Lead Network Engineer

VIQU IT; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 68,000 - 83,000; Full time

Job summary

VIQU IT is seeking a Lead Network Engineer in London to join a live, time-critical technology environment. The role blends hands-on engineering (around 80%) with leadership of three engineers (20%).

Based in London with a mix of 3 days in the office and 2 from home, the successful candidate will own network design, performance and escalation handling, while mentoring junior staff across routing, switching and multicast domains.

Qualifications

• Proven hands-on BGP routing experience.
• Deep multicast knowledge and troubleshooting.
• VXLAN/EVPN expertise.
• Experience with Arista and/or Cisco switching.
• Palo Alto firewall experience.
• Strong communication and live-event experience.

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

Leadership & mentoring

Communication skills

Hands-on networking

Live/real-time environments

Problem solving

Tools

Arista switches

Cisco switches

Palo Alto firewalls

VXLAN/EVPN

BGP routing

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.