Lead Network Engineer

We are seeking an experienced and collaborative Lead Network Engineer to provide hands-on technical leadership in the development, operation, and continuous improvement of complex network services. This role will play a key part in shaping technical solutions, supporting delivery across projects and services, and ensuring network designs align with wider strategic architecture. The successful candidate will combine strong technical expertise with people leadership, helping to guide the Network team, support service delivery, and contribute to high-quality, secure, and cost-effective outcomes. The role also includes responsibility for high-level analysis and design for new initiatives, including assessing feasibility, estimating resource requirements, and supporting cost planning. What you will be doing:

• Lead the design and delivery of network solutions aligned to strategic architecture and business requirements.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership across projects and services, supporting implementation, best practice, and solution quality.
• Manage, mentor, and develop the Network team, providing direction, feedback, and support for ongoing growth.
• Work closely with security, support, and wider engineering teams to identify risks, share knowledge, and drive continuous improvement.
• Analyse complex technical and stakeholder requirements to deliver practical, reliable, and cost-effective solutions.
• Monitor and optimise network performance, resilience, and availability, including participation in the out-of-hours on-call rota.
What you will bring:
• Significant experience working with FortiGate and FortiWeb firewalls.
• Experience with routing and switching across office and data centre environments.
• Good working knowledge of data centre operations.
• Previous experience leading or managing a technical IT or network team.
• CCNP certification or equivalent level of knowledge and experience.
• Experience with network monitoring and service management tools such as SolarWinds and ServiceNow.
• Experience working with cloud technologies, particularly Microsoft Azure and/or Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
• Experience with automation tools such as Terraform and Ansible.
• Strong communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to balance technical quality, service performance, and cost-effective delivery.
If you are interested in this role but not sure if your skills and experience are exactly what we're looking for, please do apply, we'd love to hear from you! Although this role is advertised as full-time, we support different ways of working and can offer a range of flexible working arrangements. So, if you're interested and need to work flexibly, we encourage you to apply and talk to us about what might be possible. Level of Clearance: Eligible for DV clearance Referral Bonus: £1500 Salary offered will be in line with experience and development needs. Loved reading about this job and want to know more about Sector/Company? Our Aerospace, Defence and Security business designs, develops and deploys digital solutions that bring clients enduring business value across the UK's Public and Private sectors. We foster a culture in which employees feel valued and supported, delivering exceptional rates of customer satisfaction in the UK's most complex safety- and security-critical markets.
• Significant experience working with FortiGate and FortiWeb firewalls.
• Experience with routing and switching across office and data centre environments.
• Good working knowledge of data centre operations.
• Previous experience leading or managing a technical IT or network team.
• CCNP certification or equivalent level of knowledge and experience.
• Experience with network monitoring and service management tools such as SolarWinds and ServiceNow.
• Experience working with cloud technologies, particularly Microsoft Azure and/or Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
• Experience with automation tools such as Terraform and Ansible.
• Strong communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to balance technical quality, service performance, and cost-effective delivery.
If you are interested in this role but not sure if your skills and experience are exactly what we're looking for, please do apply, we'd love to hear from you! Although this role is advertised as full-time, we support different ways of working and can offer a range of flexible working arrangements. So, if you're interested and need to work flexibly, we encourage you to apply and talk to us about what might be possible.
Our Aerospace, Defence and Security business designs, develops and deploys digital solutions that bring clients enduring business value across the UK's Public and Private sectors. We foster a culture in which employees feel valued and supported, delivering exceptional rates of customer satisfaction in the UK's most complex safety- and security-critical markets.