Senior Core Network Engineer

Hybrid - London  £500-£550 per day | Inside IR35 | Initial 3-6 Month Contract

We're currently engaged on a major network transformation programme and are looking for an experienced Senior Core Network Engineer with a strong background in large-scale enterprise or service provider environments.

This role requires a technical specialist with deep expertise in Cisco IOS-XR, Cisco NSO, and core network technologies, with a proven track record delivering complex transformation, migration, and automation programmes.

Key Experience Required

• Extensive hands-on experience with Cisco IOS-XR
• Strong experience developing and supporting Cisco NSO automation solutions
• Delivery of large-scale network migration and transformation programmes
• Production software upgrades, lifecycle management, and hardware refresh projects
• Experience working within large enterprise or service provider networks
• Exposure to Cisco 8000 Series platforms and modern core network architectures
• Proven experience driving network automation and operational improvements
• Strong design, implementation, troubleshooting, and documentation capabilities

Technical Skills

• MPLS & Segment Routing (SR-MPLS)
• BGP, ISIS, OSPF & EVPN
• L2VPN / L3VPN
• Multicast & QoS
• IPv4 / IPv6
• Cisco IOS-XR platform support and lifecycle management
• Cisco NSO, YANG, Python, NETCONF & REST APIs
• Infrastructure as Code and network automation methodologies

Contract Details

• Location: Hybrid working (London or Chester)
• Rate: £500-£550 per day
• IR35: Inside IR35
• Duration: Initial 3-6 months, with potential extension

If you have the relevant IOS-XR and NSO experience and would be interested in discussing further, please send across your latest CV together with a brief summary of your most relevant experience.