Chief Network Architect (Previous Relevant Experince is Required) in Farnborough, Hampshire

When you join our Engineering Team at Telent, you'll be empowered to innovate and drive common solutions, working closely with technical experts who are proud of the impact their work makes. Come join a high-performing team doing complex and critical work. Help build and keep the nation's critical infrastructure connected and protected 24/7.

Reporting to the Head of Focal Engineering, the Lead Engineer will serve as the primary technical liaison for the Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) representing Telent Engineering across the Palace of Westminster and the wider Parliamentary Cisco Enterprise Estate. This is a hybrid working role, with travel required to the Parliament Estate in London 1-2 days per week initially.

What you'll do:

• Act as the key technical point of contact between Telent Engineers and the Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) for all aspects of network engineering.
• Support the delivery of a large-scale Cisco hardware refresh across the Palace of Westminster and wider Parliamentary Estate, ensuring minimal disruption to live services.
• Adhere to strict change control processes and maintain up-to-date technical documentation as part of working in a high-security, government-led environment.
• Attend daily operational calls with Parliament's IT operations teams to discuss faults, incidents, and change activity from the past 24 hours.
• Answer technical queries from both internal stakeholders and PDS engineers, offering guidance across switching, routing, wireless, and access control technologies.
• Engage in monthly and quarterly roadmap discussions to align with future requirements and network strategy across the Parliamentary Estate.

Who you are:

You're a highly skilled network engineer with proven experience in large-scale Cisco enterprise environments, with excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Key Requirements:

• Excellent interpersonal skills with exposure to working within pressurised enterprise environments.
• Strong hands-on experience with Cisco enterprise networking, including switching, routing, and wireless technologies.
• Proficiency with Cisco Catalyst switches (including stacked deployments).
• Working knowledge of Cisco ISE, Prime Infrastructure, and Catalyst Centre.
• Experience with Wireless LAN Controllers and large-scale Cisco Access Point deployments.
• Solid understanding of enterprise LAN/WAN infrastructure.
• Relevant certifications: CCNP (Routing & Switching or Security) essential; CCIE is advantageous.
• Must be eligible for UK SC & NPPV3 Clearance.

What we offer:

A career at Telent can span many sectors, roles, technologies and clients giving you the opportunity to develop, learn new skills and make an impact. We are growing and we rely on our committed Team to deliver. We nurture the talent that makes this happen, by our on-going commitment to creating an inclusive culture that respects and values difference, that celebrates diverse ideas. We want everyone to feel they can be themselves and to thrive at work.

The additional benefits with this role:

• Car Allowance.
• 34 days holiday, including public holidays, plus the option to buy or sell days annually OR 26 days holiday, plus public holidays, and the option to buy or sell days annually.
• Company pension scheme.
• A range of family friendly policies.
• Occupational health support and wellbeing Portal.
• Discounts on Cinema, Restaurants and Shopping with Telent Reward scheme.

Learn more about Telent: We're passionate about creating an environment that champions diversity and inclusion, where everyone feels they belong, can be themselves and empowered to reach their full potential. People are at the heart of our business, and we believe that our teams should reflect the diverse experiences and backgrounds of the communities we support.