VP – Infrastructure Network Operations Lead

CLS Group; London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job description

Job information:

• Functional title – Infrastructure Network Operations Lead – VP (UK Based)
• Department - Technology
• Corporate level – Infrastructure Support
• Report to – Director, Network Operations
• Location – London office

What you will be doing:

Job Purpose:
The VP-Infra Network Operations Lead will play a key role in optimizing the network and datacenter operations at CLS. The role will work in collaboration with Engineering and managed service provider to identify, establish and refine operational processes, while utilizing their technical expertise to optimize operational efficiency.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead daily operations tasks, that involve build, deployment, maintenance, and troubleshooting of CLS’s datacenter and enterprise network, ensuring compliance with change management procedures and operational standards.
• Have a deep understanding of technologies around routing, switching, datacenter clos fabric, next-gen firewalls, VPNs, and cloud (AWS/Azure).
• Develop and maintain clear, concise documentation for all operational processes (runbooks), including network configuration and troubleshooting steps, and change management processes.
• Partner closely with engineering team (Level 3), managed service provider (3^rd party) and other cross-functional teams to help resolve complex issues.
• Understand the current infrastructure monitoring capabilities and collaborate with Engineering to streamline alerting to enhance network monitoring.
• Adhere to incident management processes, ensuring rapid response to network issues, minimizing downtime, and coordinating with cross-functional teams for resolution and subsequent RCA, as needed.
• Serve as a liaison between Level 2 (Operations) and Level 3 (Engineering) to manage escalations during incident response.
• Provide expert-level support for complex network troubleshooting, including the use of packet capture, CLI, and other monitoring and diagnostic tools to identify and resolve issues across diverse network technologies.
• Mentor a team of network operations professionals, cultivating a culture of continuous learning, collaboration, and accountability, promoting professional growth and success.

What we’re looking for:

Required Skills and Experience:

• Proven hands-on experience with network technologies within enterprise & datacenter infrastructure, multi-vendor firewall environment (ASA, Firepower, Checkpoint) and AWS in a hybrid setup.
• Good understanding of vendor support services (such as Cisco’s SmartNet) and carrier circuit provisioning.
• Strong background in establishing and refining network operations processes, with a focus on documentation, scalability, and continuous improvement.
• Ability to mentor technical teams and collaborate with other cross-functional teams to achieve business objectives.
• Keen interest in research and continuous learning of emerging technologies, with an ability to quickly adapt and align with CLS’s technology landscape.
• Prior experience of working in a NOC environment would be a plus.

Specialized Skills & Knowledge:

• Enterprise Infrastructure: Proven hands-on experience in enterprise and datacenter technologies - Routing & Switching, including routing protocols (OSPF, BGP), PBR, MPLS, VPN, SD-WAN, STP, ACL, advanced L2/L3 switching technologies and QoS.
• Datacenter Infrastructure: Hands-on experience with Spine and Leaf architecture (Cisco ACI deployment) and datacenter technologies (Cisco NX-OS).
• Security & Firewall Management: In-depth knowledge of deploying, upgrading, and managing network environments with multi-vendor firewalls (Firepower, ASA & Checkpoint), leveraging management tooling for rule deployment and troubleshooting, segmentation, IPS, NAC (ISE), access security (RSA appliance), encryption techniques (IPSEC, MACsec) & VPN (Site-to-Site).
• Cloud Integration: Experience with deploying VPCs in AWS to enable communication with on-prem networks using AWS Direct Connect, DX Gateway, NAT Gateway, Transit Gateway and VPN, and provisioning cloud security components like security groups, to secure and restrict traffic flow.
• Wi-Fi Solutions: Experience with centralized and cloud-based WLAN solutions.
• Monitoring & Troubleshooting: Good understanding of SolarWinds alert monitoring system, packet-level troubleshooting - using firewall packet capture, CLI commands and tools such as Dynatrace.

Professional qualifications / certifications

Education & Certification:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field. Equivalent work experience will also be considered.
• Advanced industry standard certifications that demonstrate technical expertise in Cisco, AWS, Checkpoint and/or Fortinet.

Working Environment:

• Location: UK based
• Travel: Hybrid work model. Travel as required for on-site support/vendor collaboration.

#LI-DK1