Lead Network Engineer

Charles Russell Speechlys; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Job summary

Charles Russell Speechlys is seeking a Lead Network Engineer to provide hands-on technical leadership across design, operation, security and continual improvement of the firm’s network infrastructure in offices, data centres, cloud and remote access environments.

You will own network standards, resilience and service performance, coordinate supplier engagements and deliver network-related change within a hybrid working model. Strong Cisco and cloud networking experience is essential.

Job description

The Lead Network Engineer will provide hands‑on technical leadership for the design, operation, security and continual improvement of the firm’s network infrastructure across office, data centre, cloud and remote access environments. The role owns network standards, resilience, service performance, risk management, supplier coordination and the delivery of network‑related change.

Network Operations

• Lead the implementation, support and lifecycle management of network services across office, data centre, cloud connectivity, wireless and remote access environments.
• Maintain secure, resilient and scalable network services aligned to business requirements, client expectations and regulatory obligations.
• Support disaster recovery testing, failover validation and availability improvement for critical network services.
• Monitor network performance, identify risks, resolve complex incidents and drive continual service improvement.
• Maintain operational procedures, implementation plans and technical documentation to support controlled and repeatable delivery.
• Comply with relevant legal and regulatory obligations, including the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Standards and Regulations and Principles.

Strategy and Architecture

• Shape and maintain the technical roadmap for network services, ensuring alignment with the firm’s technology strategy, security requirements and resilience objectives.
• Own network standards, reference architectures and design principles across office, data centre, cloud, wireless and secure access services.
• Provide architectural assurance for projects, office moves, cloud adoption and supplier‑led changes, ensuring risks and operational impacts are understood.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and vendor roadmaps to improve automation, observability, resilience, security and operational efficiency.

Leadership

• Provide technical leadership, mentoring and guidance to network engineers, junior colleagues and wider IT teams.
• Work closely with Information Security, Security Operations, Cloud Operations, Service Delivery and Infrastructure teams to ensure network services remain secure, supportable and aligned to wider priorities.
• Support planning, prioritisation and budget input for network lifecycle, licensing, service improvement and project requirements.

Operational Excellence and Service Management

• Operate network services in line with ITIL-aligned incident, problem, change, release and configuration management practices.
• Act as a senior escalation point for complex incidents, coordinating root cause analysis, corrective action and stakeholder communication.
• Maintain effective monitoring, alerting and reporting to identify service degradation, capacity constraints, security events and availability risks.

Security and Risk Management

• Embed security‑by‑design across network architecture, operations and project delivery.
• Support Secure Service Edge (SSE) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) capabilities for secure access to internet, SaaS, cloud and private applications.
• Partner with Information Security on risk management, audit readiness, vulnerability remediation and compliance requirements, including ISO 27001, GDPR and CIS Controls.
• Support network‑related security incident investigation, containment, remediation and lessons learned.

Stakeholder and Vendor Management

• Act as a senior technical escalation point for network infrastructure issues, risks and decisions.
• Translate business requirements into secure, supportable and cost‑effective network solutions.
• Manage technical engagement with network suppliers, managed service providers and service partners, including performance, escalation and delivery assurance.

Key Skills and Experience

Essential

• Significant hands‑on experience in a senior or lead network engineering role within a complex enterprise environment.
• Deep knowledge of enterprise networking, including Layer 2/3, switching, routing, VLANs, segmentation, high availability, wireless and troubleshooting.
• Strong experience with Cisco enterprise technologies, including Catalyst, Nexus, Cisco ISE, RADIUS, TACACS+, 802.1X and access control policies.
• Proven experience with network security and secure access technologies, including Palo Alto, Fortinet FortiGate, Prisma Access, SD‑WAN, SSE and SASE concepts.
• Required experience designing, implementing and supporting Microsoft Azure networking, including virtual networks, subnets, NSGs, route tables, UDRs, private DNS and hybrid connectivity.
• Experience supporting network resilience, high availability, disaster recovery testing, monitoring and observability across enterprise LAN, WAN, wireless, data centre and cloud services.
• Experience producing and maintaining HLDs, LLDs, standards, implementation plans and operational documentation.
• Solid understanding of IT service management disciplines, including incident, problem, change, release and configuration management.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex networking principles clearly to technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Experience with network automation, scripting, infrastructure as code or configuration management tooling.

Advantageous

• Relevant Cisco, security or cloud certifications, such as CCNA, CCNP, PCNSE, NSE or Microsoft Azure certifications.
• Experience maintaining, troubleshooting and supporting Wireless LAN Controllers and associated enterprise Wi‑Fi networks.
• Experience configuring and maintaining Cisco 9800 Wireless LAN Controllers and/or Cisco Meraki wireless networking.
• Experience working in a professional services, legal or similarly regulated environment.
• Knowledge of LogicMonitor or Solarwinds monitoring and observability platforms

Person Specification

• Analytical, methodical and calm under pressure, with sound judgement when resolving complex technical issues.
• Proactive and ownership‑focused, with the ability to prioritise competing demands and deliver work to agreed standards.
• Committed to continuous improvement, automation, knowledge sharing and self‑development.
• Collaborative and service‑focused, with strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Professional and detail‑oriented, with an appreciation of the standards expected in a client‑focused professional services environment.

Competencies

• Working together Integrity and respect
• Inclusive Personal impact and growth
• Driving high standards Commercial mindset

Client - centric Responsible Business

Hybrid working

We adopt a hybrid and flexible working approach, dependent on the requirements of the role and subject to manager approval.