Senior Network Engineer (Innovation and R&D) - Hybrid

HEAnet - Senior Network Engineer (Innovation and R&D) 

HEAnet is Ireland’s National Research and Education Network, providing internet connectivity and ICT shared services across all levels of the Irish education system, reaching in excess of 1,000,000 end users. We connect learners and researchers across all of Ireland to education resources and to fellow national educational and research networks in Europe, and the rest of the world.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Network Engineer to join our Innovation and R&D team on a two (2) year temporary contract. 

This role is primarily based at our Dublin 1 offices, but we are pleased to offer a flexible remote working arrangement. This allows you to work from home up to three (3) days a week. You will be expected to work at least two (2) days a week in the office, giving you the opportunity to enjoy a balanced and dynamic work environment. 

What the Innovation, R&D Team does

The Innovation and R&D Team is part of the Strategy and Planning function at HEAnet. The team is responsible for the network planning and development of HEAnet’s Optical and IP networks, researching and piloting new networking technologies and supporting Irish research groups. 

What the Senior Networks Engineer does

As a member of the Innovation and R&D team, you will report to the Innovation and R&D Manager and work alongside a multidisciplinary team of engineers and project managers. This role provides the opportunity to work on network development projects within HEAnet and the opportunity to collaborate with Irish research groups, GÉANT [1] and other NRENs [2] worldwide on cutting-edge telecommunications research projects.  

Responsibilities: 

• Contribute to the Network Planning and Development of HEAnet’s IP and Optical Networks


• Proactively seek opportunities to improve the provisioning and monitoring of the network and network services through automation.  


• Implement and participate in network development projects, such as hardware upgrades, topology redesigns and network automation improvements.  


• Assist other teams and serve as an escalation point for network related issues. 


• Investigate and evaluate new technologies with GÉANT and other NRENs. 


• Liaise with Irish Researchers and Academic staff on networking related projects. 


• Pilot new technologies such as quantum communications, fibre sensing, open RAN and new time and frequency distribution protocols. 

How we do it

Our company values underpin how we do things in HEAnet. We believe in and live by our values and understand they are integral to making HEAnet a great place to work.

COLLABORATION - EQUALITY & FAIRNESS - FUTURE FOCUSED - POSITIVE IMPACT

For further information about who we are and our core values, see https://www.heanet.ie/who-we-are.

What you get from us 

We promote a healthy work/life balance. Work outside of standard hours is rare and agreed in advance. We take the care of our team members' mental health seriously.

We value knowledge-sharing and communication. We start each day with a SCRUM to cover outstanding issues and planned work for the day, combined with fortnightly team stand-ups to make sure no one is hitting any roadblocks and to identify progression or delays in any of the major company projects HEAnet is involved in.  

We encourage critical thinking and the exploration of new ideas. We often form cross-team special interest groups for specific topic discussions, both ongoing and for fixed projects. We also have regular presentations from across the company on a wide range of topics from technical demos to project management to mental health.

Company Benefits 

• Hybrid Working


• Flexible start/finish times


• Health insurance for employees


• Defined contribution pension scheme


• On-going well-being initiatives


• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)


• Tax Saver Ticket scheme


• Cycle to Work scheme


• Professional education support


• Comprehensive group and individual training & development initiatives

What we need from you

• 4+ years of experience working in an ISP, CDN, or similar-scale network 


• 1+ years of experience with Optical networking technologies, including CWDM and DWDM 


• Experience working with data-centre environments and operations 


• Expert working knowledge of router and switch configuration, monitoring and management


• Hands on experience with Cisco, Juniper or Arista equipment 


• Advanced understanding of routing / switching protocols such as BGP, IS-IS, MPLS 


• Strong network topology and design, including detailed network documentation 


• Experience working with basic network security concepts such as Firewalls and ACLs 


• Strong troubleshooting methodology and experience


• Familiarity with standard network management protocols and tools, such as (but not limited to) SNMP, Cacti, Smokeping, Grafana, Nagios, Icinga, etc 


• Familiarity with Linux based systems 


• Excellent interpersonal skills, including verbal and written communications skills 

Bonus points  

We do not need you to have the following, but if you did it could be beneficial: 

• JNCIP/CCNP or equivalent qualifications 


• Hands on experience working with ADTRAN/ADVA optical networking equipment 


• Experience with advanced firewall management 


• Experience with Python scripting for network automation 


• Experience with Network Automation & Orchestration tools, such as GIT, Ansible, Rancid, Juniper CSD, Nautobot/Netbox, etc 


• Experience with Service Provider Services, such as DNS, IP Management, Identity Provider Services, Radius, etc 


• Experience with more advanced network management and virtualisation technologies like Streaming Telemetry, Netflow/Sflow, VXLAN, etc 


• Familiarity with public procurement rules and processes 

More important information 

At HEAnet we celebrate diversity and understand how important it is to our ongoing success.  We would like to hear from candidates who are great at what they do and whose values align with ours.  

If you need any adjustments made to the application or selection process so you can do your best, please let us know. 

 
HEAnet is delighted to be awarded with the Ibec Keep Well Mark. We take pride in developing, maintaining and enhancing our culture of wellbeing and continue to focus on this into 2024 and beyond.     

Notes:   

[1] GÉANT: The Pan European Education and Research Network. https://www.geant.org/ 

[2] NREN: National Research and Education Network