Systems Engineer III - Networking at Simmons Foods – Rogers | Jobyssey

The Systems Engineer III is a technical authority and a force multiplier. This role doesn't just execute well — it shapes how the team works, sets the standards others build to, and drives meaningful change in the systems and practices of the organization. Success at this level is measured not only by what you deliver personally, but by the capability and confidence you build in the people and platforms around you.

Essential Position Responsibilities - This is a salary exempt position

Design Thinking. Leads solution design for complex, high-impact systems, producing architectures that balance immediate need with long-term maintainability. Defines patterns and standards that others follow, raising the floor for how systems are built across the team. Evaluates trade-offs across cost, performance, complexity, and risk with confidence, presenting clear recommendations to leadership and peers. Anticipates how today's architecture decisions create tomorrow's constraints — and designs to preserve optionality.

Problem Solving & Critical Analysis. Leads investigation of complex, ambiguous, or high-impact problems — the ones without a clear runbook and real stakes. Drives root cause analysis that goes beyond the immediate fix to address the systemic conditions that allowed the issue. Recognizes patterns across incidents, changes, and requests, surfacing systemic risks before they become outages. Builds institutional knowledge that stays in the organization through documentation, mentorship, and process — not just in one person's head.

Automation & Continuous Improvement. Designs automation frameworks and standards that the broader team can contribute to and maintain. Drives adoption of infrastructure-as-code, configuration management, and repeatable delivery practices. Identifies opportunities for improvement at a program level — not just single workflows, but how entire domains operate. Quantifies and communicates the business value of automation investments, making the case for the work, not just the work itself.

Infrastructure & Systems Ownership. Owns complex, business-critical systems end-to-end — from initial design through ongoing operations to eventual retirement. Sets and enforces lifecycle management standards for the team: how systems are built, documented, monitored, and decommissioned. Drives capacity planning and long-range infrastructure roadmaps that align technical investments to business trajectory. Ensures high-availability and recovery capabilities are designed in — and tested, not assumed.

Development & Delivery Lifecycle. Leads delivery of large or complex technical initiatives from requirements through production, holding the standard throughout. Defines and improves delivery practices for the team, making process improvements that outlast any single project. Manages stakeholder expectations with precision, communicating risk, progress, and trade-offs at the level appropriate to the audience. Mentors peers on delivery discipline — change management, documentation, testing, and handoff — through doing it well, not just advocating for it.

Security & Compliance Mindset. Integrates security principles — zero trust, least privilege, defense in depth — into architecture decisions as a default, not an afterthought. Advises on risk trade-offs in a way that helps the organization make informed decisions, not just compliant ones. Leads or contributes to security-focused workstreams including hardening, access governance, incident response, and audit readiness. Raises the team's security posture through standards, tooling, and practices that outlast the individual initiative.

Collaboration & Communication. Communicates with confidence at all levels — peers, cross-functional partners, and leadership — adjusting depth and framing without losing accuracy. Actively develops the capability of teammates through knowledge sharing, mentorship, and creating space for others to lead. Builds credibility across teams through consistency, technical depth, and follow-through — earns influence, doesn't assume it. Acts in accordance with Simmons' core values: Put People First, Act With Integrity, Take Responsibility, Be Curious, and Take Action.

Participates as a member of the Team. Participates in the ongoing development, communication and implementation of team concepts, programs and policies; coordinates work to ensure best practices with all team members. Attends appropriate team meetings. As a member of the Team, fosters strong cohesiveness regarding all major issues; e.g., direction, annual plan, budget, policy changes, etc. Accepts responsibility to quickly identify any areas that lack cohesiveness, bringing them to the attention of the team leader and working with the team in a supportive manner to resolve issues and actively look for ways, and reinforce actions needed, to achieve synergy possible within the larger organization.

Simmons Operating systems principles and objectives. Is familiar with Simmons' established operating systems (e.g. quality, security, office environment, company policies, LEAN); understands the responsibility to maintain familiarity with the systems and this position's role in support of these systems - including a consideration of the impact of individual actions on the systems and the responsibility to communicate concerns and improvement ideas.

Performs other duties as necessary in support of business objectives. This position description is intended to guide the activities of the person in this position and is not intended to limit the thinking and creativity of the person as to the work of this function nor is it intended that this describe all the work that may be required of the person in this position.

Physical Activities. Primarily desk-based; uses a computer for extended periods. Communicates with team members and stakeholders by phone, in person, and electronically. May present to small or large groups.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). As required by visiting facility.

Travel. Occasional travel to Simmons locations and industry or vendor events (estimated 1–3 trips per year).

On-Call Availability & Operational Support. Participates in an after-hours, weekend, and holiday on-call rotation to ensure continuous coverage of Simmons’ infrastructure. Responds to incidents outside of business hours as required to minimize impact to plant operations and business continuity. Understands that system availability is directly tied to production uptime and treats that responsibility accordingly.

Technical Experience. 7+ years in network engineering or IT infrastructure, with demonstrated hands-on experience in enterprise network architecture, cloud connectivity, and infrastructure automation. Proven ability to lead design and delivery of complex, business-critical network systems across on-prem, private, and public cloud environments. Deep expertise in routing and switching protocols, overlay technologies, and WAN architecture. IaC and GitOps experience required — demonstrated through production work. Multi-vendor networking experience valued over single-platform depth. Track record of mentoring engineers and improving team-wide engineering practices.

Industry Experience. Preference for multi-site or manufacturing environments; experience supporting distributed operations is a plus.

Minimum Education. Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field; or 4 years equivalent experience

Preferred Education. CCNP or higher, or equivalent senior-level certification from a major networking vendor (Palo Alto PCNSE, Fortinet NSE4+, Juniper JNCIP, or equivalent). Cloud associate certification required (AWS SAA-C03 or equivalent). Terraform Associate or demonstrated production IaC experience. CCIE or equivalent, AWS Advanced Networking Specialty, or additional multi-vendor certifications preferred.

We value military experience and welcome veterans to join our team.

Explore more jobs