Senior Services Engineer

First Point Group; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 480,000 - 720,000; Full time

Job summary

First Point Group in Cape Town is seeking a Senior Service Engineer (L2) to own complex network incidents end-to-end for enterprise customers. Based onsite, you will coordinate with carriers and internal teams, lead P1s and major outages, and provide clear updates to clients.

The role demands five years in IT service environments with at least two years at second line or above. Certifications such as CCNP, Fortinet NSE 4, Palo Alto PCNSA, and ITIL 4 are a strong advantage.

Qualifications

• Five years in an IT service or managed service environment.
• At least two years at second line or above.
• Ability to explain technical problems to non-technical audiences.
• Disciplined about ITIL practices, documentation and ticket quality.

Responsibilities

• Own complex network incidents end to end by phone, email and remote access.
• Lead on P1s and major incidents, coordinating with carriers and teams.
• Provide clear, plain-English updates to customers and the business.
• Maintain network operation standards across multi-vendor estates.

Skills

Second-line network engineering

P1 incident handling

Cross-vendor networking

Customer communication

Education

CCNP or CCNA with progress towards CCNP

Fortinet NSE 4

Palo Alto PCNSA

Cisco Meraki CMNA

ITIL 4 certification

Tools

Cisco routing & switching

Fortinet FortiGate

Palo Alto

Cisco Meraki

OSPF/BGP

SD-WAN

Job description

Senior Service Engineer (L2), Networks and Connectivity | Cape Town (onsite) | Permanent

Our client is a leading UK managed service provider that supports thousands of businesses, from fast-growing companies to large enterprises, across cloud, IT, security and connectivity. They are growing their Cape Town team and are looking for a senior second-line network engineer to join the Tier 2 desk that looks after the networks of their largest enterprise customers.

This is not a role where you log a ticket and pass it on. When first line hits a wall on a network fault, the incident comes to you, and you are trusted to prove where it sits and fix it. You will act as an extension of each customer's own IT team, take the lead on P1s and major incidents, and work with carriers, suppliers and specialist teams to find root causes and drive permanent fixes. If you are a strong second-line network engineer who wants real technical depth and a team that backs you, this role was written for you.

What you will be doing

You will own complex network incidents end to end by phone, email and remote access, keeping customers informed at every step. You will take customer calls alongside your escalation queue and resolve what you can on the spot. You will pick up monitoring alerts and act before the customer notices an issue. On P1s, you will run the technical bridge and give clear, plain-English updates to the customer and the business. You will chase carriers and third parties, challenge a weak update, and escalat... Sorry need final correct.

The technology

You will work across enterprise customer networks, from single sites to large multi-site estates. This includes routing and switching on Cisco, Juniper and Extreme Networks, Cisco Meraki, and firewalls on Fortinet FortiGate, Palo Alto and Cisco, including VPN, NAT and policy troubleshooting. You will also work with OSPF and BGP in live environments, enterprise wireless on Ruckus, Meraki and Extreme, SD-WAN, and broadband, Ethernet and DIA circuits. Experience with packet capture and analysis, MPLS, network monitoring tooling, or Python and Ansible automation will help you hit the ground running.

What you will bring

You will have at least five years in an IT service or managed service environment, including at least two years at second line or above. You can resolve complex network incidents independently, including under major incident pressure, and you are comfortable explaining a technical problem to a non-technical audience. You have the credibility to speak with a customer's Head of IT as easily as with an end user, and you are disciplined about ITIL practice, documentation and ticket quality. Certifications such as CCNP (or CCNA with progress towards CCNP), Fortinet NSE 4, Palo Alto PCNSA, Cisco Meraki CMNA, JNCIA or JNCIS, or ITIL 4 are a strong advantage.

Why this role stands out

You will support enterprise UK customers across a broad, multi-vendor network estate, which keeps your skills current and highly marketable. The business funds professional development and certifications, and the role has a clear path into senior and specialist technical positions. You will join a supportive, friendly team that invests in its engineers. The working week is Monday to Friday on fixed shifts between 07:30 and 18:00 UK time, and there are no nights, no weekends and no 24/7 standby.

The role is based full time in our client's Cape Town office.