About this role
Salary: £48,128 - 48,128 per year
Requirements
- Demonstrable qualifications and expertise in multiple specialist networking technologies, including Extreme Networks and Cisco equipment.
- Knowledge of network routing and TCP/IP protocols.
- Experience with Palo Alto firewalls.
- Experience with Extreme Networks or equivalent wireless access point technologies.
- Experience deploying and configuring VPNs.
- Knowledge of NCSC requirements for implementing, managing and administering secure networks.
- Familiarity with NCSC Secure by Design Principles.
- Understanding of network security principles and practices, data encryption and remote access technologies.
- Knowledge of WAN, LAN and WLAN architectures.
- Experience with application delivery controllers and/or load-balancing technologies.
- Previous experience in a specialist role and managing systems for a large user base.
- Experience monitoring network infrastructure to optimise performance and support capacity planning.
- Ability to analyse and interpret information, anticipate and evaluate issues, and recommend appropriate action.
- Ability to work independently, organise workloads without supervision and meet tight, changing timescales.
- Formal technical qualification, such as CCNA or equivalent.
- Desirable: Experience with Network Function Virtualisation and Software Defined Network architecture.
- Desirable: Communication skills for complex matters and difficult situations, including persuasion and influence.
Responsibilities
- Manage, maintain and optimise network infrastructure to support high availability and performance.
- Configure, monitor and support network hardware, software and related technologies.
- Troubleshoot incidents, outages and technical issues, taking action to minimise disruption and restore services.
- Maintain system security, integrity and resilience, including access controls, backups and disaster recovery processes.
- Apply patches, upgrades and enhancements in a timely, controlled manner.
- Monitor performance, capacity and utilisation trends, and recommend improvements and investment.
- Produce and maintain technical documentation, procedures and operational standards.
- Support infrastructure projects, system implementations, upgrades and migrations.
- Provide technical guidance, knowledge sharing and support to colleagues, including junior engineers where required.
- Ensure compliance with our policies, security standards and industry best practice.
- Keep up to date with emerging technologies and recommend innovations for our network services.
- Provide effort estimates, technical advice and updates to senior engineers and managers.
- Participate in out-of-hours support when required.
Technologies
- Cisco
- Hardware
- ICT
- Support
- LAN
- Network
- Security
- TCP/IP
- WLAN
- Load Balancing
- Swift
- VPN
More
We are the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and our technology supports critical public services that help protect the health and wellbeing of millions of people. This senior technical specialist role focuses on maintaining and enhancing the network infrastructure underpinning our public health mission, working closely with engineers across our ICT function. The position is based on-site at Porton Down, Wiltshire; hybrid working is not available. Salary is Civil Service SEO grade, £41,983–£48,128 per annum pro rata, plus a market pay supplement of up to £10,000 per annum pro rata. We offer work on nationally significant technology services, exposure to complex and diverse network environments, a generous Civil Service pension with employer contributions averaging 28.97%, investment in learning and professional certifications, and a collaborative, supportive and inclusive culture.
last updated 43 week of 2026