors. The NOC engineer has to ensure their knowledge base is up-to-date, accurate, and complete. All technical concerns must also be recorded and meticulously documented. Many NOC teams utilize a ticketing system to enable them to update information about the current problems being fixed every minute.
NOC Engineer Job Description
What is a NOC engineer job description? A NOC engineer job description is simply a list of duties and responsibilities of a NOC engineer in an organization. Below are the NOC engineer job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a NOC engineer job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of the NOC engineer include the following:
- Administer inquiries, issues, incidents, and data environments.
- Manage network devices including switches, routers, firewalls, and access points.
- Create and upkeep network environment technical documentation.
- Assist engineering unit with network infrastructure-related problems
- Implement and support all network components’ configuration.
- Ensure that IT equipment is operating properly (troubleshooting and diagnostic support).
- Control and oversee apps at all stages of their life.
- Direct the technology suppliers who put the solutions into practice.
- Administer, complete, validate, and restore backups.
- Access tasks management.
- Control the platform’s capacity and availability.
- Monitor line systems and digital facilities.
- Receive errors, examine them, and then group them based on their operational and consumer importance.
- Use, observe, and troubleshoot computer networks.
Qualifications
- A bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related discipline (optional, but preferable by some firms)
- Practical experience as a network operations center engineer
- Expertise in network infrastructure deployment, management, and troubleshooting
Essential Skills
Here are the skills you require to excel in your career as a NOC Engineer:
- Border Gateway Protocol
- Communication
- Customer Service
- IT Assistance
- Network Security Knowledge
- Linux
- Multiprotocol Label Switching
- Multitasking
- Problem-solving
- Multiprotocol Label Switching
- TCP/IP
- Troubleshooting
- Time Management
Border Gateway Protocol
A technology called BGP, or Border Gateway Protocol, enables network operations center engineers to link different networks together. The ability to control the connections between a company’s internal and external networks is crucial for NOC engineers. BGP also gives NOC engineers a better understanding of how information moves across the internet, which helps resolve problems with remote customers.
Communication
The ability to present knowledge in a way that others can understand is known as communication. As a NOC engineer, you might have to speak on the phone or send emails to other team members or clients. You can communicate technical knowledge succinctly and effectively so that others can act on it due to strong communication skills.
Customer Service
Any profession requires good customer service skills, including NOC engineers. To address technical problems or respond to inquiries regarding network systems, this position involves speaking with clients over the phone and in person. Your ability to give top-notch customer service will help you keep your business standing as an industry leader.
IT Assistance
Tools for information technology service management, or ITSM, are frequently used by NOC engineers to carry out their jobs. These can include ticketing platforms where you can monitor and address problems or interact with other IT team members. Understanding common routines and technologies will help you offer speedy and accurate service because many other challenges, such as deployment management and performance management, are IT-related.
Network Security Knowledge
A NOC engineer may need to maintain the security and safety of a network. To do this, one must understand the special connections, wired and wireless, and how an organization maintains its security. It might be beneficial to have a basic awareness of security technologies and how various networks interact with them to safeguard a company’s data and systems.
Linux
Linux is a computer operating system that may be used to execute programs. When NOC engineers need to access a company’s network hardware, they typically use Linux since it’s frequently simpler than with other software forms. They may also design custom tools that are more effective for their purposes and modify their workstations.
Multiprotocol Label Switching
A network protocol called Multiprotocol Label Switching, MPLS enables you to link several sites via a single connection. Because it allows NOC engineers to oversee several locations from a single location, which may cut down on travel time and boost productivity, this might be advantageous. Additionally, it enables you to build redundant systems in case of a site-specific outage.
Multitasking
NOC engineers are responsible for tasks, such as keeping an eye out for threats and performing normal maintenance on various network elements. This calls for you to manage several responsibilities and prioritize your chores. While reacting to user-reported faults or other occurrences, you might also need to monitor several other systems throughout the day.
Problem-solving
The ability to recognize problems, weigh potential solutions, and select the best one is known as problem-solving. When keeping an eye on various network systems, you may spot certain problems, which you can then document, solve, and convey to development teams. You might also fix difficulties with databases, connectivity, and other technical issues that users can encounter.
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
The Open Shortest Path First protocol enables the communication between network devices. This protocol is crucial for NOC engineers to understand since it may assist them in resolving network problems and making adjustments to enhance network performance. OSPF aids NOC engineers in designing their network architecture since they must understand how various parts connect.
TCP/IP
The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet, TCP/IP protocol, a set of guidelines that controls how computers connect over the internet, is something that network operations center engineers need to be familiar with. This involves being aware of how IP addresses operate and being able to resolve network-addressing-related problems. When they write scripts for automation tools or software applications, NOC engineers also employ TCP/IP.
Troubleshooting
Problem-solving skills include the capacity to troubleshoot. As a NOC engineer, you could diagnose problems with network systems, applications, or computer hardware or software. By locating the problem’s origin and offering remedies, you may also resolve customer service problems using troubleshooting abilities.
Time Management
The ability to schedule and carry out work in a way that guarantees you meet your project’s deadlines is time management. Time management abilities are crucial for NOC engineers since they enable you to do all your jobs on time and ensure that your business adheres to its SLA commitments. Additionally, it enables you to organize your workload so that you may start by concentrating on the most crucial tasks.
How to Become a NOC Engineer
Below are the steps to take to become a NOC Engineer:
Step One: Graduate from High School
If you are still in high school, take as many computer science classes as you can, focusing on networking, programming, and security, to get ready for a job as a NOC engineer. You will need to be able to communicate well with coworkers and bosses, deliver presentations, and write reports about your job, so English and speech classes will be helpful. Mathematics, statistics, commerce, and social studies are other relevant subjects you may also consider.
Step Two: Get a Degree
Employers seldom use NOC engineers with merely an associate’s degree in engineering technology, although they typically require them to have some years of on-the-job experience in network administration. Most businesses demand that candidates hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in a relevant discipline, such as network administration, management information systems, network security, or electronics engineering. Earning a bachelor’s degree makes sense since there is more competition for NOC engineering positions, and individuals with greater academic credentials will have better career opportunities than those with merely an associate’s degree. Students often take part in at least one internship or co-op in a network operations center in addition to their in-class assignments to gain expertise.
Step Three: Obtain a Certification
Several schools and institutions offer certificate programs in computer networking, cyber security in computer networks, and related subjects. These courses usually run between six months to a year. Options include in-person, online, and hybrid.
Professional groups and tech firms provide certification qualifications in networking, computer security, and related fields. Although certification is not required to work as an engineer, many companies prefer applicants who hold certification since it indicates that the individual has attained the highest requirements set by his or her industry. Additionally, persons with certifications often earn more money and have a better chance of being promoted than those without certifications. The following list of popular certifications for NOC engineers.
Networking expert certification (Network Professional Association)
Credentials such as Network+ (CompTIA)
Credentials such as Cisco Certified Network Associate and Cisco Certified Design Professional
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Step Four: Acquire Experience
Aspiring NOC engineers will benefit from whatever computer networking experience they can get through an internship, co-op, volunteering, or part-time employment.
To succeed in their jobs, NOC engineers need a mix of technical and soft abilities. They must be knowledgeable with Agile processes, local and wide area networks, systems configuration, network security concepts, and programming languages including Python, Java, C++, and JavaScript. They also need to know about operating systems, incident tracking systems, network management tools, application monitoring tools, and popular networks, as well as a thorough understanding of IT troubleshooting procedures.
Where to Work as a NOC Engineer
As a Network operations center (NOC) engineer, you can work with any company that has sophisticated, expansive IT systems. These companies are banks and building societies, retail companies, government agencies, hospitals, schools, and local government, utility providers, transport companies, management advisory firms.
Many municipal authorities and other public sector organizations, among other organizations, outsource all of their IT systems, so these specialized businesses frequently have openings for workers with networking expertise.
A major IT corporation may hire network operations center engineers to handle the business’s internal systems or provide contract services.
NOC Engineer Salary Scale
The average NOC Engineer salary in the United States is $75,719, although the normal salary range is between $70,870 and $81,112.
In the United Kingdom, the average NOC Engineer’s pay is £35,000 per year or £17.95 per hour. Most experienced professionals earn up to £55,000 per year, while entry-level ones start at £28,749 annually.
In Canada, the typical network operations center engineer earns CA$90,000 a year, or CA$46.15 an hour. Most experienced professionals may earn up to CA$126,900 per year, while entry-level roles start at CA$75,075 annually.
Australia’s national average salary for network operations center engineers is AU$108,024 or AU$55.40 per hour. The more experienced engineers earn up to AU$145,000 per year, while entry-level ones start at AU$92,361 annually.
The salary range for network operations center engineers in Germany normally ranges from €41,560 to €103,623, with €55,868 being the average salary.
The national average salary for network operations center engineers in Ireland is €60,000 per year or €30.77 per hour. Most experienced professionals earn up to €80,000 per year, while entry-level roles start at €45,000.
A NOC engineer’s monthly salary in Nigeria ranges from ₦91,007 to ₦178,098.
The salary scale of a NOC Engineer might differ significantly depending on various crucial aspects, including education, location, certifications, skills, and expertise in the field.