Senior Network Architect - freelance - hybrid, London, UK
Contract | Comgent | United Kingdom
Posted On 03/09/2026
Job Information
Standard Business working Hours Yes
Work Experience 8-10 years
City London
State/Province City of London
N/A
Special Considerations
Start date: Apr/ May 2026
Location: London, UK (Hybrid — minimum 2 days per week in office)
Industry: Financial Services / Banking
Job Description
A major banking group operating in EMEA is undergoing a significant infrastructure transformation programme, converging two separate network environments (a legacy three-tier Cisco campus network and an ACI spine-leaf fabric) alongside the integration of a European banking subsidiary. This is a hands‑on senior architecture role requiring both strategic thinking and the ability to roll up sleeves and engage at detailed engineering levels.
Requirements
Must have
* Deep expertise in Cisco networking: Nexus (7K, 5K, 2K, 9K), IOS, NX-OS
* Strong working knowledge of Cisco ACI — ability to assess hybrid/pseudo-ACI deployments and define target-state app-centric or network-centric design
* Expert‑level routing and switching: OSPF, BGP, EIGRP (including identification and remediation of misconfigurations)
* Data centre network design: spine‑leaf, three‑tier, convergence strategies
* Firewall architecture: Palo Alto (PA‑40 series), Cisco ASA (legacy and migration)
* WAN/MPLS concepts and managed service architectures (NTT or similar providers)
* IP address management (IPAM) and DNS/DHCP strategies
* Network security design principles
* Familiarity with SD‑WAN, cloud networking (Azure, AWS), and hybrid connectivity
Advantageous
* Cisco CCIE (Routing & Switching or Data Centre) or equivalent demonstrable expertise
* Experience with network automation and orchestration tooling
* Knowledge of co‑location and proximity hosting environments
* Understanding of financial services network requirements (trading floor, market data, payment systems)
* Able to operate with ambiguity — comfortable in environments without fully defined organisational structure
* Strong communication skills: able to articulate complex technical problems to non‑technical senior stakeholders
* Commercial awareness — understanding of total cost of ownership, vendor contracts, and infrastructure spend
* Collaborative and pragmatic, with the confidence to challenge incumbents and advocate for sound design principles
* Self‑starter capable of providing direction to others with limited supervision
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