Network Engineer/Team Lead

We are seeking a Network Engineer with strong technical background and proven leadership experience to take ownership of network operations in highly critical environments. This role is central to the stability and security and requires both deep hands-on expertise and strong operational management skills.

This is a long term project for up to 4 years and the role is on a contract/freelance basis.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate the daily network operations, ensuring service continuity, incident resolution, and compliance with SLA/OLA requirements.
• Act as the primary escalation point for high-severity incidents, driving quick resolution and minimizing impact on critical systems.
• Manage and mentor a team of network engineers, ensuring proper workload distribution, skills development, and operational excellence.
• Perform advanced troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and corrective action plans in complex multi-vendor environments.
• Collaborate closely with the client, providing regular status updates, technical clarifications, and recommendations for improvement.
• Ensure strict adherence to ITIL processes (Incident, Problem, Change, Capacity Management).
• Support audits, security assessments, and compliance checks related to network infrastructure.

Required Skills & Experience

• Strong hands-on expertise with enterprise network technologies: routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs, load balancing, WAN optimization.
• Proven experience in operating and supporting mission-critical infrastructures in 24/7 environments.
• Deep knowledge and certification in Check Point (CCSA/CCSE, ideally CCSM).
• Additional expertise and certifications in Cisco (CCNP/CCIE), Fortinet (NSE), Palo Alto, Juniper are highly valued.
• Experience with network monitoring, automation tools, and high-availability architectures.
• Familiarity in ITIL v4 practices and operational service management.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to interact effectively with senior stakeholders and end clients.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with hybrid cloud networking and SD-WAN.