Job summary
The Prime Minister’s Office enables the Prime Minister to deliver the Government’s overall priorities and to communicate the Government’s policies to Parliament, the public and international audiences. The diverse Downing Street teams at No10 draw on expertise from across the Civil Service and beyond to support the work of the office. They come together to deliver a world class excellent service while also making No10 a great place to work.
Job details
We are recruiting for a Network Engineer within our small, busy, fast paced, highly motivated technical ICT team working in the heart of UK Government.
As well as taking part in interesting and ever-changing work where no two days are the same, you’ll be working in an environment that is supportive and inclusive.
The larger ICT team consists of men and women from various technical and business backgrounds who pull together to get the work completed.
In this team your opinion will be valued and listened to, and you will have the chance to help contribute to the direction of future network architecture. There will be relevant training opportunities alongside technical and business support from expert colleagues.
This role reports to the Head of Technical Communications, you will lead and work with your team on the design, development and maintenance of the internal and external network infrastructure and services.
Using your technical knowledge, problem solving and analytical skills, you will investigate and resolve network hardware and software problems ensuring any issues are resolved at pace.
Key responsibilities:
- Management and maintenance of physical and wireless network infrastructure components and devices such as switches, routers, firewalls, and load balancers.
- Monitoring network performance, ensuring system capacity, availability, and reliability.
- Dealing with network incidents, performing failover operations, and managing the resolutions of faults, working with third parties where necessary.
- Working consistently to keep systems secure by implementing latest best practices and procedures including testing.
- Designing, procuring, implementing, and fully documenting current and new solutions working to improve resilience of the current environment.
- Supporting the Head of Technical Communications to develop network strategy and deliver supporting projects to meet business requirements on time and within budget, from procurement to the delivery of the service.
Daily activities can include:
- Investigating and resolving faults in services, implementing preventative measures and providing advice on solutions.
- Performing network maintenance and system tasks such as upgrades.
- Managing network rooms, ensuring they are safe, secure and being used correctly. Working with the team, FM and Security to do this.
- Supporting, maintaining, and administering firewalls.
- Acting as the main contact point for network infrastructure requests for support.
- Take forward the procurement and management of services and equipment.
- Mentoring and leading less experienced members of the team to develop skills across the team.
- Keeping up to date with new practices and innovation in technologies.
- Bringing in recommendations to improve system performance, security, and reliability.
- Participating in being on the full team out of hours on-call support rota.
- Plus, many more ad hoc technical and business activities required in support of the team’s work.
Important to note:
Like most businesses, we need to maintain our services 24/7, therefore there will be a requirement to work out of hours that is mostly planned but sometimes unplanned.
You will also be required to participate in an out of hours on-call rota for which an allowance will be paid. This rota includes weekday evenings and nights, weekends and public holidays.
There will be the occasional need to work at remote sites as part of this role. There may also be a requirement to travel nationally or internationally depending on business needs, this may include staying overnight for several days.
Because of this, you must have a:
- UK passport
- UK driving license
For security reasons this role is open to sole UK nationals only. A ‘sole UK national’ refers to an individual who holds citizenship solely in the UK, without dual citizenship or nationality from another country.
Person specification
To be successful in gaining an interview for this role, you must demonstrate you have the following essential experience and skills:
- Proven technical experience in network administration in medium or large enterprise environments
- In depth knowledge and experience of working on LAN/WAN/VLAN, TCP/IP, UDP, Wi-Fi, networking infrastructure and firewalls
- Network design and installation experience
- A good working knowledge of industry best practices related to IT infrastructure and security
- Hands-on experience of working with network devices (routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers)
- Firewall configuration and support including traffic flow, dynamic routing and log analysis
- Experience of network and hardware troubleshooting, root cause analysis and resolution
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technology concepts to non-technical stakeholders
- Excellent problem-solving ability using good judgement to make risk-based decisions on high profile and complex issues at pace
- For security reasons this role is open to sole UK nationals only. A ‘sole UK national’ refers to an individual who holds citizenship solely in the UK, without dual citizenship or nationality from another country.
The following experience and skills are desirable in this role:
- Recognised higher education or training in an IT related area or Network Security qualifications
- Familiarity with legislation pertaining to Government/Public Sector IT
- First line support experience supporting Windows and Mac devices, iPhones, Microsoft Office 365 and printing services
- CCNP or JNCIS-SP/JNCIP-SP certifications or equivalent
Please include on your CV any qualifications you have that are relevant to this role.
Work setting
Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
- Delivering at Pace
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Networking technical question
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £47,670, Cabinet Office contributes £13,809 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Additional benefits include:
- Learning and development tailored to your role.
- An environment with flexible working options.
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
- A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.
Application process
At the application stage we ask for a CV and a personal statement of up to 750 words.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
The personal statement should include:
- What interests you about the role.
- How your skills and experience make you a suitable candidate for this role.
Applications will be sifted on the CV and personal statement using the Success Profiles Framework.
Selection process
To be successful in your interview you will need to demonstrate you have the experience through your Behaviours and Strengths. You will also need to be able to answer technical questions based on the requirements listed on this job specification.
When interviewing about behaviours we will be looking at examples of when you have demonstrated the behaviour from scenarios and work you have been involved in.
These will outline the:
- Situation
- Task
- Actions you took
- Result/outcome and benefits of your actions
The expected level of these behaviours is at SEO grade and are found in the Civil Service behaviours link below.
Useful links for applying for a new job:
Expected timeline (subject to change)
Expected sift date – June 2026
Expected interview date/s – June/July 2026
Interview location - Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.
Reasonable Adjustment
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
Contact Government Recruitment Service via cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Additional information
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'contact point for applicants' section. Please note that this role requires DV clearance, which would normally need 10 years’ UK residency in the past 10 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.
Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you. Any move to Cabinet Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website. A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.
However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing [email protected] stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.
Feedback
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
Open to UK nationals only.
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact Government Recruitment Service by email at : [email protected] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at [email protected]. For further information on the Recruitment Principles and bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission, please visit their website at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/.
Attachments
Cabinet Office Terms and Conditions - External 2025-02-20 Opens in new window (docx, 94kB)
Cabinet Office Employee Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 302kB)
