Senior Network Engineer

takealot.com; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote or hybrid work model

Staff discount

Mentorship programme

Free parking

Birthday leave

Tech learning resources

Job summary

The Takealot Group is seeking a Senior Network Engineer to design, install, and manage our LAN/WAN, wireless, and security infrastructure across multiple sites in South Africa.

You will lead deployments with Cisco/Huawei gear, harden Fortinet firewalls, and drive SD-WAN initiatives while mentoring junior engineers and coordinating with vendors.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or 8+ years of/network engineering experience in a software/tech environment.
• CCNP certification is required.
• Minimum 5 years in a senior/lead network role.
• Strong hands-on Cisco/Huawei experience in networking equipment.
• Experience with Fortinet firewalls (2FA/MFA).
• Practical SD-WAN design and implementation experience.
• Solid understanding of TCP/IP, LAN/WAN, QoS, and routing protocols.

Responsibilities

• Design, install, and rebuild networking infrastructure across LAN/WAN/Wireless with security in mind.
• Lead network installation, support, and maintenance using Cisco and Huawei gear.
• Configure, manage, and support Fortinet firewalls, including VPNs and hardening.
• Design, deploy, and maintain SD-WAN for optimal routing and redundancy.
• Troubleshoot complex networks using BGP, OSPF, VLANs, QoS, and related protocols.
• Create installation/configuration procedures, standards, and documentation.
• Mentor junior engineers and coordinate vendor tasks and relationships.
• Travel to offices and warehouses as required; respond to incidents after hours.

Skills

Network design

Cisco equipment

Huawei equipment

Fortinet firewalls

SD-WAN

BGP/OSPF

QoS & routing

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor’s Degree or Advanced Diploma in Information Systems/CS/Network Engineering

Equivalent experience: 8 years in software/tech environment

Tools

Zabbix

Nagios

SNMP

Fortinet FortiGate

Job description

The Takealot Group, a leading South African online retailer, is looking for a highly talented Senior Level Network Engineer to join our team.

We are a young, dynamic, hyper growth company looking for smart, creative, hard-working people with integrity to join us!

Think you’ve been challenged before? Think again!

• Scale: 4 million happy shoppers shop online on takealot.com. Show them what you can do.
• Learn: We work with the best of the best, and then some. Code alongside industry leaders and upskill in record time.
• Grow: Expand your career in the fast-growing Takealot Group: takealot.com, TFS and Mr D. We like to promote from within: Here’s your chance.

Who’s who in the tech space

This position reports to the Engineering Manager

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

• Design, install, and rebuild networking infrastructure, configuring LAN, WAN, Wireless, and Security hardware and services in accordance with standards and project or operational requirements.
• Lead network installation, support, and maintenance using Cisco and Huawei technology.
• Configure, manage, and support Fortinet firewalls, including policy management, VPNs, and security hardening.
• Design, deploy, and maintain SD-WAN solutions, ensuring optimal routing, redundancy, and performance across sites.
• Apply strong working knowledge of networking protocols and functions (e.g. BGP, OSPF, MPLS, VLANs, STP, QoS) to design and troubleshoot complex network environments.
• Develop and maintain installation and configuration procedures, standards, and documentation.
• Contribute to and continuously improve networking standards and best practices.
• Research and recommend innovative approaches and emerging technologies for network services.
• Identify approaches that leverage existing resources and provide economies of scale.
• Perform daily network monitoring, verifying the availability of all hardware, networking resources, and key processes, and reviewing logs proactively.
• Provide senior-level support and act as an escalation point for complex issues raised by various functional areas. Investigate and troubleshoot advanced network problems.
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior network engineers.
• Coordinate and manage vendor tasks, deliverables, and relationships.
• Travel to offices and warehousing locations as required.
• Have a valid driver's license and your own reliable transport.
• Be contactable after hours and able to respond to critical incidents outside normal working hours.

The skills we need:

• Solutions-oriented, can-do attitude and high energy.
• Demonstrates a passion for optimal systems and simple procedures.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking, using data to make informed decisions.
• Ability to disaggregate and structure solutions to ambiguous problems.
• Ability to interview and interact professionally with internal and external people.
• Capability to present ideas succinctly, in writing and verbally.
• Versatile and with the appetite to learn by doing.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree or Advanced Diploma in Information Systems, Computer Science, or a Network Engineering related field and a minimum of 5 years of network engineering experience in a software/technology environment is required.
• In the event that a candidate does not have a bachelor’s degree or an advanced diploma (in Information Systems, Computer Science, or a Network Engineering related field), an equivalent experience requirement must be met, which equates to a minimum of 8 years of network engineering experience in a software/technology environment.
• At least a CCNP certification is required.
• At least 5 years experience in a senior or lead network engineering role.
• Strong hands-on experience with Cisco and Huawei networking equipment (switches, routers, wireless).
• Solid experience configuring and troubleshooting Fortinet firewalls (2FA, MFA).
• Practical experience designing and implementing SD-WAN solutions.
• Strong understanding of core networking protocols and functions (routing, switching, security, QoS).
• Excellent understanding of TCP/IP and network communications.
• Excellent understanding of LAN, WAN, QOS and Routing Protocols.
• Excellent understanding of Wireless networking.
• Has experience with Network Monitoring Tools and technologies (Zabbix, Nagios, SNMP).
• Advanced experience with Web application firewalling (WAF).
• Advanced experience with BGP Peering.
• Advanced experience with scripting, network automation.
• Has experience with dealing with external vendors and suppliers.
• Can build and configure, not just monitor.

Let’s talk about life @ Takealot Group

• The power is in your hands: We offer a market-related, Total Remuneration Package that allows full flexibility according to your needs. Go on, be the master of your own destiny.
• Free takealotMORE subscription
• No doors: We aren’t fans of stuffy offices or siloed work environments. See someone you like? High five, collab, and make something great.
• Remote working: Love water cooler chats and working from home? Takealot.com offers a remote or hybrid working model for the best of both worlds.
• Mentorship programme: We aren’t kidding when we say the people with the best people win. Now’s your chance to be one of the best by learning from the best.
• Naspers Tech Community & Online Learning: Share ideas and grow with global industry leaders who are all just a Slack message away. Love to learn? Upskill with free access to courses on MyAcademy, Udacity, Coursera, and more.
• Good times: Get to know the other extraordinary minds at takealot.com during regular social events and out-of-office activities (think hikes, think mini golf, think good times).
• Staff discount. Millions of products across 28 departments. What more could you ask for?
• Birthday leave: Cake Day all the way. Enjoy your day off - you deserve it.
• Right tools, right job: You’ll work on the latest tech, of the latest tech.
• Help when you need it most: Confidential counselling, legal support, and financial guidance, for free, anytime, anywhere.
• Tech stack (for days): ReactJS, Python, Scala, Kotlin, Swift, Google Cloud, Kafka, Redis, Kubernetes, and all things machine learning. If you build it, they will come.
• Free parking: No more 5km fun runs to your desk (unless you want to).

Takealot.group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants from the previously disadvantaged groups and people with disabilities will be given preference.