Senior Network Engineer | Aruba | Palo Alto, Birmingham

Senior Network Engineer | Aruba | Palo Alto

10% Pension + Company Car or £5,500 Car Allowance

Private Family Healthcare + Share Equity + Life Assurance

Sole UK passport holder required (no dual nationality). SC clearance is preferred; eligibility for SC will also be considered.

The Role In a Nutshell

Own the end-to-end technical solution for one of the UK's most demanding enterprise managed service customers. This is a dedicated, third‑line senior network engineering role on a complex, multi‑site data network. You'll be the technical voice the customer trusts during major incidents, the engineer who finds ways to improve the network and save money, and the person calm enough to stand the technical line when something sits outside scope.

The Business

One of the UK's most established communications and technology businesses, serving large enterprise and public‑sector customers with mission‑critical networks, voice and managed services. With significant annual investment in research and development and a substantial UK engineering workforce, this business has the scale, the technology and the customer base to take on the country's most complex programmes. The business invests genuinely in career development, world‑class training, and the kind of work that accelerates a technical career.

The Role

You'll be the dedicated third‑line technical owner for a complex, high‑pressure enterprise customer running a multi‑site data network. Aruba is the primary platform with pockets of Cisco across the wider estate, and Palo Alto runs the security layer. You'll lead the troubleshooting, drive in‑life technical improvements, and be the engineer the customer asks for by name when a major incident hits.

This is a hands‑on operational role, not a network design role. Solutions Architects and Customer Success Managers act as wider stakeholders while you hold the technical line end‑to‑end. You'll be expected to push back professionally when a request sits outside scope, and equally to find creative ways to improve the network, reduce cost, and pre‑empt issues before they reach the customer.

This is a senior role. You'll be measured on technical depth, troubleshooting credibility, and the composure you bring into a hot incident.

Skills & Experience

• Strong, hands‑on Aruba experience across enterprise data networking (primary platform on this account)
• Solid Cisco background to support the wider environment
• Palo Alto experience for the security layer of the network
• Demonstrable third‑line / senior engineer experience in a 24/7 managed services environment
• Confident leading major incidents and articulating troubleshooting steps end‑to‑end
• Comfortable acknowledging when you don't immediately know an answer, then taking a structured route to one (consult the team, apply vendor‑registered knowledge, demonstrate depth around the topic)
• Customer‑facing credibility: calm under pressure, able to put a demanding client at ease
• Vendor accreditation to at least Professional standard
• Strong working knowledge of ITIL practices

The following would be an advantage

• Existing SC clearance OR Sole UK passport holder (no dual nationality), eligible to obtain SC clearance

Your Responsibilities

• Own the end‑to‑end technical solution across the customer's data network (Aruba primary, Cisco, Palo Alto)
• Lead major incidents, providing direction, troubleshooting and customer‑facing communication through to resolution
• Pre‑empt risks and engineer‑out recurring issues before they impact the customer
• Identify innovations that improve the network and save the customer money
• Build trust with customer technical and operational stakeholders
• Work alongside Solutions Architects and Customer Success Managers as wider account stakeholders while owning the technical line
• Stand the technical line when a request sits outside the agreed scope, articulating clearly and professionally
• Maintain operational excellence aligned to ITIL practices
• Document and continuously improve operational runbooks for the customer's environment

Other Skills Required

• Composure Under Pressure – stays calm in major incidents and demanding customer moments, keeps the room steady, never lets pressure show
• Customer Confidence – puts a demanding client at ease, communicates clearly, and earns trust through demonstrated technical depth
• Honest Troubleshooting – comfortable acknowledging an unknown then taking a clear, structured route to the answer
• Commercial Curiosity – looks beyond ticket close‑out for ways to improve the network, reduce cost, and add value the customer didn't ask for
• Professional Pushback – strong enough technically and personally to advise when a request is genuinely outside scope, without damaging the relationship

Benefits

• 15% annual bonus
• Company car or £5,500 per annum cash allowance
• Private healthcare for self and family
• Share equity and share‑save scheme
• Life assurance
• Generous annual leave with bank holidays
• Family‑friendly leave policies
• World‑class training and development opportunities

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