network engineer London, England
Job description
Senior network engineer
- (009181)The Bank of England is the UK's central bank. Our mission is to deliver monetary and financial stability for the British people.
The Technology Division provides information and system technology services to all business areas in the Bank as part of Central Services, and is responsible for all aspects of the Bank's project and programme delivery. We exist to support the Bank in meeting its key objectives and strategic priorities.
The Technology Division structure is designed to reflect the delivery lifecycle for technology. New technologies and investments are planned, designed and then delivered, operated and maintained in a way that ensures information and data is kept safely and securely. The Division also enables and delivers significant business change initiatives that impact all areas of the Bank.
The Bank is making significant enhancements to its network infrastructure and the team delivers high-quality solutions in this area and others. The successful applicant will be accountable for the continued support and delivery of the Bank’s existing networks as well as being involved in the integration and delivery of new networks and equipment as a deliverable of the IT project pipeline.
The applicant must be able to demonstrate a passion for networking and the desire to learn new skills in this arena. The individual will be expected to focus on day to day support, the continuous improvement of the Bank's varied network estate and project delivery activities to attain timely delivery of projects.They would be expected to further their own skills through on-the-job training and self-study alongside formal study and the assimilation of knowledge from engineers within the team. The role demands high levels of accuracy and the ability to work under pressure in a controlled and structured environment using recognised ITIL and project management principles, such as waterfall and Agile. This role offers a great opportunity to work with state of the art enterprise technology and offers structured career progression over time within an experienced, knowledgeable and supportive team.
The successful applicant will be a full member of the on-call out-of-hours support rota ensuring 24/7/365 operation of the enterprise network and may be asked to work out of hours to support operational incidents, change and project delivery.
Key responsibilities include, and are not limited to:
Leadership, Teamwork & Communication - Ensures effective relationships are sustained across the wider Technology team, internal and external stakeholders, and any domain partners/suppliers
Strategic Partner Management - Contributes to the relationships with the Bank’s strategic network partners/suppliers in support of the wider Technology community
Technology Strategy - Works closely with Solution Design to assist in the design, development, implementation and continual improvement of network technologies within the Bank
Delivery - Supports the Infrastructure Delivery team leader to ensure that all change, whether programmes and projects or smaller scale releases, is delivered in a timely and cost efficient way, whilst ensuring that they align to both project roadmaps and the future domain strategy
Domain Enablement - Ensure deliverables comply with key audit, risk, and security policies and procedures applicable to enterprise networks
Key Responsibilities/Accountabilities
Domain Operations & Maintenance – Support the delivery of strong operational performance for network technologies through effective operational support. Engage with domain SMEs to enable continuous improvement. Contribute effectively to the “Keep the Lights On” investment plan to address obsolescence and other technical risks. Ensure all network components remain appropriately upgraded and patched and that business continuity plans are in place, accurate and routinely tested for all live services. Provide technical guidance within the Domain to ensure work items align to the product roadmaps. Contribute and provide technical input into product roadmaps for the Domain
Availability & Capacity Management – Maintain network service availability, efficient management of technical resources, and optimisation of system performance through prediction of future performance and capacity requirement
Change Management – Ensure all network changes to live services are managed in a controlled manner, including standard changes and emergency maintenance. This includes adherence to change standards and procedures, impact assessment, prioritisation and authorisation, tracking, reporting, closure and documentation.
Audit & Risk – Contribute to items with the Domain Risk Register and participate in Risk committees
Vendor Management – Participate in Vendor/Supplier engagement activities to determine and influence product direction in line with Bank needs
A high level of technical expertise in data centre networking
A high level of technical expertise in at least 3 of the the following areas: Cisco ACI, wireless networking, F5 load balancing, Cisco campus networking, firewalls, Infoblox, network monitoring tools
Deliver high-quality operational support using incident, request and problem management processes and tools
Resolve and manage technical issues, risks, audit and compliance obligations, including implementing disaster recovery and business continuity procedures and ensuring appropriate mitigation plans are in place and delivered
Deliver specific project tasks leading to key outcomes for critical Bank of England portfolio projects
Full member of on-call out of hours support rota ensuring 24/7/365 operation of the enterprise network services
A broad and deep understanding of best practice in applying appropriate processes, technologies and resources to deliver a high quality level of service
Detail oriented, process driven, highly innovative mind-set, with deeply engrained sense of ownership for the services delivered
Proven track record of working well under pressure and thinking clearly in challenging situations in a logical manner
Proven track record of being flexible in approach and inventive in order to deliver the right outcomes
Strong customer focus and an excellent ability to manage customer relationships and understand requirements and expectations
Deep knowledge of Cisco ACI SDN and MSO, across development and operations
Certification in Cisco networking to CCNP level, or with equivalent industry experience
Experience of traditional Cisco networking and security appliances – Nexus, Catalyst, ACI, Firepower/ASA, etc.
Good knowledge of at least 3 of these areas:
o Cisco ACI
o Wireless networking
o F5 load balacing (BigIP, BigIQ)
o Cisco campus networking
o Firewalls and Flow Analyzers – Checkpoint, Cisco Firepower, Algosec
o Infoblox Suite (IPAM, DNS, DHCP)
o Network Monitoring/Management Tools such as Entuity, PRTG, Prime
Software Defined Networking - experience using automation tools such as Ansible; scripting experience to automate manual tasks
Knowledge of ITIL and other industry wide initiatives that promote quality and process improvement (ITIL v3 Foundation certified preferred)
Experience in managing third party engineers
Experience in resource and workload management
Proven skills in aligning IT with organisational drivers
Industry awareness to identify improvement opportunities and implement them across the services and processes incorporated within the domain
General knowledge of all areas of IT application and infrastructure
Previous experience in the Finance sector is preferred
Good working knowledge of our mission and the part Technology plays.
Experience in one or more programming and scripting languages, e.g. Python, Java, C#.Net , Go, Ruby, Bash, Powershell
Experience of digital transformation initiatives across a large diverse organizationOur Approach to Inclusion
The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.
At the Bank of England we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.
We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.
For most roles where work can be carried out at home, we aim for colleagues to spend half of their time in the office, with a minimum of 40% per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them, their team and stakeholders.
Finally, we're proud to be a member of the Disability Confident scheme. You can find more information on what this means here. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.
Salary and Benefits Information
This specific role offers a base salary of circa £61,770 - £78,300 per annum (depending on skills and experience) on a full-time basis. We encourage flexible working, part time working and job share arrangements. Part time salary and benefits will be on a pro-rated basis as appropriate.
In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below:
- A non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/95th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/50th) or decrease (to 1/120th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year.
- A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
- A 7% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits. (Note that from April 2023 and for the Benefits year 2023/24, this will increase to 8%)
- 26 days’ annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
- Private medical insurance and income protection.
National Security Vetting Process
Employment in this role will be subject to the National Security Vetting clearance process (and typically can take between 6 to 12 weeks post offer) and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with the Bank policy. Further information regarding the vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant, and information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank’s Privacy Notice at Privacy and the Bank of England | Bank of England.
The Application Process
Important: Please ensure that you complete the ‘work history’ section and answer ALL the application questions fully. All candidate applications are anonymised to ensure that our hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information, including your CV, when reviewing your application details at the screening stage. It’s therefore really important that you fill out the work history and application form questions, as your answers will form a critical part of the initial selection process.
The closing date for applications is 19/07/2023
The assessment process will comprise of two stages.
