Infrastructure Engineer - Production Network Engineering reference: 0000052627

Discover a Rewarding Career in Production Network Engineering at Barclays

Barclays is embarking on an exciting new mission to revolutionize its digital landscape, and this Infrastructure Engineer role within Production Network Engineering is at the forefront of this transformation. As part of the newly formed Network Product Design & Engineering domain, you will play a pivotal role in the design, build, and ongoing operation of strategic network infrastructure platforms and the connectivity services that empower our systems, colleagues, and partners.

This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of Barclays' digital offerings, ensuring unparalleled customer experiences through cutting-edge technology. If you are a forward-thinking engineer passionate about innovation and excellence, this role offers a dynamic and impactful career path.

What Makes This Opportunity Stand Out?

• Pioneering a New Mission: Be an integral part of a newly formed operating model, contributing directly to the evolution of a critical domain within a leading financial institution.
• Drive Innovation: Harness advanced technologies to reshape digital services and enhance customer experiences, leaving a tangible impact on the organization.
• Cutting-Edge Technology: Work with a comprehensive suite of modern infrastructure and networking technologies, pushing the boundaries of what's possible.
• Career Growth and Development: Barclays fosters a culture of continuous learning, encouraging employees to stay abreast of industry trends and contribute to technical communities.
• Strategic Impact: Your work will directly support applications and data systems, ensuring the reliability, scalability, and security of Barclays' core infrastructure.
• Collaborative Environment: Engage in cross-functional teamwork, collaborating with product managers, architects, and fellow engineers to devise innovative solutions.
• Focus on SRE Principles: Contribute to driving down key metrics like Mean Time To Resolution (MTTR) and improving deployment frequency, aligning with Site Reliability Engineering best practices.

Key Considerations for Aspiring Candidates:

To thrive in this role, candidates should possess a strong foundation and demonstrable experience in several key areas:

• Virtual Infrastructure Expertise: Extensive experience in designing, building, and operating Telco-hardened virtual infrastructure ecosystems (e.g., Openstack, Kubernetes, QEMU, KVM, HCI) across diverse cloud platforms (Public, Edge, Private) and uCPE platforms (x86, Arm CPU architectures).
• Open-Source Networking Mastery: Deep understanding of open-source networking technologies, including kernel-level concepts (eBPF, AF_XDP), OVS, OVN, SoNIC, DENT, Switchdev, ONF stack, Iwd, NetworkManager, and data path acceleration protocols (RDMA, RoCE, iWARP, NVMe, SR-IOV, DPDK). Familiarity with Cloud Native Functions and Container Networking Interface plugins is also highly valued.
• Multi-Layered IP Networking & Automation: Proven experience in multi-layered IP network engineering, coupled with strong skills in network programming, automation, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), configuration management tools (Ansible, Saltstack, Terraform), and data modeling (RESTCONF, NETCONF/YANG). A solid grasp of DevOps principles and CI/CD pipelines is essential.

Highly Valued Additional Skills:

While the core requirements are extensive, candidates who also bring experience in the following areas will be particularly well-positioned:

• Network and infrastructure operational product engineering.
• Classical network element management, SDN Controllers, and ETSI MANO.
• Performance and security engineering, including zero-trust networking concepts and application layer protocols (HTTP/HTTPS, TLS/SSL, DNS, DHCP).
• Lifecycle management of network products and services, from requirements analysis to deployment.
• Proficiency in Agile Methodologies (Scrum/Kanban) and SRE reporting metrics.
• Relevant certifications such as CCNP, VMWare VCP, or RHCE are an advantage.

Career Path Guidance:

This role offers a significant opportunity for individuals looking to deepen their expertise in complex, enterprise-scale network infrastructure. The emphasis on open-source technologies, cloud-native functions, and advanced automation positions successful candidates at the cutting edge of network engineering. Those who demonstrate strong strategic thinking, business acumen, and a proactive approach to risk management will find ample opportunities for advancement. The role also provides a platform to develop leadership skills, whether through subject matter expertise and technical guidance or by potentially leading teams in the future.

Location:

This exciting opportunity is based in our Knutsford office.

Embrace the Barclays Values:

All colleagues are expected to embody the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence, and Stewardship, and to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset of Empower, Challenge, and Drive. These principles form the foundation of how we operate and achieve our goals.