Head of Network Services in Bolton

• Head of Enterprise Network Services
• Dynamic Search Solutions – London Area, United Kingdom (Hybrid)
• Head of Network Services

Location

Hybrid Manchester – 2–3 days office

Type

Full-Time, Permanent

Salary

Company

A leading technology service provider, delivering cutting-edge solutions and services in a multi-vendor environment.

Fully embracing AI, intelligent automation, and emerging managed service capabilities, this company prides itself on employee development, retention, and innovation.

Overview

We’re looking for an experienced Head of Enterprise Network Services to lead and evolve a high-performing network function, spanning operations, automation, and team leadership.

This is a strategic leadership role with real impact — owning the direction, performance, and continuous improvement of network services across a complex enterprise customer base.

You will also be expected to stay closely aligned with emerging AI-driven managed service capabilities and next-generation network service models, ensuring the function remains ahead of industry change.

You’ll be responsible for ensuring services are not only stable and secure, but also scalable, automated, and aligned to modern network, security, and AI-enabled operational best practices.

The Role

As Head of Network Services, you’ll lead multiple teams including

• Network Operations
• Network Automation
• Team Leads / Technical Leads
• You’ll be accountable for the end-to-end delivery of network services, ensuring they are:
• Reliable and high-performing
• Secure by design
• Scalable and future-proof
• Operationally efficient

You’ll act as the bridge between strategy, architecture, and operational delivery, driving improvements across people, process, and technology.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership & Team Management
• Lead, mentor, and develop team leads, engineers, and automation specialists across complex, multi-layered technical teams
• Manage multiple delivery teams operating across differing technologies, priorities, and customer environments
• Build a high-performance, collaborative team culture across geographically and functionally diverse groups
• Drive accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement at scale
• Support career development, succession planning, and capability building across the function
• Ensure teams remain engaged, aligned, and capable of adapting to evolving AI-driven service models and automation-first operations
• Operations & Service Delivery
• Own the performance and stability of network services across enterprise environments
• Oversee incident, problem, and change management processes
• Ensure strong SLAs, KPIs, and service quality metrics are met
• Act as an escalation point for critical service issues
• Automation & Innovation
• Drive the adoption of network automation and software-defined approaches
• Improve operational efficiency through tooling, scripting, and orchestration
• Champion modern network practices including intent-based networking and Zero Trust principles
• Work closely with architecture teams to align automation with future design
• Maintain awareness of emerging AI-led service capabilities and evaluate their application within network operations and service delivery models
• Strategy & Continuous Improvement
• Define and execute the network services strategy
• Continuously evaluate emerging technologies, including AI-driven service management and automation platforms, to enhance operational capability
• Identify opportunities to improve scalability, resilience, and cost efficiency
• Contribute to standards, frameworks, and reusable service models
• Align network services with broader business, customer, and technology evolution objectives
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Act as a senior point of contact for internal and external stakeholders
• Work closely with customers, delivery teams, and leadership
• Translate business needs into operational and technical outcomes
• Provide clear reporting on service performance and improvement initiatives
• Technology Environment

You’ll come from a technical background, with a focus on enterprise networks.

You will oversee services across a modern, multi-vendor enterprise-focused network and security stack, including:

• Cisco Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN, DC and Security
• Juniper Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN, DC and Security
• New and emerging vendors

Exposure to the following is beneficial

• Software-defined technologies
• Highly automated environments
• Cisco ACI / Nexus
• Cloud networking
• Zero Trust architectures
• What You’ll Bring
• Core Experience
• Strong background in enterprise networking and security
• Proven experience leading network operations or service teams
• Experience managing managers / multiple team leads in complex organisations
• Strong understanding of service delivery in large-scale, multi-customer environments
• Experience driving automation and operational transformation initiatives
• Awareness of AI-enabled service delivery models and modern managed service evolution

Desirable

• Background in managed services or systems integration
• Experience implementing automation or SDN solutions
• Experience aligning operations with architectural strategy
• Current or previous networking certifications
• What You’re Like
• A strong, credible leader who can inspire and develop complex, multi-layered teams
• Comfortable managing ambiguity across large, interdependent service environments
• Commercially aware and aligned to business outcomes
• Strategic in thinking but comfortable staying close to delivery
• Calm and decisive in high-pressure situations
• An excellent communicator across all levels
• Passionate about continuous improvement, innovation, and adoption of emerging AI-driven service capabilities

Why Join?

• Opportunity to lead and shape a critical network services function
• High level of ownership and strategic influence
• Work with modern technologies and forward-thinking practices
• Strong focus on development, innovation, and progression