Solution Architect - Networking & Security

Our Networking and Security team is looking for a Solution Architect to own the technical design of complex customer projects across our SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network), SASE (Secure Access Service Edge), firewall and routing/switching portfolio – and to stay hands-on all the way through delivery. This isn't a role where you hand off a design and move on. You'll translate customer requirements into High-Level and Low-Level Designs, act as design authority on your own projects, and then work alongside our delivery engineers to build, migrate and commission the solutions you've designed – both remotely and on customer sites. It's a genuine blend of architecture and hands-on delivery, with UK site travel and some planned out-of-hours work for change windows.

Responsibilities

Owning the end-to-end technical design of multi-site networking and security projects, from pre-sales and solution design right through to customer hand-over; Staying hands-on through delivery: personally carrying out configuration, build, migration and commissioning of Cisco, Fortinet and adjacent platforms alongside the delivery team; Travelling to customer sites across the UK to lead design workshops, attend kick-offs, run surveys, and complete installation, cabling and commissioning work where needed; Producing High-Level and Low-Level Designs, build documents, configuration templates, runbooks and as-built hand-over packs to a customer-facing standard; Turning customer requirements and commercial outcomes into deliverable architectures, refining designs as real-world project realities emerge; Reviewing engineer-produced configurations, change records and build documents to own the technical quality of everything that reaches the customer; Leading and mentoring delivery engineers on projects, supporting their certification paths and development; Acting as the senior technical escalation point during build, migration and cut-over phases; Explaining design decisions, progress, risks and trade-offs to customers in clear, plain language – no unnecessary jargon; Leading pre-sales solution design, using your Cisco and Fortinet expertise to shape and pressure-test proposed approaches; Helping set and improve the design and build standards the wider team works to

Requirements

CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) as a minimum; Hands-on experience designing, configuring and deploying Fortinet platforms (FortiGate, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer and the wider Security Fabric) in production environments – NSE 4 or higher preferred; Practical experience delivering SSE or SASE technology (for example Cisco Secure Access, Cisco Plus Secure Connect, FortiSASE, Zscaler, Netskope or Cato); Strong design and delivery experience on at least one major SD-WAN platform (Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN/Viptela, Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN or comparable); Solid working knowledge across networking fundamentals: routing and switching, VLANs, BGP, OSPF, IPsec, QoS, DNS, DHCP and wireless; A track record of delivering multi-site network and security projects end to end, from design through to hand-over; Hands-on, on-site implementation experience, including UK travel and physical installation work; Confident written and verbal communication – able to explain technical decisions and trade-offs to customers and non-technical stakeholders alike; A calm, methodical approach under pressure, particularly during cut-overs and migrations; A full UK driving licence, as the role involves regular travel to customer sites

Nice to have

Fortinet NSE 6 or NSE 7; Wider Cisco specialisations (Meraki, Umbrella, Duo, ISE or ThousandEyes); Experience with HP/Aruba or SonicWall; Public cloud networking experience (Azure and/or AWS); Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) design experience; Experience defining technical standards or reference architectures for a delivery team; Ambition to grow into a Lead or Principal Solution Architect role over time

Benefits

Flexible hybrid working; Support for further certifications; Clear path to progress