Lead Network Engineer - Media & Advertising
- £75,000 base salary
- High Holborn, London, United Kingdom
- Permanent
- 75000
- Telecoms
- IP Networking & Transmission
Ready to take the next step in your career?
Join one of the UK's most established and respected media and content production organisations, delivering live broadcasting, award-winning journalism, and streaming content to audiences around the world. The organisation relies on highly resilient network infrastructure to support mission-critical broadcast and production environments.
This opportunity is ideal for an experienced Lead Network Engineer looking to take technical ownership of a complex network estate supporting live broadcast operations. You'll lead a small team, own the network architecture, and deliver resilient connectivity for high-profile live events, bridging the gap between enterprise networking and real-time IP broadcast infrastructure.
If you would like to learn more about this opportunity, feel free to reach out and apply today!
Responsibilities:
- Provide architectural oversight and technical leadership for corporate and broadcast network infrastructure across all sites
- Design, implement, and operate mission-critical IP networks supporting live broadcast, streaming, and corporate services
- Lead multicast routing design and optimisation, PIM, SSM, IGMPv2/v3, Rendezvous Points for streaming and broadcast workflows
- Plan and deliver network services for large-scale live events, elections, major outside broadcasts, high-profile transmission where zero downtime is essential
- Own network performance, capacity, resilience, and security across broadcast and corporate environments
- Collaborate with broadcast engineering and production teams to integrate new systems into the IP production environment
- Line manage and mentor a small team of network engineers
- Act as senior escalation point for complex network incidents and high-risk project delivery
- Manage external suppliers and carriers on circuit provisioning, SLA management, and connectivity projects
- Arista core broadcast and data centre fabric
- Cisco, corporate and campus networking
- Palo Alto, firewalls and security
- BGP / OSPF, EVPN / VXLAN
- Multicast: PIM / SSM / IGMPv2 / IGMPv3
- SMPTE ST 2110, PTP / IEEE 1588, NMOS IS-04/IS-05
Skills/Must Have:
- Broadcast networking background, this is essential, not a nice-to-have
- Deep multicast expertise, specifically in broadcast or streaming environments, not just general enterprise multicast
- Strong BGP and OSPF routing experience, Cisco and Arista in a production environment
- Solid EVPN/VXLAN overlay architecture experience
- Proven track record delivering networks for live, high-pressure events where availability is non-negotiable
- Experience leading or mentoring a small technical team
- Familiarity with SMPTE ST 2110, PTP (IEEE 1588), and NMOS is a significant advantage
- Arista ACE or Cisco CCNP certification preferred
- Confident communicator, able to bridge IT and broadcast engineering teams clearly
Location & Working Pattern:
- Central London
- Primarily onsite with some flexibility
- Standard hours: 9am–5:30pm
- No on-call requirement
Benefits:
- Work for one of the UK's most recognisable media organisations, supporting infrastructure with genuine national significance
- Gain experience delivering broadcast networking for high-profile live events, including elections, royal events, and major outside broadcasts
- Combine technical leadership with team management, taking ownership of architecture, project delivery, and people development
- Work across a best-of-breed, multi-vendor environment including Arista, Cisco, and Palo Alto technologies
- Enjoy a role with no on-call requirement and a healthy work-life balance
- Collaborate closely with broadcast engineering, production, and cybersecurity teams across the organisation
Salary:
- £75,000 base salary