Senior Network Engineer Berkshire; lw

Senior Network Engineer (Contract) – Confidential Programme

Location:

Berkshire (100% on-site)
Contract Length: 12 months
Start:
Spring 2026
Engagement:
Inside IR35
Positions Available: 2

This is a rare opportunity to join a high-trust, high-impact technical environment supporting critical national infrastructure. The programme operates at scale, with large, highly resilient networks and demanding operational requirements. You’ll be part of a close-knit engineering team where professionalism, accountability and teamwork are valued over noise and ego. This role is particularly attractive to ex‑military professionals who are used to working in secure environments, following structured processes, and taking responsibility from problem identification through to resolution.

As a Senior Network Engineer, you will act as a technical authority within the team, supporting, maintaining and evolving a complex enterprise network estate. You’ll be trusted to make sound technical decisions, lead on investigations, and support both BAU operations and project‑based activity.

• Acting as a senior escalation point for complex network issues
• Monitoring network health, availability and capacity across multiple environments
• Owning incidents from initial fault through to full resolution
• Supporting the design, development and implementation of network changes and upgrades
• Producing and maintaining clear technical documentation and low-level designs
• Working closely with internal teams and trusted third parties to resolve service issues
• Supporting on-call activities and responding flexibly when operational priorities demand it
• Maintaining currency with evolving network technologies and best practice

• Juniper technologies (switching, firewalls, management platforms)
• Enterprise routing and switching (BGP, OSPF, WAN/LAN design)
• High-availability, clustered and resilient network architectures
• Secure access, identity and network security platforms
• Monitoring, observability and logging tools
• Core network services (DNS, DHCP, IP address management)

Strong hands‑on experience with Juniper‑based environments is essential.

You’ll likely be a strong fit if you bring:

• Senior-level experience supporting large, complex network environments
• Deep, hands‑on expertise with Juniper networking technologies
• Excellent fault‑finding and technical investigation skills
• Experience working within structured service delivery or ITSM frameworks
• Confidence engaging with both technical peers and non‑technical stakeholders
• A calm, methodical approach under pressure
• High personal standards around quality, security and professionalism
• Experience working in secure, regulated or safety‑critical environments is highly advantageous

This role is fully on‑site
Some travel to remote locations may be required on occasion
Flexibility to support out‑of‑hours or on‑call activities when needed
If you’re an experienced Network Engineer who enjoys operating at the sharp end of delivery and you’re looking for a contract where your experience genuinely counts - this is a role worth exploring.
Confidential applications welcomed. Early submission advised due to demand.
CV to Liz Walsh liz@ex‑