Senior Network Engineer (Tier 2) in Liverpool

Location: Liverpool (Hybrid)

Salary: From £50,000

Contract type: Permanent

ARO’s Specialist Data Services (SDS) business unit is seeking a Senior Network Engineer (Tier 2) to support the resilient data-centre and customer networks underpinning SDS-hosted NHS, clinical and public-sector services. Working closely with the Lead and Principal Network Engineers, you will be responsible for supporting, configuring and maintaining network solutions across complex, multi-vendor environments. You will act as the Tier 2 escalation point for incidents and service requests, taking ownership through to resolution and escalating the most complex issues and technical risks to Tier 3 where required.

This role combines hands-on operational network engineering with the delivery of network changes, deployments and project activities across SDS-managed data-centre, wide-area and customer network services. The role’s primary remit is the SDS service estate, including critical NHS, clinical and public-sector services delivered from ARO’s Liverpool and Runcorn data centres. You must be comfortable operating within structured environments aligned to ISO 27001, NHS DSPT and ITIL practices.

The role is predominantly based within the SDS NOC in Liverpool, with home-based working two days per week and occasional attendance at the Runcorn data centre and customer sites to support operational or project needs. You must be able to commute to these locations and have your own transport.

What you'll do:

• Act as the Tier 2 escalation point for incidents, problems and service requests affecting SDS-managed networks and the customer services they support.
• Take ownership of assigned SDS issues, ensuring accurate records, regular communication, timely resolution and appropriate escalation to Tier 3 where required.
• Support the technical response to major incidents affecting SDS-hosted and managed services, working with customers, vendors and internal teams to restore service safely and promptly.
• Troubleshoot LAN, WAN, WLAN, firewall, VPN, SD-WAN and data-centre networking issues across the SDS service estate.
• Work with Lead and Principal Network Engineers to implement SDS technical standards and approved network architectures.
• Produce and maintain technical documentation, including high-level and low-level designs, implementation and migration plans, test and validation plans, rollback procedures.
• Support new SDS solutions, customer onboarding, migrations and changes affecting hosted or managed services.
• Deliver SDS network deployments, data-centre changes, customer cutovers and upgrades in accordance with approved designs and change controls.
• Provide technical input to project planning, scoping, testing and delivery milestones.
• Contribute to root-cause analysis and ensure agreed corrective actions are recorded and implemented.
• Support capacity, lifecycle, vulnerability, firmware and technical risk management.
• Identify opportunities to improve the monitoring, resilience, security and operational efficiency of SDS-managed network services.
• Ensure new and changed SDS services are documented, monitored and successfully transitioned into the SDS operational support model.
• Maintain effective professional relationships with SDS customers, colleagues, partners and vendors, particularly across NHS, clinical and public-sector environments.
• Mentor Tier 1 engineers and contribute to individual and team development.
• Maintain current technical knowledge and complete agreed vendor or industry accreditations.
• Participate fully in the SDS on-call rota and support planned out-of-hours activities affecting SDS customer services and data-centre platforms where required.

Requirements:

Essential:

• Strong hands-on knowledge of enterprise routing, switching, firewalls and secure connectivity.
• Good experience with at least two core technology platforms, including Cisco IOS/NX-OS, Fortinet FortiGate/FortiManager and Extreme EXOS/ExtremeCloud IQ.
• Strong understanding of routing and switching technologies, including BGP, OSPF, HSRP/VRRP, VLANs, spanning tree and 802.1X.
• Good understanding of firewall policy, NAT, VPN, segmentation and SD-WAN.
• Experience supporting complex, multi-site or data-centre networks underpinning business-critical hosted or managed services.
• Demonstrable experience delivering network implementations, changes or migrations in customer-facing environments.
• Strong troubleshooting methodology and the ability to manage escalations under pressure.
• Familiarity with ITIL-aligned incident, problem, change and service-transition processes.
• Ability to work independently within agreed technical standards and escalate risks appropriately.
• Strong customer focus, with clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Commitment to following company policies, processes, security requirements and engineering standards.

Desirable:

• Experience supporting NHS, clinical, public-sector or other regulated customers, ideally within hosted data-centre environments.
• Knowledge of VXLAN, EVPN, fabric architectures or cloud networking.
• Experience with network automation using Python, Ansible or APIs.
• Knowledge of ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus and NHS DSPT requirements.
• Experience with network monitoring and configuration tools such as PRTG, SolarWinds or LogicMonitor.

Benefits:

ARO has 25 years’ experience in Collaboration, Connectivity, Cloud and Infrastructure and Cyber Security services both in the UK and Internationally and has a nationwide presence with offices across the UK. As one of the UK’s leading independent IT and communication experts our mission is to deliver a seamless technology experience to all end users. To make that vision a reality, we need bright, tenacious and inspiring talent to help drive our performance, growth and achieve this mission. To make us successful we focus on strong communication, a culture based on fun, trust and collaboration. We have created a modern workplace environment, which is full of engaged, energetic, positive and curious people whose productivity, resilience and wellbeing allow them to thrive. In 2021 we were awarded the People Insight’s Outstanding Workplace Award, which celebrates organisations building positive workplace cultures and acting on employee feedback to spark positive change.

Why Work for ARO?

At ARO we are committed to creating an excellent employee experience. Our employees, culture and additional benefits all make ARO a great place to work. Come join us! We offer a wide range of benefits and incentives to our employees including:

• Company Pension Scheme and matching contributions
• Company Perks portal
• Private Medical insurance
• Life assurance
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays plus holiday trading
• Your Birthday off, on us
• Health Club and Wellbeing Scheme
• ARO Shares after 12 months employment
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Technical Training Academy and E-learning
• Hybrid working

If even 80% of this matches your experience and attributes, we would be delighted to hear from you.