Job Introduction
About Us:
British Transport Police (BTP) is the national police force for the rail network throughout Great Britain. We are the ‘Guardians of the Railway,’ putting passenger safety at the heart of what we do. Our values are simple: We Care, We Do the Right Thing, We Strive to Be Better Every Day, We Are One BTP, and We Are Proud to Protect. Join us and help create an environment where we can all be our best every day.
The Opportunity:
Salary: Up to £75,936.77. £58,865.25 base salary per annum (with yearly increments based on performance) + 10% on-call allowance + £3,033 London Allowance + a SFIA supplement of up to £8,152 (subject to the validation of a skill and competency self-assessment).
Contract Type: Permanent
Location: London
Type of Working Arrangement: Blended approach of home and office-working is available
Hours: 37 hours
Are you looking for your next exciting career move? British Transport Police have an excellent opportunity for a Principal Network Specialist to join our Technology Department.
The Principal Network Specialist serves as the technical lead for the organisation’s network infrastructure, overseeing its evolution to meet the demands of a dynamic, 24/7 and complex operational environment. This senior-level role requires not only deep technical expertise but also the vision to shape future network strategies, ensuring robust performance, security, and scalability. Acting as the subject matter expert, the Principal Network Specialist will drive innovation in networking technologies, lead complex projects, and mentor a team of highly skilled engineers to maintain an industry leading network environment.
Main Responsibilities:
- High-Level Implementation & Operations Oversight
Lead end-to-end network implementations, from detailed design to deployment, ensuring minimal disruption to force operations and achieving operational excellence.
Maintain enterprise-level network availability and performance by continuously optimizing network configurations and monitoring performance metrics.
Proactively identify and resolve advanced technical issues, serving as the ultimate escalation point for the network engineering team.
- Network Security & Compliance Strategy
Resolve Define and implement comprehensive network security strategies to mitigate risks and protect against external and internal threats.
Ensure the network infrastructure adheres to industry standards and compliance requirements while proactively enhancing security posture.
Collaborate with Cyber Security team to remove vulnerabilities from network infrastructure, assist in incident response to protect the network, and provide advice in area of expertise.
- Leadership & Mentorship
Provide guidance, and mentorship to a high-performing team of network engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, continuous learning, and innovation.
Champion collaborative efforts between teams to deliver cohesive, enterprise-wide solutions that meet BTP’s objectives and goals.
Assist in network budgetary decisions ensuring cost-effective solutions without compromising performance or security.
Manage relationships with key network vendors, negotiating professional services, evaluating performance, and ensuring adherence to SLAs.
Essential Skills:
- Advanced Routing and Switching:
- Knowledge of routing protocols like BGP, and OSPF to design, implement, and manage highly available, scalable networks.
- Experience with Layer 2/3 switching, including VLAN segmentation, VXLAN, STP, and EtherChannel for optimal traffic flow and network segmentation.
- WAN and LAN Design & Optimization:
- Knowledge in WAN technologies such as MPLS, SD-WAN, Metro Ethernet, and VPNs for connecting distributed sites with optimal performance.
- Experience in designing and managing LANs for enterprise-level environments, ensuring low-latency, high-performance connectivity across diverse sites.
- High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR):
- Proficiency in designing and implementing high-availability architectures with failover and redundancy (e.g., HSRP, or VRRP) to ensure minimal downtime.
- Extensive experience in network disaster recovery planning and failover testing, ensuring business continuity in case of network outages or failures.
- Network Security Infrastructure:
- Proficient in deploying and managing next-generation firewalls and VPN solutions for secure access.
- Advanced skills in NAC (Network Access Control), segmentation, and implementing Zero Trust models to safeguard internal infrastructure.
- Experience with DDoS protection and traffic filtering tools to mitigate external threats and ensure network availability.
- Experience with securing network infrastructure against vulnerabilities.
- Network Automation & Orchestration:
- Experience in automating network configurations and monitoring using tools, reducing manual processes and improving network agility is desirable.
- Wireless Networking:
- Advanced skills in deploying and managing enterprise WLANs, with deep knowledge of Wi-Fi 6 standards, RF management, and controller-based wireless solutions.
- Strong experience with WLAN security protocols and optimizing wireless
- Mentorship & Cross-Team Collaboration:
- Strong leadership in guiding junior network engineers, fostering a collaborative and high-performance team environment.
- Collaborative across teams such as Cyber security, infrastructure, and Digital Workplace to deliver comprehensive network solutions that align with the organization’s broader technology goals.
Additional Information:
Further information about this vacancy can be found in the attached job description.
Vetting: Successful applicants will be required to pass Management Vetting and hold National Security Vetting at SC, including a full background and financial disclosure. For more information and Top Tips, please see attached document.
Medical: We’ll ask for relevant health and medical history details to support employee wellbeing.
References: We'll ask for references to cover the past 5 years.
How to apply:
Applications will be via a detailed CV, Cover Letter and online application form. Your Cover Letter should outline why you are interested in the role and how your skills and experience demonstrate your suitability for the role.
Completed applications must be submitted by 11.59pm, 14th April 2025.
What we offer:
- 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing to 30 days after 5 years.
- Family-friendly policies, including up to 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave.
- Bespoke benefits platform and Blue Light Card access.
- Salary sacrifice options for cycles, home technology, gym membership, and electric vehicles.
- Interest-free annual rail season ticket loan after 6 months.
- Access to the Transport Benevolent Fund for health, welfare, and financial support.
- Development opportunities, including fully funded apprenticeships.
- Excellent Pension scheme: We offer the BTP GPP Police Staff Pension Scheme, administered by Royal London. This group personal pension plan is available to all police staff and is a defined contribution scheme. It provides the flexibility to vary your pension contributions from 4.4% to 12% of your salary. For more information, visit the Royal London dedicated pension page or email us at Pension-Queries@btp.police.uk. Note: If you are an existing member of Police Staff in the RPS, your pension will not be affected.
Inclusion & Diversity:
At BTP, we are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued. We believe diversity drives innovation and better decision-making. Our roles are open to everyone, and we encourage applications from underrepresented groups, including Black, Asian, and minority ethnic candidates, women, LGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities, and those who are neurodiverse. As part of our commitment we operate a ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ - all candidates who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview.
For more information on Inclusion or the Disability Confident Scheme, please click the links Inclusion & Diversity Disability Confident Scheme
Join Us:
Grow your career with us. We can’t wait to hear from you! See why BTP is right for you and click here for more information. For further information, please contact our Resourcing Team at RecruitmentTeam@btp.police.uk.
