Principal Hardware Engineer

Insignis Talent; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology recruitment firm is seeking a Principal Hardware Engineer to lead physical infrastructure delivery and lifecycle management across data centres and office environments. The ideal candidate will have over 5 years of experience in infrastructure engineering, strong knowledge of networking hardware, and a solid understanding of data centre best practices. This role involves mentoring, risk ownership, and adherence to engineering standards. Applicants must have strong leadership skills and be willing to travel when required.

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ experience in data centre operations or infrastructure engineering.
• Strong knowledge of compute, storage, and networking hardware.
• Solid understanding of data centre best practice.

Responsibilities

• Leading physical build and installation of servers and network hardware.
• Owning rack layouts and managing cable standards.
• Identifying operational risks and enforcing health and safety standards.

Skills

Data centre operations

Infrastructure engineering

Structured cabling knowledge

Leadership

Risk management

Job description

Principal Hardware Engineer

Senior, hands‑on role responsible for the physical delivery and lifecycle management of infrastructure across data centres, build labs, and office environments.

This position combines deep technical expertise with on‑site leadership, risk ownership, and accountability for engineering standards in critical environments.

What you’ll be doing

• Leading physical build, installation, relocation, and decommissioning of servers, storage, and network hardware
• Owning rack layouts, structured cabling, patching, labelling, and cable management standards
• Coordinating power, cooling, and space planning with facilities and design teams
• Producing and maintaining RAMS and operating within formal Change Management processes
• Identifying operational risks and enforcing health and safety standards
• Acting as senior technical authority and escalation point for physical infrastructure
• Mentoring field engineers and allocating work based on capability and project needs
• Supporting data centre migrations, expansions, and refresh programmes

What you’ll need

• 5+ years’ experience in data centre operations or infrastructure engineering
• Strong knowledge of compute, storage, and networking hardware
• Solid understanding of data centre best practice
• Experience working to RAMS in critical environments
• Structured cabling knowledge (Cat6/6a, OM3/OM4, fibre)
• Working knowledge of power distribution, PDUs, and load balancing
• Proven experience operating as a senior or lead engineer

Practical requirements

• Clean manual driving licence and valid passport
• Able to pass BS7858 vetting
• Eligible for UK SC clearance (5 years UK residency)
• Willing to travel and work out of hours when required