Network Specialist (NETSP) Closing 11/1/2026

Title: Network Specialist 

Employee Group & Grade: Professional/Exempt 

Reports To: Director of Infrastructure   

Starting Salary Scale: $58,000-$70,000 

Calendar Year: 220 days 

Must work all scheduled calendar days in office in Colorado  

Date Written/Revised: October 2026 

*All applications must be complete to be reviewed*   

Why Work at GOAL High School?   

• Great Mission and Great Culture.   

• Recognized as an Award-winning High School that serves at-risk students throughout Colorado.   

• Recognized as 1 of 3 schools worldwide to receive the distinction of “Biggest Impact School” in technology from Microsoft.   

• Our staff can plan vacations with one 14-day break, two 1-week breaks, and additional weeks off in the summer.   

• Competitive starting salary based on experience and qualifications.  

• Potential to earn Pay-for-Performance incentives as a member of the GOAL Team.   

• Competitive Benefits include an emphasis on Wellness in the workplace.   

• The ability to continue contributing to the Colorado Public Schools Retirement System PERA.   

• PERA 401K or Roth 401K with a 5% Match after one year   

• Medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, and AD&D plans.  

• Health Savings Accounts (HSA).   

• Voluntary life insurance for employees and dependents.   

• Short-and Long-Term Disability Insurance.   

• Optional additional insurance that includes accident, critical illness, and hospital plans.   

• Employee Assistance Program.   

• The school provides a laptop, cell phone, and additional equipment as needed.  

• Robust Professional Development and opportunity to work with passionate, mission-driven colleagues who are invested in your personal and professional growth.   

• GOAL High School is a qualifying employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF).   

Purpose of Job: 

The Network Specialist analyzes, designs, implements, maintains, and improves GOAL High School’s network infrastructure and connectivity across Colorado sites. The position translates site, capacity, and security requirements into network designs and specifications, owns network upgrade planning and deployment coordination, and serves as the primary technical contact for internet service providers (ISPs). The Network Specialist works with the Cybersecurity Specialist, and IT Compliance Generalist to maintain secure, reliable services. This is an individual contributor position and does not supervise employees. 

Essential Duties/ Major Accountabilities: 

Show Up: Be ACCOUNTABLE for our students, ourselves, and our team.  

Connect: Develop and maintain TRANSPARENT and HONEST relationships with our students and team  

Succeed: Become a STRONG unified team providing students with an INNOVATIVE environment to become productive members of society  

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:  

Network Analysis, Design, and Upgrade Planning 

• Analyze existing networks and new or changing site requirements to determine hardware, configuration, and connectivity specifications. 

• Design network layouts, IP addressing, VLANs, routing, wireless coverage, segmentation, and connectivity solutions. 

• Develop and maintain the network upgrade plan, including site priorities, equipment lifecycle replacements, capacity needs, project schedules, and recommended purchases. 

• Prepare project scopes, technical specifications, cost estimates, deployment plans, test plans, and rollback procedures for approval by the Director of Infrastructure Services. 

• Plan network changes and maintenance windows through GOAL’s change management process; communicate expected impact and complete post-implementation reviews. 

Site Deployments 

• Partner with the Cybersecurity Specialist to plan site installations and upgrades, including schedules, site access, local contacts, equipment, shipping, and ISP or vendor appointments. 

• Configure, stage, and test network equipment prior to deployment; confirm cabling and installation dependencies before site visits. 

• Validate connectivity, wireless coverage, security controls, and performance after installation, document results, and hand off ongoing support information. 

Network Operations and Advanced Support 

• Administer and configure Cisco Meraki switches, routers, firewalls, wireless networks, and related network services. 

• Provide Tier 3 analysis and resolution of complex issues involving switching, routing, VLANs, subnetting, DNS, DHCP, VPNs, wireless connectivity, and internet circuits. 

• Analyze network health, bandwidth, availability, and performance data; identify root causes of recurring problems and implement corrective actions. 

ISP and Network Vendor Relationships 

• Serve as GOAL’s primary technical and operational contact for ISPs; maintain contacts, account details, circuit records, and escalation procedures. 

• Coordinate circuit installations, activations, upgrades, relocations, and disconnections and align provider timelines with network deployments. 

• Obtain and compare service options, quotes, bandwidth, reliability commitments, and renewal terms; recommend changes and route contracts and spending through GOAL’s approval and procurement processes. 

• Open and track provider trouble tickets, lead technical escalations, and communicate outage status and restoration progress to affected staff. 

• Review provider performance, service level commitments, renewal dates, and billing discrepancies; coordinate corrections and service credit requests. 

• Coordinate network hardware support, firmware updates, licensing, warranty replacements, and vendor troubleshooting. 

Network Security, Continuity, and Compliance 

• Work with the Cybersecurity Specialist to design, test, and implement network security controls, including firewall policies, segmentation, VPN access, and DNS filtering. 

• Investigate network-related alerts and assist with containment, connectivity restoration, and remediation during security incidents. 

• Provide the IT Compliance Generalist with network documentation, configuration evidence, and change records for assessments and audits. 

• Apply GOAL’s adopted network security standards and approved remediation requirements, coordinating changes with system owners and Application Services. 

• Maintain configuration backups and support network continuity, recovery planning, and failover and restoration testing. 

Documentation and Reporting 

• Maintain current network diagrams, site configurations, equipment inventories, circuit details, configuration backups, and troubleshooting procedures. 

• Document network tickets, changes, deployments, and incidents in accordance with GOAL standards; share technical knowledge with IT staff. 

• Report network availability, recurring issues, circuit performance, upgrade progress, and upcoming provider or equipment needs to the Director of Infrastructure Services. 

• Perform other related networking duties as assigned by the Director of Infrastructure Services. 

Performance Expectations 

• Complete approved network upgrades and site deployments on agreed schedules, with tested configurations and accurate documentation. 

• Resolve or escalate network issues within established service levels; communicate outages and planned changes promptly. 

• Maintain effective ISP relationships and current circuit, renewal, and escalation records. 

• Follow change management requirements and coordinate effectively with the Cybersecurity Specialist and IT Compliance Generalist. 

• Participate in the Infrastructure Services on-call rotation as set by the Director of Infrastructure Services. 

Additional Duties and Responsibilities:  

• This position is classified as exempt and is expected to exercise professional judgment and perform duties as necessary to meet organizational and operational needs. Incumbents may be required to participate in after-hours support activities, emergency response efforts, and assigned on-call rotations as determined by department leadership. 

• Employees assigned to an on-call rotation are expected to remain reasonably available to receive and respond to work-related communications within established departmental response expectations. Participation in on-call coverage is considered an essential function of the position and is included within the employee's regular exempt compensation. 

• While on-call, employees may engage in personal activities provided they remain capable of responding within required response timeframes. Nothing in this job description alters the employee's exempt status under applicable federal or state law. Employees are compensated on a salary basis and may be required to work beyond normal business hours when necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of the position and support organizational operations. 

• Other duties as assigned. 

Accountability Standards for all GOAL Academy High School Staff: 

• Love for children and the ability to work enthusiastically on their behalf. 

• Actively and enthusiastically recruit new students through community partnerships and community events.  

• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, time-management, verbal, and written communication skills  

• Knowledgeable and comfortable working with technology 

• Able to competently and persistently apply problem solving skills towards technology issues.  

• Proven ability to serve on teams and participate in a collaborative decision-making process. 

• Strong work ethic to achieve both school and personal goals. 

• Ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality.  

• Willingness to travel regionally and transport students as required. 

• Ethical, honest, and good-humored 

• Must work all scheduled calendar days in Colorado.  

Minimum Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• Must reside in Colorado. 

• Must possess a valid Driver's License and have the ability to travel statewide 

Education: 

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, networking, computer science, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of relevant education, training, and experience. 

Experience:  

• At least three years of progressively responsible networking experience, including enterprise network design and configuration, advanced troubleshooting, and multisite deployments. 

• Demonstrated hands-on experience with switches, firewalls, wireless access points, and cloud-managed configuration. 

• Strong working knowledge of TCP/IP, subnetting, VLANs, routing, DNS, DHCP, VPNs, wireless networking, network segmentation, and firewall rules. 

• Experience planning and completing network upgrades and coordinating maintenance windows and changes. 

• Experience working directly with ISPs or telecommunications providers on circuit provisioning, connectivity problems, and technical escalations. 

• Cisco CCNA, CompTIA Network+, or equivalent networking certification, or ability to obtain within six months of hire. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience supporting networks across geographically distributed school or organizational sites. 

• Experience with Cisco Meraki hardware and licensing. 

• Experience with Cisco Umbrella or similar DNS security tools and network monitoring platforms. 

• Experience evaluating ISP service options, coordinating renewals, and tracking circuit inventories and service level commitments. 

• Experience with network recovery planning, failover testing, configuration backups, and audit documentation. 

• Experience in K-12, public-sector, or nonprofit environments, including E-Rate funded projects. 

Physical Requirements of this position include: 

Seldom  

Cold-50 F or less/Heat- 90 F or more/Gases-Fumes/ Heights/Climbing/ Crawling-Kneeling/ Bending/ Walking on Uneven Surfaces/Chemical-Solvents/ Travel-National or International  

Over 30 Pounds: Lifting-Lowering-Reaching Over Shoulders-Reaching Forward-Pushing-Pulling-Carrying 

Occasional  

Noise/Working Alone/ Local Travel/ Visual Acuity-Far/ Color Discrimination 

Over 20 Pounds: Lifting-Lowering-Reaching Over Shoulders-Reaching Forward-Pushing-Pulling-Carrying 

Frequent  

Driving/ Work with Others/ Visual Acuity-Near/ Hearing/ Speech/ Manual Dexterity/ Eye-Hand Coordination/ Computer/ Mouse/ Copier/ Scanner/ Printer/ Telephone 

Under 25 Pounds: Lifting-Lowering-Reaching Over Shoulders-Reaching Forward-Pushing-Pulling-Carrying-Reaching 

Colorado Public High Schools are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other legally protected status. We welcome applications from qualified foreign teachers and are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and diverse educational environment. All hiring decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and the needs of the school district. Please note that we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.  

In compliance with federal and state laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Immigration and Nationality Act, we ensure that all employment practices are conducted without discrimination based on citizenship or immigration status. However, as a recipient of federal funding, we must adhere to specific regulations regarding the employment of foreign nationals.