Senior Network Engineer Ref. 3220
Flexible Working: We support a range of full time and compressed hours working patterns. However, part time and job sharing are not available. The role is office based only and home working or remote working is not possible due to the nature of the role.
About Us
We're MI6, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). Our mission is to protect the security and economic wellbeing of the UK from overseas threats such as regional instability, terrorism, and cyber-attacks. Working across the globe and in close partnership with MI5 and GCHQ, we help the Government to counter these threats through the provision of secret intelligence. A role in MI6 will see you providing vital support to this work, within a supportive and encouraging environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork.
The Role
As a Senior Network Engineer, you’ll lead on the design and maintenance of network and server infrastructure across our global platform. That could mean tackling large-scale enterprise deployments over several months, fulfilling short-term niche requirements or developing the next generation security systems that support our cyber operations. It all adds up to a varied role where you’ll develop your technical skills, consult, and offer advice, mentor, and train colleagues, undertake workload planning, and liaise with our customers and partners in industry and other Government departments.
You’ll give us a crucial edge in a rapidly changing, data-driven world, there’s even the possibility of working overseas. Although this role is UK-based, your skills may sometimes be required overseas, for short-term periods, subject to business needs. You’ll be office-based (during normal working hours) due to the nature of our work and be part of an encouraging team where you will be fully supported in owning your personal and professional development.
About You
You’re the type of person that relishes solving problems and is willing to experiment to find a solution in this fast-paced environment. You can demonstrate experience in 2nd/3rd line network support within enterprise environments and have a broad range of fundamental IT knowledge, having worked, or previously worked as a network/design engineer. You have sound experience in managing a team, preferably within an Agile environment.
Whatever your background, you’ll be excited about technology, new capabilities, and the opportunities they present, but what’s really important is effective communication, a desire to learn and share knowledge, and the ability to build strong relationships with teams, customers, and stakeholders. With a solid sense of responsibility for the country’s security, you’ll be proud to use your skills to help safeguard the nation.
Your Technical Skills
The set of essential skills we use is varied and constantly growing. We welcome applications if you have CCNP certification/experience and can demonstrate your skills in the design, building, deployment, managing and troubleshooting of various networks of varying sizes/complexities with Cisco (and/or other vendor specific) technologies. The essential skills are as follows:
• A strong working knowledge of:
o Layer 2 design, best practices and troubleshooting, including VLANs and STP
o Layer 3 design, best practices and troubleshooting, including IP addressing, subnetting, OSPF and BGP/MP-BGP
o Network services including NTP, DHCP, DNS and NAT
o Network security including firewalls, VPN, GRE/IPsec, VRFs, ACLs, 802.1x and device hardening.
• Experience of:
o Automation/orchestration/scripting/programming/DNA Centre/UCS
o Windows (with Active Directory) and Linux operating systems
o Virtualisation including VMware
o Cloud technologies including Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Training and Development
Recognising the skills and abilities of our staff now and as they progress through their careers is central to our culture. Your personal growth is paramount to your development in the team and we support this with a personalised induction and training plan. We actively encourage you to undertake internal and external training courses, gaining professional certifications, which will be coupled with on-the-job training and dedicated personal development time. We currently have engineers studying for university and professional certifications including Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and RedHat System Administrator (RHCSA).
As you develop, grow, and maintain your technical skills, you will have the opportunity to progress through Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) capability framework pay points. You’ll need to regularly demonstrate and accredit your skills based on the framework.
Rewards and Benefits
You’ll receive a starting salary of £58,867 with an opportunity to qualify for an additional technical skills-related payment under the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) capability framework. Other benefits include:
• 25 Days Annual Leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an additional 10.5 days for public and privilege holidays
• Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• Opportunities to work flexibly, subject to business needs
• Interest-free season ticket loan
• Excellent pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Facilities such as a subsidised gym and restaurant and on-site coffee bars
• Paid parental and adoption leave
Equal Opportunities
At MI6, diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website:
https://www.sis.gov.uk/explore-careers.html
We’re Disability Confident
MI6 are proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. Being Disability Confident, we aim to offer a person-to-person interview to any candidate who self-identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for the role. This is our ‘Offer of Interview’ (OOI).
To secure an interview for this vacancy, you will need to demonstrate the essential criteria as detailed below, which will be assessed at the application stage:
• Experience in design, building, deployment, managing and troubleshooting of various networks of varying sizes/complexities with Cisco (and/or other vendor specific) technologies.
• Demonstrates expertise and knowledge of Layer 2 and Layer 3 design, best practices and troubleshooting, along with expertise in configuring network services, security and device hardening.
• Ability to use a variety of networking tools and technologies, including Windows and Linux operating systems, cloud technologies, automation and programming.
What to Expect
Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:
• If you meet the eligibility criteria, you’ll be invited to upload your CV and complete an online application form. This will form the application sift.
• If successful, you’ll be invited to an in-person assessment centre which will consist of two parts. The first part of the assessment centre will involve undertaking a technical test to baseline your technical ability. The second part of the assessment centre will be a competency-based interview which will also explore your motivation to work at MI6.
• If successful, you’ll receive a conditional offer of employment, but this will be subject to vetting.
Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6-9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.
Before You Apply
To work at MI6, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria here.
This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. You can find out more about the vetting process here.
Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage.
Before you apply, we advise you to consider setting up a separate email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your application with us more discretely.
The role is based in Central London, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. A loan is available to support people relocating to London.
Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.
Right to Withdraw Statement
Please be aware that we withhold the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.
