Network Team Lead

JD GROUP; Bury; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

JD GROUP seeks a Network Team Lead to manage the Network Team and ensure the integrity of LAN, WAN, and Internet services. This role demands technical leadership, operational task execution, and collaboration with various IT teams. The ideal candidate will possess strong expertise in network management and the ability to drive both team performance and service improvements.

Qualifications

• Experience supporting large, complex networks.
• Strong skills with Cisco and HP Procurve switches.
• Analytical skills for incident root cause analysis.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Network Team to ensure service availability and incident resolution.
• Monitor and resolve incidents within SLAs.
• Develop and review network strategy.

Skills

Communication

Problem-solving

Interpersonal skills

Planning

Coordination

Negotiation

Presentation skills

Education

Relevant certifications

Tools

Cisco switches

HP Procurve switches

Cisco ASA

Fortinet firewalls

Aruba wireless

Job description

Network Team Lead

Title: Network Team Lead

Responsible to: Head of Technology Infrastructure

Department: IT

Location: JD Sports Fashion PLC,
Balmoral House, Hollinsbrook Way,
Pilsworth, Bury,
BL98RR.

Business Overview: JD Sports Fashion Plc is a leading UK retailer of sports and casual wear, with over 2500 stores. We focus on staff development, innovation, and teamwork.

Operational Environment: Reporting to the Head of Technology Infrastructure, responsible for the day-to-day management of the Network Team and supporting systems, including LAN, WAN, and Internet platforms.

Role Description: Lead the Network Team to ensure service availability, incident resolution, project completion, and security improvements. Act as a technical escalation point, promote technology benefits, and foster staff development.

Responsibilities:

• Establish relationships with business users and IT teams, facilitate communication and education.
• Coordinate with the Head of Infrastructure Technology on priorities and delivery.
• Review third-party supplier performance.
• Manage impact of changes on network services.

Operational Tasks:

• Monitor and resolve incidents within SLAs.
• Prioritize and assign tasks to the Network Team.
• Ensure network performance and disaster recovery readiness.
• Define standards, security, provisioning, and performance metrics.
• Identify and implement service improvements.
• Lead deployment of new systems requiring infrastructure support.
• Manage technology lifecycle and updates.
• Mentor team members and promote knowledge sharing.
• Advocate benefits of network services across the group.
• Maintain up-to-date technical documentation.
• Oversee team members' personal development.
• Develop and review network strategy.
• Assist with other network-related activities as needed.

Reporting:

• Produce reports for the Head of Infrastructure.
• Review incident statistics and implement reduction plans.
• Monitor licenses and capacity, recommend optimizations.

Experience/Knowledge:

Essential:

• Experience supporting large, complex networks.
• Strong skills with Cisco and HP Procurve switches.
• Knowledge of Cisco ASA, Fortinet, Zscaler firewalls.
• Experience with Aruba wireless, enterprise security products.
• Ability to relate business needs to technical solutions.
• Methodical problem-solving skills and troubleshooting leadership.
• Analytical skills for incident root cause analysis.
• Team management and planning experience.
• Experience in an ITIL environment.

Preferable:

• Relevant certifications.
• Experience with network monitoring, capacity management.
• Knowledge of routing protocols, VPNs, SNMP, 802.1x.
• Understanding of VoIP and QoS.
• Business acumen for expenditure and value.
• Ability to contextualize technical issues within business.

Skills/Behaviours:

Essential:

• Excellent communication skills.
• Problem-solving skills in IT.
• Interpersonal, negotiation, presentation skills.
• Planning, coordination, prioritization abilities.
• Work well under pressure with a structured approach.
• Relate to diverse individuals.
• Demonstrate both business and IT benefits.

Preferable:

• Knowledge of project delivery methods.
• Interest in IT industry developments.