Network Engineering Manager - Infrastructure in Irchester

At Booker, keeping our business connected is critical to how we serve our customers. As Network Engineering Manager – Infrastructure, you’ll be responsible for the reliability, security and performance of our network and landline telephony across 200+ UK locations. You’ll lead a mix of internal and third‑party engineers, translating strategy into practical plans and ensuring our network services are stable today and ready for tomorrow. This is a hands‑on leadership role with occasional out‑of‑hours support for business‑critical incidents.

Responsibilities

• Lead and sponsor network infrastructure projects, delivering on time and within budget.
• Oversee the day‑to‑day operation of Booker’s corporate network, ensuring stability, availability and security.
• Ensure network configuration, patching and upgrades align with our layered defence and security standards.
• Diagnose and resolve network issues across hardware, software and configuration.
• Work closely with third‑party suppliers to resolve incidents and deliver effective solutions.
• Support application and infrastructure stakeholders, helping them understand and resolve connectivity challenges.
• Maintain accurate documentation, including network topology, project updates and operational runbooks.
• Produce clear management information, reporting and KPIs to support informed decision‑making.
• Ensure change management, licensing, contracts and security requirements are consistently followed.
• Own disaster recovery and total loss testing, ensuring risks are understood and managed.
• Identify recurring issues and opportunities for improvement, supporting change testing and implementation.
• Enable new systems and services by providing reliable and scalable connectivity solutions.

Requirements

• Strong knowledge of enterprise networking, including firewalls, routers, switches and wireless access points (primarily Juniper and Cisco).
• Experience managing multi‑site network environments within a live production setting.
• Proven people leadership skills, with experience in project delivery, supplier management and budgets.
• A calm, structured approach to problem‑solving, especially during priority incidents.
• Understanding of service management, operational support and change control processes.
• The ability to juggle priorities, stay organised and measure outcomes effectively.
• Confident communication skills, able to work positively with technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• A collaborative mindset and the ability to build trusted relationships across teams and suppliers.
• Flexibility, resilience and a proactive approach to change.
• A passion for secure, stable services and doing things the right way.
• A full UK driving licence.

We’re proud to be an inclusive employer. If this role sounds right for you, we’d love to hear from you – even if you don’t meet every requirement. Booker is the UK's leading food & drink wholesaler. We are privileged to serve independent retailers, caterers and small businesses, from locations across the country. We operate over 190 cash and carry branches, eight distribution centres, five Best Food Logistics sites, as well as six support centre locations across the UK. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) at Booker means that whoever you are and whatever your background, we always want you to feel represented and that you can be yourself at work. In short, we’re a place where Everyone’s Welcome.

We know life looks a little different for each of us. That’s why at Booker and Best, we always welcome conversations about flexible working. Some people are at the start of their careers, some want the freedom to do the things they love. Others are going through life‑changing moments like becoming a carer, nearing retirement, adapting to parenthood, or something else. So, talk to us throughout your application about how we may be able to support you.

We’re proud that Booker is a Disability Confident Committed employer and we’re committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. For further information on the accessibility support you can expect, please contact us.

Please note we can only accept candidates over the age of 18 if the role requires working before 6:15 am or after 9:45 pm or involves working in areas such as the warehouse, beers, wines & spirits, and driving roles. On the occasions where we have high volumes of applicants, some roles may close earlier than the advertised end date in order for us to manage all of the applicants appropriately. We will only be able to offer individual feedback to those candidates who attend an interview.