Network Connectivity Engineer

Network Connectivity Engineer

Shift Pattern:

Standard 40 Hour Week (United Kingdom)

Scheduled Weekly Hours:

40

Corporate Grade:

D - Assistant Vice President

Reporting Line:

(UK Division) Information Technology

Location:

UK-London

Worker Type:

Permanent

LME:

LME Group is the world centre for industrial metals trading and clearing. Most of the world’s non-ferrous metals business is conducted on the LME totalling $15.7 trillion, 185 million lots and 4.1 billion tonnes in 2018. The metals community uses the LME, a member of HKEX Group, as a venue to transfer or take on price risk, as a physical market of last resort and as the provider of transparent global reference prices.

Overall Purpose of Role

As a Network Engineer you will be responsible for advancing the LME’s enterprise connectivity services across LAN, WAN, Data Centre, Cloud and containerised platforms. Operating as a senior technologist within the Connectivity Engineering team, you will enable reliable, secure and modern network services that underpin the organisation’s trading, clearing and critical infrastructure operations.

This role combines hands on engineering, design contribution and structured delivery across a diverse portfolio of network and cloud native initiatives. You will work closely with Solution Architects, Platform Engineers and Project Managers to ensure solutions are aligned to architectural standards and programme-level objectives. You will be instrumental in supporting the evolution of LME’s hybrid architecture, including the adoption of OpenShift/Kubernetes workloads, cloud networking patterns, modern connectivity frameworks and the uplift of core network capabilities across routing, switching, load balancing and firewalls.

This position requires strong technical delivery capability, the ability to lead complex connectivity workstreams and a methodical approach aligned to ITIL and regulatory expectations. The role may require occasional evening/weekend work, with TOIL/overtime available.

Responsibilities:

Deliver enterprise‑grade connectivity solutions across LAN, WAN, Data Centre, Cloud and container platforms, ensuring reliable and secure services.

Lead hands‑on engineering activities including configuration, integration, testing, implementation, and documentation across network and cloud connectivity components.

Support cloud‑native and OpenShift workloads by ensuring robust networking (routing, policies, ingress/egress, service mesh, CNI plugins, service discovery, and cluster connectivity).

Implement and maintain technologies across Cisco, Arista, F5/A10, Palo Alto, Fortinet and associated tooling.

Provide input into cloud network design (VPC/VNET design, hybrid interconnectivity, DNS architectures, and load‑balancing patterns).

Support the exchange trading network, helping to maintain low-latency network architecture, market connectivity and network latency monitoring and visibility.

Assist with the management and maintenance of network timing systems, ensuring accurate and reliable time synchronisation in line with business and regulatory requirements.

Help monitor and troubleshoot network performance using tools such as Corvil, packet brokers and Tap Aggregation platforms, supporting the analysis of network issues and service performance.

Create and maintain high‑ and low‑level designs aligned to architectural standards, best practices, and approved building blocks.

Deliver multiple concurrent connectivity workstreams in line with governance, architectural patterns, security requirements, and programme timelines.

Build, maintain, and evolve technical standards and patterns across on‑prem, cloud, and container environments.

Ensure connectivity solutions meet required security, compliance, audit, and change‑management requirements.

Provide 3rd‑line escalation for complex issues and contribute to major incident response and recovery activities.

Ensure operational readiness through accurate documentation, knowledge transfer, and structured handover for new or changed services.

Collaborate with Infrastructure, Security, Platform and Application teams to ensure connectivity is embedded by design.

Work with vendors and technology partners on product lifecycle management and best‑practice configuration.

Participate in architecture and design forums, advising on connectivity dependencies and solution impacts.

Contribute to the evolution of the connectivity roadmap and broader technology strategy.

Mentor colleagues and act as a senior technical authority within the Connectivity Engineering function.

Drive continuous improvement across engineering processes, tooling, automation and delivery frameworks.

PERSON SPECIFICATION:

Desired Academic and Professional Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will have experience working within an ITIL‑governed environment and established infrastructure support frameworks. They will hold a bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology or equivalent experience.

Professional certifications desirable, such as:

Cisco CCNP

Palo Alto PCNSE

F5/A10 certifications

OpenShift/Kubernetes (CKA/CKAD)

Arista ACE

Fortinet NSE

Cloud certifications (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Required Knowledge and Level of Experience:

Minimum 7-10 years’ experience in enterprise network engineering within financial services or other highly regulated, mission‑critical environments.

Deep expertise across core networking technologies and protocols, including:
BGP, OSPF, VRF, VLANs, VXLAN, VPN, NAT, DNS, DHCP, Multicast.

Strong experience in routing, switching, firewalling and load balancing with major vendor platforms (Cisco, Arista, Palo Alto, Fortinet, A10/F5).

Proven experience supporting and integrating cloud platforms and cloud‑native networking (AWS/Azure/GCP).

Familiarity with Kubernetes/OpenShift networking (CNI plugins, eBPF, service mesh, ingress/egress controllers, network policies).

Hands-on experience with automation and IaC for network and cloud networking (Ansible, Terraform, Python).

Understanding of ITIL v3/v4 processes across incident, problem and change management.

Experience delivering within Agile, Waterfall and hybrid delivery models.

Skills and Competencies:

Ability to work across hybrid and distributed environments (on‑prem, cloud, container platforms).

Strong capability to apply automation and IaC concepts to enhance security controls and operational efficiency.

Ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams in highly regulated, high‑availability environments.

Methodical, working approach aligned to ITILv3 best practices with and proven ability to implement processes.

Willingness to challenge existing approaches and drive change.

Strong attention to detail with a focus on operational excellence.

Comfortable working under pressure, with changing priorities.

A strong delivery mindset, setting and achieving realistic and timely execution of project deliverables across the portfolio.

Personal Qualities:

Collaborative, pragmatic and delivery‑focused, with strong awareness of business drivers.

Detail‑oriented and process‑driven, Capable of operating effectively in high‑pressure environments.

Proactive, forward‑thinking approach with the ability to anticipate issues and act early.

Strong sense of ownership, accountability and professionalism.

Customer‑focused mindset with a commitment to service excellence.

Skilled at influencing and guiding others toward the best technical and business outcomes.

Adaptable and dependable, able to work across organisational boundaries and align with diverse teams.