Senior Network Engineer

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The Senior Network Engineer: WAN & Security is responsible for the implementation, support, administration, optimisation, and day-to-day operational management of the organisation’s branch firewall and secure connectivity environments. The role ensures reliable, secure, and high-performing firewall services that support business operations across distributed branch locations.

The incumbent provides advanced technical support for firewall, branch security, and related connectivity services, taking ownership of complex incidents, recurring problems, service improvements, and operational stability. The role acts as the primary escalation point for Network Engineers, while escalating highly complex technical issues, architectural matters, and strategic initiatives to the Network Specialist where required.

The Senior Network Engineer is responsible for implementing approved firewall and security designs, executing changes, maintaining standards, and ensuring that firewall policies, configurations, and related services remain aligned to organisational security requirements and operational needs.

This role supports branch SD-WAN services, secure internet access, and firewall lifecycle activities, assisting with modernisation initiatives and performance optimisation across the branch estate.

The incumbent provides technical guidance and mentorship to Network Engineers, contributing to skills development, operational maturity, documentation quality, and continuous improvement within the Firewall Team.

The role works closely with internal IT teams, vendors, service providers, and outsourced teams to ensure seamless branch connectivity into hosted, data centre, and cloud services.

This role provides advanced support for, but is not limited to, the following technologies and systems:

• Network Security Platforms, including Fortinet solutions
• Switching and Infrastructure, including Aruba networks
• Routing Technologies, including OSPF and BGP protocols
• WAN technologies, including SD WAN and WAN optimisation
• Quality of Service (QoS) solutions
• Network reticulation and connectivity services
• Network and security management, administration, and reporting tools

Engineering and Provisioning

• Implement approved firewall, branch security, and secure connectivity designs across branch environments.
• Configure, administer, and maintain branch firewall platforms, VPN services, and related security technologies.
• Apply network security standards, policies, and best practices to ensure environments remain secure and compliant.
• Produce and maintain accurate technical documentation, including configurations, standards, diagrams, and procedures.
• Support new branch deployments, relocations, and firewall refresh initiatives.
• Execute approved changes in accordance with governance and change management processes.
• Assist with automation opportunities and operational efficiency improvements.
• Support implementation planning, scheduling, testing, and cutover activities.

Operations and Support – Networking & Security

• Ensure availability, performance, and operational stability of all branch firewall and secure edge services.
• Monitor firewall health, logs, alerts, performance, and utilisation trends.
• Investigate and remediate vulnerabilities, policy issues, and configuration risks.
• Diagnose and resolve complex incidents, outages, and service degradations.
• Perform root cause analysis for recurring incidents and recommend corrective actions.
• Provide Tier 2 support, escalating unresolved or high-risk issues to the Network Specialist.
• Coordinate with ISPs, WAN providers, and vendors to resolve service-impacting issues.
• Communicate effectively with management and stakeholders during incidents and major changes.
• Produce operational reports on service availability, incidents, capacity, and security trends.

SD‑WAN and Cloud Networking Responsibilities

• Support deployment and administration of Fortinet SD-WAN solutions across branch environments.
• Configure and optimise SLA metrics, path selection, routing policies, and application-aware traffic flows.
• Support secure branch connectivity into hosted, data centre, and cloud services.
• Assist with bandwidth optimisation and progressive reduction of legacy MPLS reliance where applicable.
• Monitor SD-WAN performance and recommend improvements.
• Interface with Information Management Team and IT Technical team to define and create infrastructure services and solutions in line with business requirements.
• Communicate with hospitals and other divisions to enforce standards and consult when assistance is needed.
• Interface with 3rd party vendors to ensure operational service delivery is achieved and maintained.
• Perform operations as part of the technical Infrastructure team
• Mentor and involve junior team members and provide in house training as required.
• Develop "personal development plan". Short, medium and long Term.
• Manage personal KPI's in accordance with company policy and performance management guidelines.
• Ensure that the infrastructure team meets the agreed incident, problem and service level agreements.
• Adhere to team plans for Projects as required, manage own deliverables and timeframes to ensure that the team deliver to committed tasks and projects deadlines.
• 10%
• Support the review and optimisation of existing firewall, branch security, and secure connectivity environments, recommending improvements to configurations, performance, resilience, and effective use of technology resources.
• Assist with monitoring capacity, utilisation, licensing, and performance trends, providing operational input into future capacity planning aligned with business growth requirements.
• Proactively identify opportunities to improve service availability, operational efficiency, and user experience through configuration enhancements and preventative maintenance.
• Analyse recurring incidents, utilisation trends, and service demands to identify risks, constraints, and areas requiring upgrade or redesign.
• Provide recommendations to the Network Specialist and management regarding future bandwidth, firewall capacity, hardware refresh, and branch connectivity requirements based on observed trends and operational data.
• Support branch expansion, relocation, refresh, and modernisation initiatives by ensuring network and firewall environments are appropriately sized, configured, and operationally ready.
• Contribute to automation, standardisation, and process improvement initiatives that enhance service delivery and reduce operational overhead.

Education

• Fortinet FCP(NSE4)
• Aruba ACSA
• Cisco CCNA
• CompTIA Security+
• National Diploma / Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

Work Experience

• The ideal candidate should have strong experience in enterprise network engineering with specific exposure to firewall, branch networking, WAN, SD-WAN, and network security technologies. Proven experience in the implementation, support, and optimisation of secure and highly available enterprise network environments is essential.
• A minimum of 7–10 years’ experience in enterprise networking, network engineering, or infrastructure operations roles is required, together with at least 5–7 years’ experience working with firewall platforms, secure connectivity solutions, VPN technologies, and network security operations.
• The successful candidate should have strong experience in advanced troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and serving as an escalation point for complex technical incidents. Experience contributing to network refresh, transformation, migration, and SD-WAN initiatives is highly desirable.
• Experience working with vendors, service providers, and cross-functional teams in enterprise environments is required.

Knowledge

• The role requires strong knowledge of firewall, WAN, SD-WAN, and branch security architectures, with a sound understanding of secure branch connectivity models and enterprise firewall operations.
• Hands-on expertise is required with technologies including Fortinet security platforms, firewall policy management, VPN services, routing and switching infrastructure, and secure internet access services.
• Strong technical knowledge of routing protocols such as OSPF and BGP, NAT, segmentation, high availability design, Quality of Service (QoS), and WAN optimisation technologies is essential.
• The role also requires experience with network and security monitoring, management, administration, and reporting tools, together with the ability to analyse incidents, identify trends, and improve operational performance.
• The successful candidate must demonstrate strong analytical, troubleshooting, documentation, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders and work collaboratively across multiple teams.

Join the team committed to providing the best and safest health and care.