Network Engineer

About

Network Engineer Location: Colchester Salary up to £45,000 per annum

We are currently recruiting for a practice multi-skilled Network Engineer. They will be responsible for ensuring the security, reliability, compliance and performance of the IT infrastructure across the different offices. Responsible for on-premises / cloud systems, servers and network architecture, overseeing day-to-day IT support and managing escalated incidents for network, security, server and hardware/software related queries.

If successful, you will be working closely with the IT Manager, Project Co-Ordinator, Audit & Compliance Manager and other IT team members to maintain a high level of service and IT compliance, supporting all IT projects and practice staff, while contributing to the overall practice IT strategy. This role will develop over time and key responsibilities will therefore change too.

The selected candidate will…

• Oversee and collaboratively work with the practice Service Desk Analysts managing business as usual incidents, problems and IT related service requests. Investigate, troubleshoot and identify root causes of complex escalated issues, to minimise practice disruption.
• Manage and support the design, implementation, development and maintenance of the practice network architecture including cloud platforms, servers, networking, Wi-Fi and site/internet connectivity for high availability and business continuity requirements.
• Implement, manage, test and monitor the status of practice security measures, including firewalls, network segmentation, policy-based routing, VPNs, antivirus, threat protection systems, premise entry, CCTV and network access controls to meet practice compliance requirements.
• Develop, maintain and test system backups and replication strategies to ensure minimal disruptions during incidents / business continuity planned testing.
• Regularly assess, enhance and improve IT policy documentation, the practice network infrastructure, servers, systems and security efficiency through proactive maintenance, reviews, updates, vulnerability fixes and risk management meetings, to ensure compliance with governance frameworks such as Cyber Essentials and ISO 27001 standards.
• Lead the practice IT Steering Group, meet with key stakeholders on all IT related projects and systems, ensuring cost, resource, hardware/software requests are considered appropriately. The IT Manager will follow up findings or discussions with the IT Partner.
• Create and maintain detailed documentation of technical issues, resolutions and system configurations, to populate the IT knowledge base. Assist and contribute to the wider practice knowledge base for user documentation around practice IT systems and enhancing communication to staff.
• Support the wider IT team with supplier management, supplier compliance, hardware specifications, maintenance of external contracts and purchasing of software/hardware/infrastructure for the practice.
• Work with and train Service Desk Analysts on implemented practice systems, security and network architecture, to develop additional skills to increase wider system support and resilience for the practice.
• Collaborative working, taking ownership and teamwork within the IT team is essential to ensure seamless integration of end user requirements with the practice network architecture and systems.
• Work alongside the IT Manager, Project Co-Ordinator and key stakeholders for all practice IT projects to develop skillset and implement cost effective efficient systems and services for the practice.
• Work closely with key members of the Audit & Compliance team for the practice ISO27001 standard, which includes audits, compliance, governance, policies, documentation, procedures, supplier management, security reviewing and reporting.

Essential Skills, Experience, And Attributes…

• Strong knowledge and hands-on experience with network/security concepts, administration, implementation, configuration and maintenance, including routers, switches, firewalls, and wi-fi.
• In-depth knowledge of software/hardware procurement, supplier relation management, implementation and troubleshooting.
• Experience in infrastructure and device security including threat protection, data storage security, server patching, firewalls, VPNs and vulnerability fixes.
• Project delivery and rollout experience.
• Knowledge in business continuity, high availability, replication, backups, restores, disaster recovery.
• Proficient in Microsoft Windows Server technologies and knowledge in virtualization technologies (Hyper-V).
• End user device management experience e.g. Intune, autopilot, application policies, software deployments.
• Knowledge of Microsoft365 cloud stack: EntraID, Teams, EntraConnect, Azure, Office365, OneDrive, SharePoint, Defender, licensing, conditional access, monitoring, SSO, MFA, Exchange, email routing (DKIM, SPF, DMARC etc.)
• Familiarity with financial systems, document management systems.

Benefits on offer

Opportunities for flexible and hybrid working - we understand a work life balance helps us all. Holiday entitlement of 25 days plus bank holidays with long service recognition and festive shutdown. Opportunities for personal and professional growth in a supportive environment including in-house coaching and mentoring. Competitive salaries with regular review and benchmarking to ensure fair pay. We are a real living wage employer. Competitive Company Pension Scheme. Health cash plan scheme. Professional membership support. Family policies. Great office team building events and fully expensed seasonal social events. Cycle to work Scheme. On-site parking facilities (excluding London office). Season Ticket Loan (if applicable). Death in service benefit. Early Finish incentives when the Practice targets are hit. Additional leave allocated for volunteering (up to 2 days). Health & Mental Wellness Programs. Employee Referral Scheme. Employee working groups.

Nice-to-have skills

• Servers
• Networking
• Wi-Fi
• Firewalls
• ISO 27001
• Routers
• Switches
• Hyper-V
• InTune
• Azure
• OneDrive
• SSO

Work experience

• Network Administrator
• Network Engineer
• Site Reliability (SRE)

Languages

• English