Senior Network Engineer

Company overview:

Namesco Limited (names.co.uk) is one of the UK's biggest domain name and hosting providers. Domain names and web hosting are our specialities, but we also provide everything else needed to run a booming online business.

Since 2019, we have been part of team.blue, a European group of brands enabling entrepreneurs to succeed online. As a group, we operate across 15 countries, manage over 1.9 million domains, host more than 650,000 websites, and provide 2 million email accounts to our customers. Our incredible team of nearly 1,700 experts make this happen - are you ready to share your passion and join our team?

Why choose names.co.uk?

We want every member of our team to achieve more than they thought possible so that we can keep supporting our customers to succeed. We do this with:

• A diverse and inclusive culture.
• Access to flexible working opportunities.
• A relaxed, collaborative atmosphere.
• Motivational, coach-style leadership.
• Employee perks, including an enhanced holiday scheme and a birthday bonus.

What we do

We make succeeding online as easy as it can be for our customers. We:

• Provide award-winning IT services.
• Keep our products accessible and competitive.
• Offer a diverse range of products to allow customers to grow.
• Are customer-obsessed, offering multi-channel exceptional support.

Our values

The five characteristics that drive our behaviours and the heart of our business culture.

• We put our customers at the heart of everything we do.
• We’re stronger together and we trust each other to do the right thing.
• We tell it like it is, and keep doors and mind open.
• We treat each other with respect and regard.
• We’re always thinking ’what’s next?

Job Description

On a day-to-day basis, you will manage the network infrastructure that delivers UK & Ireland core network connectivity, including core POP sites, transit interconnection, peering and fibre backhaul services to our Reading Data Centre. The routing and switching layers that sit behind to form the core of our Hosting Products will also fall under your direct responsibility.

This includes making sure that all services are available for 100% of the time as well as making sure that the network is deployed in a resilient configuration, failures, faults and general health issues are quickly resolved, and careful capacity planning to deliver in advance of requirement.

Another important part of the role is to liaise with other departments in the company, including Development and Support, to help resolve issues and identify areas that require work. This includes producing tools to enable the support department to troubleshoot problems without escalating them.

You should have at least 8-10 years of experience in an IT Systems role (5 years of Network Engineering within the ISP industry), and a technical-related degree is preferred. You should be a highly proactive individual who can create resilient, scalable and innovative networks from design through purchasing, implementation, administration and future expansion. You will be comfortable working on projects on your own and as part of a team. You should also be able to work with multiple network vendor equipment.

In performing your duties, you will be expected to use your best endeavours always to promote and maintain the company's interests and reputation.

As a Senior Network Engineer, you could also be requested to act as a Project Manager and coordinate groups of people who work on projects, ensuring that the department’s SLAs are consistently met and, wherever possible, exceeded. In addition, you could be asked to play a major part in driving change and improvement initiatives, as well as coaching and advising staff.

Key responsibilities

• Supporting existing platforms.
• Ensuring 24/7/365 uptime of systems and services.
• Maintain, operate and install Juniper, Nokia, Arista or other vendors.
• Maintain, operate and setup Nokia OTN Network and DWDM systems. Or other vendors.
• Play a key part in integrating new vendor equipment into the network.
• Network design, scaling existing infrastructure and implementing the designs of self and others.
• Support, maintain and install Linux (Centos/Debian) servers that support the network infrastructure and customer provisioning systems.
• Ensuring network hardware is appropriately monitored for health, faults and service issues.
• To be a key technical resource and an escalation point for other teams in the business.
• Supporting key clients, including capturing requirements, meeting delivery time scales and ensuring the success of projects.
• To liaise with vendors and suppliers to manage the ongoing support of devices and services.
• Advance planning for equipment EOL/EOS dates.
• To deal with ISP policy and liaise with industry bodies when necessary.
• IP allocation management, policies and maintaining our relationship with RIPE.
• Demonstrate expert knowledge of the systems and processes.
• Act as a referral point to help staff resolve queries and problems.
• Document solutions and builds to provide a knowledge base to other administrators.
• Train and share knowledge of implemented and maintained systems with other departmental staff.
• Resolve escalated issues using our internal issue tracker.
• Develop new products or services that would help the company be more successful.
• Identify network hardware and software that needs to be upgraded, then plan and implement.
• Suggest and implement architectural improvements.
• Review system logs and monitor systems.
• Join the on-call rota to provide out-of-hours emergency support.
• Travel to various offices and data centres when required.
• Ensure the smooth daily running of the network infrastructure and connectivity.
• Ensure sufficient capacity and performance are available for all systems.
• Comply with Health and Safety regulations, always ensuring safety of self and others.
• Reporting bugs and liaison with vendor support.
• Keep abreast and informed of current I.T. technologies.

Required skills and experience:

• Very strong IT skills in an Internet environment.
• Resilient with the ability to problem-solve.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Expert knowledge of TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, Vlans, OSI Model.
• Working knowledge of IPv6, MPLS.
• Network failover and high availability (HSRP, VRRP, ESRP).
• Route-servers and Open Source routing daemons.
• Expert understanding of Ethernet and Ethernet security.
• Working knowledge of optical networking standards, media types, and form factors.
• Link aggregation (LACP).
• Expert knowledge in either Cisco or Juniper products (including IOS or Junos software maintenance and configuration).
• NetFlow/J-Flow setup/usage.
• CCNP or equivalent experience is desirable.
• Linux (Centos/Debian) and x86 server hardware experience desirable.
• Datacentre best practices, including in-rack power and network cabling.
• Designing, installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting MPO cabling systems, trunk routes, and patching plant infrastructure.
• Using troubleshooting tools and the ability to manage and communicate faults with fast resolve.
• Updating device software and ISSU processes.
• Experience with security issues and access control mechanisms.
• Experience with change management and configuration policies.
• Very good Project Management skills.
• Full UK Driving licence.

Key Competencies

• Delivering business results.
• Team working.
• Self motivation.
• Attention to detail.
• Decision making.
• Bringing innovation to problem solving.
• Excellent communication.

Desirable competencies

• Coordinating projects.
• Developing others.
• Ability to work well under pressure.

Working Hours:

Your usual work hours will be from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday inclusive.

You will be working 2 days from our Reading office and 3 days from home, after discussions with your line manager.

However, these may be subject to alteration by the dictates of the business.

You are entitled to a one-hour unpaid lunch break, which is normally between 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m., but depending on shift and cover patterns, may have to be taken at other convenient times.

Right to work

At any stage please be prepared to provide proof of eligibility to work in the UK.

Unfortunately, we are unable to support Sponsorship Visas.