Data Centre Network Operations Specialist (L2/L3)

Contract: Data Centre Network Operations Specialist (L2/L3)
Start Date: ASAP (On completion of background check completion)
Duration: 9 months
Location: Remote
Rate: £50 - £55 an hour (Inside IR35 via umbrella)
Shifts: 10 hour days, 4 days a week (Wed-Sat OR Sun- Weds)
Reference: 20957

Position Summary
We are seeking an experienced Network Operations Specialist to provide L2/L3 operational support for our global Data Centre and DMZ network infrastructure.
The role is heavily focused on production support, incident management, technical troubleshooting and service restoration. The successful candidate will have strong hands-on experience across Cisco networking technologies, with the ability to lead incident triage, assess business impact, prioritise issues and drive resolution across technical teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide L2/L3 operational support for global Data Centre and DMZ network infrastructure.
• Lead and coordinate incident triage, troubleshooting and resolution of complex network issues.
• Assess incident severity, business impact and service risk, ensuring effective prioritisation and timely escalation.
• Manage major incident bridge calls, engaging relevant technical teams and stakeholders to drive service restoration.
• Provide clear, accurate and timely incident updates, technical reporting and stakeholder communications.
• Identify root causes, recurring issues and potential network vulnerabilities, driving appropriate corrective actions.
• Monitor network performance, alerts, dashboards and logs to proactively identify and resolve potential issues.
• Maintain accurate incident records, technical documentation, troubleshooting guides and operational runbooks.
• Work closely with L2/L3 engineers, infrastructure teams and vendors to resolve complex network incidents.
• Support operational governance, ensuring changes, fixes and recovery activities follow established production procedures.
• Provide technical guidance and support to junior engineers where required.
• Participate in a global support model, including weekend and out-of-hours support.

Required Skills & Experience

• Strong hands-on experience supporting and troubleshooting Cisco networking technologies, particularly:
  • Cisco ASR and ISR Routers.
  • Cisco Nexus and Catalyst Switches.
• Proven experience in L2/L3 network operations and production support environments.
• Strong incident management experience, including triage, prioritisation, escalation and service restoration.
• Experience managing complex network incidents and coordinating technical troubleshooting across multiple teams.
• Strong understanding of networking protocols and technologies, including:
  • TCP/IP, IPv4, VLANs and Layer 2 protocols.
  • BGP, OSPF and EIGRP.
  • HSRP, ACLs, QoS and Multicast.
  • Routing, switching and Internet connectivity.
  • VPN, IPSEC, GRE and MACSEC.
• Experience with network monitoring and troubleshooting tools such as Splunk, SevOne, Wireshark, Netscout and similar platforms.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to work under pressure in a production environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, particularly incident reporting and stakeholder management.
• Strong ownership and accountability, with a focus on minimising service disruption and restoring services quickly.
• Flexible approach to working hours, including weekend support.

Desirable Skills

• Experience with Arista Switches and Arista CloudVision.
• Knowledge or experience of Cisco ACI.
• Experience supporting global Data Centre and DMZ environments.
• Familiarity with network automation and configuration management tools.
• Experience within Financial Services, Banking or Insurance.
• Relevant Cisco or other networking industry certifications.

Networking People (UK) is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.