Senior Infrastructure, Network & Security Engineer |6 month contract | Docklands + hybrid (2 days on site) | Start ASAP The practical detail:
- Six months, with a strong preference for a start before 1st October
- 3 to 5 days per week.
- Two days on site in Docklands.
- Single stage interview.
The situation: An engineer who has held this environment together for the past seven years is finishing up on 30 September. Technology leadership is taking a fresh look at what the business actually needs before committing to anything permanent. This contract exists to hold the environment steady and give the internal IT Security and Operations lead the room to step up into running the team.
To be clear about the brief: this is not a redesign. It is senior, hands on, and deliberately focused on stability, capability uplift and getting things written down.
What you will actually do:
- Take operational ownership of a hybrid Windows, Azure and on premise environment, including the data network into the office
- Maintain, manage and optimise what exists rather than rebuild it (no capex projects sitting behind this).
- Coach and mentor two Level 1 and Level 2 engineers, particularly on troubleshooting discipline and how to think through a problem rather than escalate it.
- Partner with the internal software engineering and development teams on security guidance. The expectation is explicitly not to be the department of no, but to be the person who says "here is how we do this safely".
- Bring automation into the operational load and take repetitive work off the team.
The AI enablement piece: This is one of the more engaging parts of the role. The organisation is running a genuine, funded AI enablement program with well over half the workforce already actively engaged and measured on outcomes, not attendance. You would be the infrastructure and security voice inside that program, shaping how tooling gets deployed, accessed and secured as it scales across the business.
If you want contract work where AI is something you are actually operationalising rather than a line in a strategy deck, this is it.
The environment
- Windows and Wintel, with Azure Cloud alongside on premise infrastructure.
- Cisco Meraki across the network.
- Palo Alto firewalls on premise, with Prisma Access underpinning secure hybrid working.
- A mix of internal customers who are technical and will hold you to a high standard, in a good way.
What we are looking for
- A senior engineer who is genuinely deep across Wintel, networking and security rather than strong in one and passable in the others.
- Hands on production experience with Palo Alto and Prisma Access
- A demonstrated track record of collaborating well with software engineers and developers, not working around them.
- Automation capability, and the judgement to know what is worth automating.
- The maturity to provide the technical depth and strategic guidance while the internal Security and Operations lead carries the people leadership.