Lead Network Engineer

VIQU Limited; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

VIQU Limited in London is seeking a Lead Network Engineer to own the design and operation of a highly available, live network environment while remaining hands-on. The role combines technical authority with leading a small team to deliver BAU, projects and complex escalations.

Key skills include BGP, multicast, VXLAN/EVPN, Arista/Cisco, and Palo Alto firewalls. The position offers hybrid working (3 days in the office, 2 from home) and a salary up to £75,000.

Qualifications

• Hands-on network design and operation experience.
• Experience with high-availability network environments.
• Experience mentoring engineers while staying hands-on.

Responsibilities

• Act as technical and design authority across corporate and business-critical networks.
• Design, implement and operate resilient IP network infrastructure.
• Own network performance, capacity, resilience and technical standards.
• Lead complex troubleshooting across routing, switching and multicast environments.
• Design and optimise multicast routing for real-time content delivery.
• Support a mixture of BAU, infrastructure projects and live-event requirements.
• Lead and mentor three network engineers through coaching and 1-2-1s.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex or high-risk network incidents.
• Work with engineering, project, security and other technical stakeholders.
• Provide occasional out-of-hours flexibility when business-critical events require it.

Skills

BGP routing

Multicast

VXLAN/EVPN

Arista/Cisco switching

Palo Alto firewall

Resilient design

Layer 2-4 troubleshooting

Leadership

Communication

Live/high-pressure environments

Broadcast/live-event networking

Job description

Lead Network Engineer

London | 3 days in the office, 2 from home
up to £75,000

VIQU has partnered with a major UK content production organisation operating a highly available, live and time-critical technology environment. They are looking for a Lead Network Engineer who can combine deep technical networking expertise with the ability to lead and develop a small team.

This is not a management-only position. Around 80% of the role remains hands-on, with responsibility for network design, technical authority, BAU, projects and complex escalations. The remaining 20% covers leadership of three direct reports.

Key Responsibilities of the Lead Network Engineer

• Act as technical and design authority across corporate and business-critical networks
• Design, implement and operate resilient IP network infrastructure
• Own network performance, capacity, resilience and technical standards
• Lead complex troubleshooting across routing, switching and multicast environments
• Design and optimise multicast routing for real-time content delivery
• Support a mixture of BAU, infrastructure projects and live-event requirements
• Lead and mentor three network engineers through coaching and 1-2-1s
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex or high-risk network incidents
• Work with engineering, project, security and other technical stakeholders
• Provide occasional out-of-hours flexibility when business-critical events require it

Key Requirements of the Lead Network Engineer

• Strong hands-on BGP routing experience
• Deep multicast knowledge, including practical troubleshooting
• VXLAN/EVPN experience
• Arista and/or Cisco switching expertise
• Palo Alto firewall experience
• Strong understanding of resilient and highly available network design
• Proven Layer 2-4 troubleshooting capability
• Experience leading or mentoring engineers while remaining technically hands-on
• Strong communication skills and the ability to explain technical issues clearly
• Experience within high-pressure, live or real-time environments
• Broadcast, media or live-event networking experience would be highly desirable

This Lead Network Engineer opportunity would suit someone who wants genuine technical ownership without stepping away from engineering into a predominantly managerial role.