Flexible Network Engineering & Automation Manager

Fruition Group; Borough of Rossendale; On-site; GBP 68,000 - 83,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care

Flexible working options

Career development programmes

Job summary

Fruition Group seeks a Network Engineering Manager to lead a nationwide, multi-vendor network team in the UK. You will drive architecture, resilience, and automation initiatives across Juniper, Cisco, Nokia, and Arista platforms.

Role requires extensive service provider network experience, strong leadership, and proficiency with Python/Ansible/CI/CD. You will partner with NOC, Data Centres, and Field Engineering to deliver impactful network projects.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience with service provider networks and routing protocols (BGP, IGP/OSPF/IS-IS).
• Hands-on with multi-vendor equipment (Juniper, Cisco, Nokia, Arista).
• Proven track record delivering network automation projects (Python/Ansible/CI/CD).
• Strong leadership and team-management skills in engineering contexts.
• Knowledge of UK broadband infrastructure, Openreach exchanges, and wholesale carrier environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, build, and operation of a nationwide multi-vendor network infrastructure.
• Oversee network architecture, performance, resilience, and standards compliance.
• Drive network automation initiatives using Python, Ansible, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Collaborate with NOC, Data Centres, and Field Engineering to optimise support and shared infra.
• Own the network roadmap, capacity planning, and lifecycle strategies.
• Manage vendor relationships, support contracts, and procurement for network equipment and services.
• Handle incident escalation, problem resolution, and post-incident reviews.
• Ensure ISO standards and internal security policy compliance.
• Develop team skills, manage performance, and plan succession.

Skills

BGP

IGP (IS-IS/OSPF)

MPLS

Segment routing

IPv6

Multi-vendor gear: Juniper

Multi-vendor gear: Cisco

Multi-vendor gear: Nokia

Multi-vendor gear: Arista

Python

Ansible

CI/CD

Leadership

Tools

Python

Ansible

CI/CD

Job description

Fruition Group seeks a Network Engineering Manager to lead a nationwide, multi-vendor network team in the UK. You will drive architecture, resilience, and automation initiatives across Juniper, Cisco, Nokia, and Arista platforms.

Role requires extensive service provider network experience, strong leadership, and proficiency with Python/Ansible/CI/CD. You will partner with NOC, Data Centres, and Field Engineering to deliver impactful network projects.