Senior Network Administrator

Department of Education & Training, Victoria; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Department of Education & Training, Victoria in Melbourne, Australia seeks a Senior Network Administrator to provide authoritative technical expertise for core network infrastructure, including on-premises and cloud environments. You will lead complex problem resolution, advise senior stakeholders on risk, and initiate infrastructure enhancements.

The role requires strong networking knowledge, firewall administration, and experience with monitoring tools.

Qualifications

• Three to five years of experience in network support, network administration or a related discipline.
• Strong knowledge of networking protocols, including TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, BGP and OSPF.
• Experience supporting enterprise network technologies and services, ideally including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, F5 and Zscaler.
• Practical experience administering firewalls and applying network security best practices.
• Familiarity with monitoring and diagnostic tools such as SolarWinds, Wireshark or PRTG.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• The ability to communicate technical advice clearly and diplomatically.
• A customer-focused approach and commitment to high-quality service delivery.
• Strong attention to detail and an ability to maintain accurate technical documentation.
• A collaborative working style and the ability to build productive relationships with technical teams, vendors and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Diagnose and resolve escalated network incidents, minimising disruption to services
• Investigate recurring issues, identify root causes and implement corrective actions
• Administer switches, routers, firewalls, wireless access points and associated network services
• Monitor network performance, address bottlenecks and optimise configurations to meet service-level requirements
• Apply patches, firmware upgrades and other updates through established change-management processes
• Configure network devices and services across on-premises and cloud environments
• Support network expansions, migrations, integrations and technology upgrades
• Monitor security alerts and help mitigate network security risks
• Maintain access controls, firewalls, encryption and other network security measures
• Maintain topology diagrams, configuration records, asset registers and operational documentation
• Report on network performance and availability
• Provide technical guidance to Level 1 support teams
• Identify opportunities for automation, service improvement and increased network resilience

Skills

Networking concepts

Troubleshooting

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT or related field

Tools

SolarWinds

Wireshark

PRTG

Job description

About the Role

There are multiple Fixed Term positions available until 30 June 2028. Are you an experienced network professional who enjoys solving complex technical problems and delivering secure, reliable connectivity? We are seeking a Senior Network Administrator to provide authoritative technical expertise, maintenance, and strategic administration for our core network infrastructure, ensuring optimal performance, resilience, and secure connectivity across the department. Operating under broad direction at SFIA Level 5 (Ensure, advise), this role requires high operational autonomy to lead complex problem resolution, self-initiate infrastructure enhancements, and advise senior stakeholders on risk management and network lifecycle implementation.

• Diagnose and resolve escalated network incidents, minimising disruption to services
• Investigate recurring issues, identify root causes and implement corrective actions
• Administer switches, routers, firewalls, wireless access points and associated network services
• Monitor network performance, address bottlenecks and optimise configurations to meet service-level requirements
• Apply patches, firmware upgrades and other updates through established change-management processes
• Configure network devices and services across on-premises and cloud environments
• Support network expansions, migrations, integrations and technology upgrades
• Monitor security alerts and help mitigate network security risks
• Maintain access controls, firewalls, encryption and other network security measures
• Maintain topology diagrams, configuration records, asset registers and operational documentation
• Report on network performance and availability
• Provide technical guidance to Level 1 support teams
• Identify opportunities for automation, service improvement and increased network resilience

About You

To be successful, you will have:

• Three to five years of experience in network support, network administration or a related discipline
• Strong knowledge of networking protocols, including TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, BGP and OSPF
• Experience supporting enterprise network technologies and services, ideally including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, F5 and Zscaler
• Practical experience administering firewalls and applying network security best practices
• Familiarity with monitoring and diagnostic tools such as SolarWinds, Wireshark or PRTG
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities
• The ability to communicate technical advice clearly and diplomatically
• A customer-focused approach and commitment to high-quality service delivery
• Strong attention to detail and an ability to maintain accurate technical documentation
• A collaborative working style and the ability to build productive relationships with technical teams, vendors and stakeholders.

Highly regarded

The following experience or qualifications would be advantageous:

• Relevant networking certifications
• Experience with network automation using Python, Ansible or Terraform
• Knowledge of cloud networking within Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud Platform or Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

Why join us?

This role offers the opportunity to:

• Work with enterprise-grade network and security technologies
• Contribute to infrastructure improvement and modernisation initiatives
• Build experience across on-premises and cloud networking
• Help improve the security, performance and resilience of essential technology services
• Work in a collaborative environment that values knowledge sharing and continuous improvement

About the Department

The department provides a wide range of learning and development support and services. The department provides policy leadership, plans for the future of education in Victoria and leads key cross-sector collaboration. The department plays an important system steward role by providing support, guidance, oversight and assurance across early childhood and school education systems, as well as directly providing school education and 50 new early learning centres.

About the Division

Information Technology Service Branch (ITSB) provide the digital foundation that supports safe, equitable, and effective learning across the Department of Education. From the networks connecting our schools, to the systems that protect our data, to the tools staff rely on every day – our role is to ensure technology works where and when it's needed.

Further Information

For more details regarding this position please see attached position description for the capabilities to address in application. The department values diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. For more information about our work, working for the Department, diversity and inclusion, and our employment conditions visit the Department website and our Diversity and Inclusion page Applicants requiring adjustments can contact the nominated contact person. Information about the Department of Education's operations and employment conditions can be located at www.education.vic.gov.au. For further information pertaining to the role, please contact Ranganath Basu – Network Services Manager via email - [e-mail] . Preferred applicants may be required to complete a police check and may be subject to other pre-employment checks. Information provided to the Department of Education will be treated in the strictest confidence. Please let us know via phone or email if you require any adjustments to ensure your full participation in the recruitment process or if you need the ad or any attachments in an accessible format (e.g large print) due to any viewing difficulties or other accessibility requirements. Applications close 11:59pm Thursday, 19 November 2026