Senior Network Architect

Methods Business and Digital Technology Limited

Methods is a £100M+ IT Services Consultancy who has partnered with a range of central government departments and agencies to transform the way the public sector operates in the UK. Established over 30 years ago and UK-based, we apply our skills in transformation, delivery, and collaboration from across the Methods Group, to create end-to-end business and technical solutions that are people-centred, safe, and designed for the future.

Our human touch sets us apart from other consultancies, system integrators and software houses - with people, technology, and data at the heart of who we are, we believe in creating value and sustainability through everything we do for our clients, staff, communities, and the planet.

We support our clients in the success of their projects while working collaboratively to share skill sets and solve problems. At Methods we have fun while working hard; we are not afraid of making mistakes and learning from them.

Predominantly focused on the public-sector, Methods is now building a significant private sector client portfolio.

Methods was acquired by the Alten Group in early 2022.

About the role

We are seeking a Senior Network Architect to assess, document and improve enterprise network architecture in a secure defence environment. You will combine detailed technical investigation with clear design documentation and practical recommendations for operational resilience.

Your initial assignment will be to support the Network team with a Defence programme. The estate spans two data centres and includes Cisco ACI, Cisco routers, Cisco ASA firewalls and F5 load balancers. This is a permanent Methods position; the initial assignment start date and delivery schedule will be agreed with the client.

Working alongside the Programme’s Architecture and Network support teams, you will establish an accurate view of the existing network, recommend improvements with minimal operational risk and assess the changes needed to support true active/active connectivity between the two data centres.

What you will do

· Review the live network implementation, configurations and legacy design material across both data centres, identifying gaps between documented and actual operation.

· Produce accurate current-state High Level Designs and Low Level Designs using the existing templates, supported by clear topology diagrams, connectivity flows and technical dependencies.

· Review Cisco ACI, routing, firewall and load-balancing arrangements with the Architecture and Network support teams to understand service connectivity and operational constraints.

· Produce a Network Review and Recommendation Report identifying practical improvements that can be made without significant redesign and with minimal risk to live services.

· Assess opportunities to make better use of Cisco ACI application-centric capabilities, including application relationships, segmentation and policy design.

· Present recommended improvements as a prioritised roadmap showing sequencing, interdependencies, implementation considerations and service impact.

· Produce a Network Disaster Recovery Capability Report assessing the changes required for true active/active connectivity between the two data centres.

· Explain current connectivity limitations, proposed implementation approaches, risks to existing services and any additional hardware, software or licensing requirements.

· Lead technical review discussions, resolve design comments and secure review and sign-off of design documentation from the Client’s Architecture and Network teams.

· Maintain controlled technical documentation and supporting evidence, contribute to risk and issue reporting, and submit deliverables through agreed secure channels.

Requirements

Skills and experience

· Strong enterprise network architecture experience, including assessing existing implementations and producing accurate High Level Designs and Low Level Designs.

· Hands-on Cisco ACI experience, including fabric architecture, tenants, VRFs, bridge domains, endpoint groups and contracts, with an understanding of application-centric policy design.

· Strong Cisco routing knowledge and practical understanding of IP addressing, routing protocols, segmentation and connectivity between data centres.

· Experience reviewing Cisco ASA firewall configurations, traffic flows, access policies, NAT and high-availability arrangements.

· Experience with F5 load balancers, including traffic management, health monitoring, resilience and dependencies on surrounding network services.

· Experience assessing network disaster recovery and active/active designs, including failure scenarios, failover behaviour, routing symmetry and stateful service dependencies.

· Ability to investigate live configurations safely, identify technical constraints and recommend proportionate changes with clear implementation and operational impacts.

· Strong technical writing, diagramming and stakeholder communication skills, with experience taking designs through formal review and approval.

Desirable experience

· Cisco ACI deployments spanning multiple data centres and migration towards application-centric policies.

· Network resilience testing, recovery planning and assessment of hardware, software and licensing options.

· Defence, government or other regulated environments with controlled technical data and formal configuration management.

· Relevant Cisco, F5 or network architecture certifications, such as CCNP or CCIE.

How you will work

You will work independently on technical investigation while collaborating closely with the Client’s architects, network engineers and other suppliers. You will distinguish verified findings from assumptions, explain options and trade-offs clearly, and raise access constraints, risks and delivery dependencies early.

The initial assignment focuses on assessment, design documentation and recommendations. Any implementation or production configuration changes must be separately agreed and authorised through the Client’s change controls. Maintain document identifiers, revision history and security markings in line with the client’s data-management requirements.

Location and security

This role will require you to have or be willing to go through Security Clearance. As part of the onboarding process candidates will be asked to complete a Baseline Personnel Security Standard; details of the evidence required to apply may be found on the government website Gov.UK. If you are unable to meet this and any associated criteria, then your employment may be delayed, or rejected . Details of this will be discussed with you at interview.

Security Clearance

Minimum UK SC clearance required

Location

Work is expected at Bristol 3 to 4 days a week for the first 3 months but this this will reduce thereafter. Any hybrid working depends on client approval, access arrangements and security restrictions; attendance at other authorised sites may be required.

What success looks like

· Current-state High Level and Low Level Designs that accurately reflect the operational network and are reviewed and signed off by the Client’s Architecture and Network teams.

· A clear improvement report and sequenced roadmap that identifies practical changes, their dependencies and their operational risks.

· A disaster recovery capability report that explains the route to active/active network connectivity, including constraints, implementation impacts and hardware, software or licensing needs.

The SSOW targets design documentation and the recommendation report within one month, and the disaster recovery report within two months. The delivery baseline will be confirmed with the client at mobilisation.

Benefits

By joining us you can expect:

• Autonomy to develop and grow your skills and experience
• Be part of exciting project work that is making a difference in society
• Strong, inspiring and thought-provoking leadership
• A supportive and collaborative environment.

As well as this, we offer:

• Development access to LinkedIn Learning, a management development programme and training
• Wellness 24/7 Confidential employee assistance programme
• Social - Breakfast Tuesdays, Thirsty Thursdays and Pizza on the last Thursday of each month as well as commitment to charitable causes
• Time off 25 days a year
• Pension Salary Exchange Scheme with 4% employer contribution and 5% employee contribution
• Discretionary Company Bonus based on company and individual performance
• Life Assurance of 4 times base salary
• Private Medical Insurance which is non-contributory (spouse and dependants included)
• Worldwide Travel Insurance which is non-contributory (spouse and dependants included)