Senior Infrastructure Engineer - Projects

Location: Clifton

Title:

Senior Implementation Engineer

Location:

Lowry Mill, Lees Street, Manchester, M27 6DB
Working pattern:
Hybrid - 3 days per week in the office, unless on-site delivering projects Salary: £50,000-£59,000

Hours:

Full-time, 37.5 hours per week Reporting to:
Head of Technical Services ABOUT DATASPIRE Dataspire partners with schools and multi-academy trusts to build dependable, high-performing technology environments. Our work helps schools operate securely and efficiently, while enabling teachers and students to make the most of technology. We are looking for a Senior Implementation Engineer to lead the technical delivery of complex infrastructure projects across networking, wireless, firewalls, servers, virtualisation, storage and backup.

You will be the technical lead on cutovers, migrations and go-live events, translating approved designs into detailed, controlled delivery plans that leave environments properly built, tested and documented. This is a hands-on engineering role for someone who enjoys being on site, thrives under the pressure of a live cutover and takes genuine pride in the quality of what they hand over.

THE ROLE As Senior Implementation Engineer, you will lead complex project work streams and turn high-level designs into detailed implementation plans, task sequences, validation steps and rollback approaches. You will act as third-line escalation during project delivery, review documentation produced by other engineers to ensure it is fit for operational handover, and mentor Associate and Implementation Engineers. You will work closely with Solutions Design, the PMO and Systems Operations, and will feed lessons learned back to improve delivery standards across the function.

TRAVEL AND SITE WORKING This role involves regular travel to customer sites, including schools, colleges, construction sites and building projects. Travel is predominantly across England, with occasional work in Wales and Scotland. Some projects will require overnight stays and work outside of standard hours, including school holiday periods, to minimise disruption to teaching. The following are required or may be required for this role: A full, valid UK driving licence and access to a vehicle A clean enhanced DBS check, given the nature of working in schools and colleges around children and young people SSSTS (Site Supervisors Safety Training Scheme) may be required for work on construction and building sites ECS (Electrotechnical Certification Scheme) card may be required for certain site environments Where you do not already hold SSSTS or ECS, we will support you in obtaining these.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Lead complex project work streams across networking, wireless, firewalls, servers, virtualisation, storage, backup and security Translate high-level designs into detailed implementation plans, task sequences, validation steps and rollback approaches Act as technical lead during cutovers, migrations and go-live events, owning success criteria, communication points and rollback options Configure and commission core infrastructure including switching, routing, VLANs, enterprise wireless, firewalls, server builds, hypervisors, storage and backup platforms Carry out structured testing, validation and evidence capture before handover Handle third-line escalation during project delivery Review documentation produced by engineers and ensure it is suitable for operational handover to Systems Operations Work with Project Managers and the PMO on planning, progress, change control and risk tracking Work with Solutions Design to clarify design intent and feedback practical improvements Work with Systems Operations to ensure monitoring, backup and support readiness are in place at go-live Identify delivery risks, dependencies and blockers early and escalate with the right information Mentor and coach Associate and Implementation Engineers, raising technical and documentation standards Contribute to implementation standards, build guides and configuration baselines Work safely and methodically on customer and construction sites, following site rules and safe working practices TECHNOLOGIES YOU WILL WORK WITH Core to the role.

These are the areas you will work in day to day and where we expect real depth. Network and connectivity: HPE Aruba (primary estate), Cisco Meraki and Ubiquiti. Switch configuration, routing, VLANs, stacking, PoE and structured testing Wireless LAN: HPE Aruba and Cisco Meraki. Access point installation, controller configuration, SSID and policy setup, validation Security and edge services:
Smoothwall, Securly, Barracuda and Fortinet. Firewall configuration, rule sets, VPN setup and security baselines Servers and operating systems:
Windows Server, Dell EMC and HPE Pro Liant. Server build, OS deployment, role configuration, testing and handover Virtualisation:
Hyper-V, VMware ESXi and vCenter. Hypervisor build, VM provisioning, migration and testing Storage and backup: SAN, NAS, Storage Spaces Direct and Redstor.…