Senior Cloud & Network Infrastructure 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.

We are looking to hire a Senior Cloud & Network Infrastructure to work within our Group IT team.

Our Group IT team at Sword are responsible for the design, security, and operation of the group’s internal IT platforms, maintaining core security and systems availability, maximising benefits from existing technology investments, and undertaking a programme of ongoing improvements to ensure the platforms that underpin Sword’s business remain secure, efficient, and aligned across all regions.

The team operates globally across multiple business units, delivering secure, standardised services across Microsoft 365, Azure, networking, identity, and security platforms.

• You will join a small, focused internal IT team, reporting to the Group IT Manager, working closely with regional business units and security stakeholders across the group.
• A normal week will see you supporting a range of activities including providing senior technical escalation support, designing and implementing improvements to core platforms, contributing to security and infrastructure projects, and helping deliver group-wide initiatives such as cloud adoption, firewall migrations, and Zero Trust security improvements
• The role will involve working across multiple technologies including Azure, Microsoft 365, enterprise networking, firewalls, identity, and security tooling, with opportunities to contribute to architecture decisions and long-term platform improvements.
• There will be opportunities for you to refine and build new skills on the job, with the team expected to support one another across the range of technologies being leveraged.
• The role is entirely internal, with no external customer-facing component

You must be able to demonstrate significant experience delivering operational IT support and infrastructure projects within a medium-sized or enterprise organisation, including a range of technical skills drawn from across the following technologies.

• Networking and security architecture (LAN/WAN design, routing, switching, VPN, hybrid cloud networking)
• Enterprise firewalls and secure connectivity (Palo Alto, Fortinet, or similar)
• Experience with Zero Trust / ZTNA principles and secure remote access solutions
• Azure Cloud Platform (IaaS / PaaS, networking, RBAC, Policy, Backup, Monitoring)
• Azure networking (VPN, Load Balancer, Application Gateway, Firewall, Private Endpoints, Front Door)

• Microsoft Windows platforms (Server / Endpoint management, Intune, SCCM, DNS, security features, authentication)
• Active Directory / Entra  (on-premises and cloud, SAML, Conditional Access, RBAC, PIM, Identity Governance)
• Infrastructure as Code / automation (ARM, Bicep, Power Shell, scripting, or similar)
• Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, Intune, Defender, E5 security technologies)
• SIEM / Security monitoring platforms (Azure Sentinel, Defender, or similar)
• Systems monitoring and alerting (Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, PRTG, SCCM, or similar)
• Centralised backup platforms (Azure Backup, Commvault, or similar)
• Experience supporting governance / compliance frameworks (ISO 2701, Cyber Essentials, NIST, or similar)
• Experience working in environments with multiple regions / tenants / business units
• Evidence of the following qualifications or equivalent on-the-job experience would be beneficial
• Relevant Microsoft certifications (Azure, Microsoft 365, Security, Identity, or Networking)
• Azure Administrator / Architect / Security certifications
• Networking or firewall certifications (Palo Alto, Fortinet, CCNA, or equivalent)

At Sword, our core values and culture are based on caring about our people, investing in training and career development, and building…