Responsible for the network infrastructure supporting the PayPoint network. This includes the overseeing of the hosted colo sites we have in London Docklands and Welwyn Garden City. Leading a strong team of engineers we ensure the PayPoint network is secure, robust and always available for our employees, clients and customers.Maintain a large budget for all operational costs that come through my team. This includes all carrier costs, telecoms and 3rd party support for our mainly Cisco, Palo Alto and F5 estate.Key Achievements in role:Data Hall Migration - 6-months to move our active colo Data Centre. This included contract negotiations, auditing the estate, implementation of the new network infrastructure and moving the equipment between halls. Provisioning of all new circuits/connectivity between the two Halls and ensuring 100% uptime was maintainedFirewall Refresh Project - Moving from our Cisco ASA estate to Palo Alto NGFW. Reducing the complexity and amount of Firewalls on the network we have simplified and sped up the time for delivery within the network. We have also introduced more stringent security through the Palo Alto toolset and NGFW featuresTelephony Project - Negotiating and moving our telephony estate provider for all PSTN ISDN2e and ISDN30 lines securing large annual savings. I then delivered on a new hosted Mitel platform for our Contact Centre requirements and introduced Microsoft Teams PSTN calling for all back office usersWAN Refresh - One of the first things I introduced when I moved into the role was to bring all management of our WAN circuits in-house and away from a reseller. This involved going direct to all carriers, like Colt, Cogent & BT and procuring new circuits to replace the existing. I managed all delivery expectations with the business through to installation, saving PayPoint a substantial amount over a 3-year period.

After being at PayPoint for under a year as a Network Engineer, I was promoted to Network Technical Lead. This was testament to the ability I demonstrated within the team to be both technically able and also my ability to work and lead my colleagues in their roles.This role was stepping into managerial tasks for the then Network Manager whilst also remaining technical and fulfilling my role of support and maintenance of the PayPoint network, managing incidents through to resolution. I was and still am responsible for ensuring the network meets all regulatory requirements, namely PCI DSS. This includes the upkeep and introduction of standards to ensure conformity within the network environment.

Key ResponsibilitiesImplementing EIGRP, OSPF and BGP routable IP networksWorking with VPN technologies including Site-to-Site IPSec VPN, Cisco AnyConnect and Palo Alto GlobalProtectTroubleshooting using in-depth packet capture analytics through packet inspection toolsWorking with TCP/IP stack, Data Centre technologies like OTV and VPC, Switching, Routing and Security through AAA to IPS Securing our network through policy controls

Carrying out Customer requested and network essential changes including routing (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, VRF and route redistribution), Switching (STP, VTP, Etherchannel, dot1Q trunking and port security), Minor additions/Changes/Deletions within IP Telephony up to version 10 of CUCM, exposure to Cisco Unity also. Wireless management and configuration on Cisco WLC’s and WiSM modules. Software/Firmware upgrades across Cisco portfolio largely on IOS and DSL.Responsible for the commissioning and decommissioning of in-life customer devices to newly acquired customer transitions within project schedules. The commissioning involves large project roll-outs dealing with on-site Engineers to ensure successful installation of equipment before bringing under management on our management software (CA Spectrum, eHealth & Remedy).Alongside the day to day role, due to my responsible attitude, I also maintain the Change Engineers Planner and Team Rota in the Team Leads absence.

Working for a Cisco Gold Partner within a network troubleshooting and incident resolution environment. Managing various customer networks across all Cisco key dependencies including Routing & Switching, IP Telephony, Wireless and Firmware upgrades.Large exposure to the UC side of Cisco offering, including CUCM and CME, Cisco Unity and Witness Call Recording. This involved troubleshooting user issues and seeing them through to resolution either through fixing the issue or escalating to senior Voice Engineers.Personally responsible for one of the larger companies we managed, Housing21. This involved supporting their large remote site portfolio largely including xDSL technologies. Produced a high-level support document for supporting their network that was distributed to all Engineers.

Managing in-play Football Markets for the leading online betting exchange. This included managing up to 150 markets at once with a heavily vested interest, financially, due to some Football matches having up to £10 million traded. Due to the intensity of the role, concentration was at an exceptionally high level as a mistake could cost the company thousands of pounds.This was a part-time role where I was required to fulfil 12 hours a week at either week nights or weekends. During this time, I was also in Full-Time employment as well as studying towards further Cisco qualifications.

Providing technical support to the TalkTalk Business side of the larger company, TalkTalk. This included support on all products sold, xDSL, Domain, Email and managed circuits.The roles encompassed a wide range of issues from very simple through to rather complex circuit issues. Engaging in communication with all varieties of customer type, this role helped to develop customer skills and an ability to communicate at all levels of hierarchy.