Senior Network Engineer

Sword is a leading provider of business technology solutions within the Energy, Public and Finance Sectors, driving transformational change within our clients. We use proven technology, specialist teams and domain expertise to build solid technical foundations across platforms, data, and business applications. We have a passion for using technology to solve business problems, working in partnership with our clients to help in achieving their goals.

About the role

We’re looking for a Senior Network Engineer with deep technical expertise and a passion for solving complex problems. You’ll play a pivotal role in our Managed Services team, supporting critical infrastructure and leading the design, deployment, and troubleshooting of network and security solutions. This is a hands‑on role for someone who thrives in dynamic environments, brings a methodical approach to problem‑solving, and is confident working across a wide range of technologies.

Here’s what the role looks like:

• Provide expert‑level support to clients and act as a senior escalation point for technical incidents
• Diagnose and resolve complex network and security‑related issues
• Manage change control and risk assessments across managed service environments
• Implement infrastructure changes and upgrades with precision and minimal disruption
• Support project engineering activities and contribute to solution design
• Maintain and improve technical documentation, policies, and procedures
• Manage vendor escalations and technical case handling
• Assist the Technical Services Manager with major incident reports, service reviews, and root cause analysis
• Perform regular maintenance and patching of network and security systems
• Identify and recommend service improvements and automation opportunities
• Mentor junior engineers and share technical knowledge
• Participate in the on‑call rota to ensure 24 / 7 support coverage

What We’re Looking For

• Proven experience in senior‑level network engineering roles
• Strong understanding of network security, firewalls, VPNs, and monitoring tools
• Logical and methodical approach to troubleshooting and implementation
• Excellent communication and documentation skills
• Ability to lead by example and mentor others
• Passion for continuous improvement and delivering high‑quality service

Key Skills & Experience

Here are the key skills and experience relevant to this role:

• Extensive experience in a similar role, or in a field‑based / consulting capacity
• CCNP Certification is desirable
• A valid driving licence is essential, as travel may be required
• Strong experience troubleshooting complex enterprise networks and associated technologies
• Solid understanding of Wide Area Networking technologies and routing protocols such as EIGRP, OSPF, and BGP
• Proficiency with tools like Wireshark and other network troubleshooting utilities

Essential Technical Expertise

Experience administering and troubleshooting the following technologies and platforms:

• Cisco ISR and ASR Routers (2900 / 4000 / 1000ASR)
• Cisco ASA Firewalls and Cisco FirePOWER / Threat Defence
• Cisco Nexus Switching (9K) and Catalyst (3850 / 3650 / 2960X / 4500X) and associated technologies including VTP, STP, and VSS
• Palo Alto Firewalls

Beneficial Experience (Not Essential)

• Cisco Meraki Technologies, including Wireless, Switching, Security (MX), and SD‑WAN
• Cisco SD‑WAN, including vManage, vSmart, and vEdge components, with experience in deployment, administration, and troubleshooting
• Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
• Cisco Catalyst Center

Benefits

At Sword, our core values and culture are based on caring about our people, investing in training and career development, and building inclusive teams where we are all encouraged to contribute to achieve success. We offer comprehensive benefits designed to support your professional development and enhance your overall quality of life. In addition to a Competitive Salary, here's what you can expect as part of our benefits package:

• Personalised Career Development: We create a development plan customised to your goals and aspirations, with a range of learning and development opportunities within a culture that encourages growth.
• Flexible working: Flexible work arrangements to support your work‑life balance. We can’t promise to always be able to meet every request, however, are keen to discuss your individual preferences to make it work where we can.
• A Fantastic Benefits Package: This includes generous annual leave allowance, enhanced family friendly benefits, pension scheme, access to private health, well‑being, and insurance schemes, an employee assistance programme, discounted cash plan and more.

At Sword we are dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer, ensuring that all applicants receive fair and equal consideration for employment, regardless of whether they meet every requirement. If you don’t tick all the boxes but feel you have some of the relevant skills and experience we’re looking for, please do consider applying and highlight your transferable skills and experience. We embrace diversity in all its forms, valuing individuals regardless of age, disability, gender identity or reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. Your perspective and potential are important to us. If we can do anything to help make the hiring process more accessible, please let our talent acquisition team know when you apply so we can support any adjustments.