Lead Network Engineer

Our client, a rapidly expanding proprietary trading firm, is seeking a Senior/Lead Network Engineer to oversee the design, administration, and support of their global network infrastructure in London. In this role, you will collaborate with a highly skilled team of Software Engineers who prioritise automation. As the Senior/Lead Network Engineer, you will have full ownership of the organisation’s network infrastructure and lead efforts to develop automation solutions for building, running, and maintaining their tools. This position offers an experienced Network Engineer the unique opportunity to redesign and architect the network while driving automation throughout the process. Key Responsibilities: Monitor, troubleshoot, and resolve network-related issues. Deploy networking hardware, such as switches, on a large scale. Proactively enhance the infrastructure by contributing to automation initiatives. Develop and maintain documentation for network components and procedures. Design, implement, and support the global network infrastructure. Replace faulty network hardware as necessary. Required Skills: 5 years of network engineering experience with Arista (preferred) or Cisco. Expertise in routing and switching protocols, including BGP/OSPF/PIM/SM/DM/Multicast (strong multicast experience is essential). Experience in low-latency network environments is highly preferred. Proficiency in configuration management tools such as Ansible (required), Salt, Chef, or Puppet. Python programming skills are essential, with an overlap in SRE codebases. Deep understanding of TCP/IP and the OSI model. Strong knowledge of monitoring tools like Grafana, Graylog, NetBrain, Splunk, SNMP, Syslog, sFlow, or equivalents. Experience with packet capture and analysis using Wireshark or tcpdump. Familiarity with dark fiber and DWDM technologies. Network security experience (e.g., Palo Alto firewalls, SIEM, DUO, 802.1x) is a plus. Comfort working in a Linux environment.