Network Engineer

An NHS Trust is seeking a Network Engineer on a 6-month initial contract in London.

The position is hybrid, with 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home, with occasional travel to other sites as required. The role is Inside IR35.

Responsibilities

Lead specialist for the support and maintenance of the Data network systems (e.g.routers, switches, firewalls, wireless infrastructure etc). Responsible for ensuring that the systems are operational and maintained 24/7 x 365, implement future upgrades using Prince2 methodology, carry out comprehensive testing and create policies and procedures.

This includes reconfiguring, developing and updating existing systems using research methodology, for example constant testing of equipment and regularly adapting infrastructure equipment to meet new requirements.

Research, propose and manage policy and service changes, advise, recommend and initiate solutions. This will involve developing business cases to improve services, reduce costs and ensure business continuity across the Trusts clinical and non-clinical services.

Provide specialist knowledge and technical support underpinned by theory through the IM&T Service Desk and ensure that the Service Desk is the Single Point of Contact for all IM&T incidents (queries, requests, faults etc) for all staff. Managing this in accordance with the ITIL Best Practice Framework.

Manage key suppliers such as BT, Cisco and Exponential E; ensuring proactive performance measurement is carried out.

Experience

Minimum of 3-5 years of progressive experience working as a Network Engineer in a high-availability, 24/7 mission-critical operational environment.

Extensive hands-on experience in the configuration, installation, support, and maintenance of enterprise-grade routing and switching environments (e.g., Cisco Catalyst, Nexus).

Proven experience managing, maintaining, and troubleshooting enterprise network security boundaries, including Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW) such as Palo Alto or FortiGate.

In-depth practical knowledge of core networking protocols and technologies: BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, STP, VLANs, VRFs, NAT, and VPN (IPsec/SSL).

Practical experience configuring and troubleshooting enterprise wireless infrastructure (WLAN controllers, Access Points) and identity/access management solutions (e.g., Cisco ISE).

Experience working within the NHS desirable