TechOps Field Engineer - Network Specialist

We are very excited to be building a small and efficient TechOps team at Octopus. We are looking for an ambitious, knowledgeable and experienced Network Specialist to join our team, to grow with the rest of the company, and ensure we are doing so in a secure and safe way.

As our Network Specialist, you’ll be responsible for maintaining and optimising our Meraki networking infrastructure. Your role will involve ensuring the smooth and secure operation of our network systems. We have lots of offices around the world that are in need of some focus and attention to improve the employee experience in them. We also have many new offices that are on the horizon across the UK and Europe for which you will be designing, installing and managing the network.

You will be a key partner in defining what TechOps is at Octopus. We will be shaping this team to provide a world class support service to our employees, building our way out of problems with engineering firepower and undertaking transformational organisational change.

What is TechOps?

A more modern, more lean version of a traditional enterprise IT team. We cover everything from what most people would call “1st line support” all the way up to high-level strategic planning, and everything in between.

We tackle big problems and the breadth of work is huge. Dealing with ambiguity is a key part of working in TechOps, and every day will be a new and exciting one, working on varying challenges across the company.

We have a cloud-first approach to everything we do. This allows us to scale quickly and focus on things where we can add the most value. No on-prem AD here!

What you'll do

• Design, procure and install new networks for new offices as part of their fit-out projects, including firewalls, switching and WiFi.
• Collaborate with office management, office fit-out project teams and the wider TechOps team to understand network system designs and requirements.
• Travel around the country, and even Europe, to conduct on-site testing and commissioning of networks, ensuring all components function as intended.
• Manage and monitor all our networks and regularly perform WiFi surveys to ensure optimal network performance.
• Design, implement and maintain on-premise network connections to our AWS cloud and Zscaler private access infrastructure.
• Create and maintain documentation for every network installation.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in networking technologies.
• Find opportunities to improve and optimise existing networks and provide users with the most reliable network connection.

What you'll need

• Proven ability to manage and maintain Meraki networking infrastructure, including switches, firewalls and access points.
• Ability to do the physical work, as well as the design, for our network installations and improvements. You need to be confident crawling around under desks and making cabling nice and tidy!
• Complete understanding of networking protocols and technologies (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPN, VLANs, VRRP).
• Experience diagnosing complex network issues with packet capture and analysis tools like WireShark.
• Experience monitoring network and WIFi performance, identifying and resolving issues.
• A deep knowledge of network design, implementation and installation processes.
• Ability to develop and maintain working relationships with suppliers.
• Experience with procurement and negotiation.
• Strong understanding of zero-trust network principles and concepts, including experience with SASE products like Zscaler.
• You have strong opinions on best practice and you challenge traditional norms, advocating for more modern, novel approaches.
• Experience with AWS network concepts and design.
• A full, clean UK driving licence to be able to travel easily to our offices, sometimes with shiny Meraki kit in the back!
• You’ll be happy and comfortable with on-call responsibilities to cover any network incidents or outages.

This role will primarily be office based in any of our UK offices with an element of hybrid working available. However, there will be a requirement to travel to our other UK offices regularly, and in the future, Europe as we expand. Our UK offices are Brighton, Manchester, Leicester, Coventry and London.

We're very excited to be growing our small team. We're looking for skills and experience to help shape and define the future of not only our team, but the wider business at a global scale. If you're reading this and grinning, please apply! There are huge challenges to tackle