Senior Network Engineer

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, fire, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

Home Office Digital, Data and Technology designs, builds and develops services for the rest of the department and for government. Every year our systems support up to 3 million visa applications, checks on 100 million border crossings, up to 8 million passport applications and deliver 140 million police checks on people, vehicles and property.

Networks and Infrastructure (N&I) delivers the foundational platforms and services that underpin this digital delivery landscape.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our team of dynamic and high-performing network engineers and architects, and help us drive technological advancement, development and delivery of our critical technology infrastructure to customer portfolios.

Working together, we embrace challenges, collaborate widely, and continuously strive for excellence in everything we do. We're not just an engineering team but also part of the wider network management service and are committed to delivering seamless and reliable solutions to our end users, supporting our network operation co-workers with troubleshooting complex issues to ensure network connectivity runs smoothly, 24/7.

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. Where this is the case, employees will be expected to spend a minimum of  60% of their working time in the office. Applicants can raise any queries to the email address at the bottom of the advert.  

Watch this short video to hear from members of Home Office Digital talking about the projects they work on and their experience of working here: Working for Home Office Digital.

A Senior Network Engineer builds, administers, transitions, supports and maintains network services throughout the service lifecycle, according to the departmental policy and Home Office strategy.

You will work in a team of network engineers ensuring services are integrated, delivered and operated as required. You will work with and support third parties in providing network services and with technical architects to translate architectural designs into operations.

You will provide input into overall management activities such as workforce planning, budgeting, technology roadmaps, projects and tasks.

Tools and Technologies we use:

We would encourage applications from candidates with experience or interests in the following technologies:

• Network Infrastructure: Cisco (IOS-XE, NX-OS), routing and switching, VLANs, VRFs, BGP, OSPF, MPLS, SD-WAN, WAN/LAN/WLAN technologies.
• Network Security: Firewalls (e.g. Cisco ASA, Checkpoint, Palo Alto, FortiGate), VPN technologies (IPSec, SSL), Network Access Control (NAC) such as Cisco ISE, segmentation and Zero Trust principles.
• Systems & Platforms: DNS, DHCP, IPAM, load balancing technologies (e.g. F5), proxy services and core enterprise network services.
• Monitoring & Observability: Network monitoring and telemetry tools such as SolarWinds or similar; packet capture and analysis.
• Collaboration & Agile Delivery: Working in agile environments using tools such as Jira, Confluence and ServiceNow.
• Cloud & Hybrid Networking: AWS and Azure networking.

Main Responsibilities

Your main day to day responsibilities will be:

• Reviewing the network designs of others to ensure selection of appropriate technology, efficient use of resources and integration of multiple systems and technology.
• Capturing and analyse the network requirements that applications will place on the network, including bandwidth, latency, fault tolerance and access control.
• Initiating and monitor actions to investigate patterns and trends to resolve network problems, including consulting specialists where required. You will determine the appropriate remedy and assist with implementation of fixes as well as preventative measures.
• Identifying the correct procedures and appropriate channels for resolution and monitor resolution activities and progress updates to users.
• Providing direction and coaching to more junior members and taking part in their appraisal and related performance management processes.
• Evaluating the success of the project, after a solution has been integrated, identifying best practices and lessons learned. You will provide feedback to teams and incorporate this information into future plans.

Working Pattern

This role is available on a full-time basis with the option of compressed hours working. This role is also suitable for part-time working hours, with a minimum requirement to work 3 days per week due to business requirements.

Essential Skills

Youll have a demonstrable passion for Network Engineering, with the following skills or strong experience in:

• Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) or equivalent experience. (TECH)
• Proven experience in core network engineering concepts including switching, routing, firewalling, load balancing, wireless networks, network architecture, segmentation, and network security. (NTDS)
• Experience contributing to testing activities, including validation of network changes and ensuring solutions meet functional and non-functional requirements. (TEST)
• Experience supporting and maintaining live network services, including installation, configuration, and implementation of network infrastructure components. (HSIN)
• Experience identifying, troubleshooting, and resolving network incidents to ensure service availability and performance. (USUP)
• Building effective partnerships with diverse teams across multiple locations and technologies. (OFCL)

SFIA capability framework 

Skills for the Information Age (SFIA) version 8 is the technical framework that sets the standard capability and development of all levels in the Home Office. This is a link to the capability framework:  All skills A - Z English (sfia-online.org).

We use set SFIA technical skills to form our interview questions and we will assess you against these technical skills during the selection process.

The essential skills listed above are reflective of the Home Office Government Digital and Data Profession Career Framework (based on the industry standard SFIA framework). Use the SFIA Levels of responsibilityto understand what would be expected for each technical skills listed below.