Network Engineer; Azure

Position: Network Engineer (Azure)
Description About Methods Methods is a 100M+ IT Services Consultancy that partners with central government departments, agencies, and commercial organisations to deliver meaningful digital transformation. Established over 30 years ago and UK-based, we combine expertise in transformation, delivery, technology, and collaboration to create people-centred solutions that deliver lasting value.

Predominantly focused on the public sector, whilst continuing to expand its private sector presence, Methods combines deep consulting expertise with the capability and scale of the Alten Group, which acquired Methods in 2022.As part of our continued growth, we are seeking experienced and technically capable Azure Network Engineers to design, build, secure and manage networking solutions across cloud and hybrid environments.

This role centres on Microsoft Azure networking services and supports the delivery of secure, resilient and scalable connectivity for enterprise systems, including virtual networks, routing, firewalls, private connectivity, load balancing and hybrid network integration.

Requirements The Azure Network Engineer carries out the following activities:
1. Azure Network Design & Implementation
· Design Azure networking solutions that align to customer cloud strategies, business outcomes and technical requirements.
· Build, configure and support Azure Virtual Networks, subnets, route tables, network security groups, application security groups and network interfaces.
· Implement secure cloud and hybrid connectivity patterns, including VPN Gateway, Express Route, Azure Virtual WAN, private endpoints and DNS integration.
· Configure network security controls, including Azure Firewall, Web Application Firewall, DDoS Protection, NSGs and traffic inspection patterns.
· Implement resilient application delivery and traffic management using Azure Load Balancer, Application Gateway, Front Door and Traffic Manager.
· Apply secure-by-design principles across network segmentation, routing, connectivity, monitoring and operational support.
· Produce high-quality technical documentation, including network designs, configuration guides, deployment plans and support handover materials.
· Work closely with architects, cloud engineers, cyber security specialists and customer stakeholders to ensure Azure networking solutions are secure, practical and deliverable.
2. Hybrid Connectivity, Routing & Traffic Management
· Build and maintain network connectivity between Azure, on-premises environments, third-party cloud platforms and SaaS services.
· Configure and support routing, peering, hub-and-spoke network models, virtual network gateways, Express Route circuits and VPN connectivity.
· Implement private connectivity and name resolution using Private Link, private endpoints, DNS zones and resolver patterns.
· Support integration with Azure services, Microsoft 365, identity platforms, security tooling and enterprise infrastructure.
· Develop and support network segmentation, routing policies, connectivity standards and access control models.
· Troubleshoot network connectivity, routing, DNS, firewall, latency, packet flow and application access issues.
· Ensure Azure network solutions support resilience, scalability, performance, auditability and secure access to critical systems and data.
3. Network Security, Governance & Operational Support
· Configure network security policies, firewall rules, routing controls, access restrictions and traffic inspection capabilities.
· Implement secure-by-design patterns aligned to Zero Trust, least privilege, defence-in-depth and cloud security best practice.
· Support network governance processes, including naming standards, tagging, policy compliance, change control, audit reporting and cost management.
· Establish monitoring, logging, alerting and operational support processes using Azure Monitor, Network Watcher, Traffic Analytics and related tooling.
· Investigate and resolve network incidents, connectivity failures, firewall issues, DNS problems and performance constraints.
· Support testing, release management, migration activity and transition into live service.
· Contribute to technical…