Lead Network Engineer

Public Sector Resourcing, managed by AMS; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A public sector organization is seeking a Lead Network Engineer for a 3-month hybrid contract in London. This role focuses on ensuring network stability, security, and performance across a multi-site environment. Candidates should have strong experience with Fortinet and Palo Alto firewalls, along with a solid understanding of TCP/IP protocols and AWS networking services. Active SC Clearance is essential for this position. The role requires hands-on management of critical incidents and mentoring of junior engineers.

Qualifications

• Strong experience managing Fortinet & Palo Alto firewalls.
• In-depth knowledge of TCP/IP and routing protocols like BGP and OSPF.
• Experience working with AWS and AWS networking services.

Responsibilities

• Oversee network operations and proactively resolve issues.
• Lead incident response for critical outages.
• Design and optimize network architecture for scalability.

Skills

Fortinet & Palo Alto firewalls

TCP/IP protocols

AWS Multi-Cloud Accounts

Incident management

Enterprise WiFi Controllers

Tools

Ansible

Terraform

Job description

On behalf of the Cabinet Office, we are looking for a Lead Network Engineer (Inside IR35) for a 3 month contract based Hybrid in London.

The Cabinet Office is undergoing a major digital transformation to make UK Government services world-class. As part of this journey, we're looking for a Lead Network Engineer to take ownership of network stability, security and performance across a complex, multi-site environment.

About the role

You’ll lead the day-to-day operation of Cabinet Office network infrastructure, ensuring integrity, availability and capacity. This is a hands on role where you’ll manage critical incidents, optimise network architecture and implement automation to improve efficiency.

The role sits within Enterprise Services, which provides and supports the infrastructure, telephony, network, WiFi, end-user devices, cloud capability and software across the entire Cabinet Office estate.

Main responsibilities

• Oversee network operations, monitoring health and resolving issues proactively.
• Lead incident response for critical outages and act as the escalation point.
• Design and optimise network architecture for scalability and resilience.
• Drive automation and performance tuning to enhance efficiency.
• Manage change requests and assess risk and impact.
• Guide and mentor network engineers and foster a high-performance culture.

Essential

• Strong experience with Fortinet & Palo Alto firewalls including knowledge of Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs).
• In-depth understanding of Networking protocols (mainly TCP/IP) and routing protocols (e.g. BGP, OSPF).
• Experience working with AWS Multi Cloud Accounts, TGW, VPC's and Route 53.
• Wireless networking: Enterprise WiFi Controllers, authentication (802.1X, RADIUS etc).
• Incident management and stakeholder engagement.

SC Clearance

SC Clearance is an essential requirement for this role, as a minimum you must be willing & eligible to undergo checks. Please note, due to the exceptional requirements of this position (short-term nature of this role and speed at which we require a postholder in situ) preference may be given to candidates who meet all of the essential criteria and hold active security clearance.

Desirable

• Certifications: JNCIA/JNCIS, Fortinet NSE, Palo Alto PCNSE, AWS/Azure Networking.
• Automation tools: Ansible, Terraform.
• Security exposure: SIEM (Splunk, Sentinel), Zero Trust, cloud security.
• Familiarity with public sector compliance standards.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, The Cabinet Office guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Armed Forces Covenant

The Cabinet Office guarantees to interview veterans or spouses / partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates / military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Application Note

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following: "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different."