Lead Principal Engineer - Data Centre, Cloud & Network Operations

Position Summary

We are seeking a Lead Principal Engineer on Contract who provides advanced technical leadership for global Network & Security operations. Serving as the highest escalation point in a 24x7 environment, the role ensures the stability, security, and performance of enterprise systems, while mentoring engineers and driving continuous improvements in operational processes

Key Responsibilities

Operational Leadership

• Serve as top-level escalation for complex network/security incidents.

• Lead major incident resolution, RCA, and post-incident improvements.

• Ensure high availability, performance, and security of global platforms.

Network & Security Engineering

• Provide deep expertise in routing/switching, LAN/WAN, SD-WAN, wireless, data center networking, firewalls, VPNs, IDS/IPS, ISE, Zero Trust, cloud networking, load balancing, DNS, and DDoS protection.

• Support hybrid cloud/on-prem connectivity.

• Review and validate network designs, configurations, and implementation plans.

Operational Excellence

• Support 24x7 follow-the-sun operations and after-hours escalations.

• Drive monitoring optimization, automation, and reduced MTTR.

• Collaborate with SRE and platform teams on reliability initiatives.

• Ensure readiness for upgrades, maintenance, and deployments.

• Maintain runbooks, SOPs, diagrams, and documentation.

• Implement automation and IaC (Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation).

• Support ITSM processes (change, incident, problem).

Mentorship

• Coach mid-level engineers across global shifts.

• Act as technical authority and promote best practices.

Collaboration & Governance

• Work with Architecture/Security/Engineering teams on roadmaps and tech adoption.

• Ensure compliance with security policies and audit requirements.

• Communicate effectively with leadership, vendors, and partners.

Basic Qualifications

• 8+ years in enterprise Network/Security engineering.

• Experience in 24x7 global operations.

• Strong hands-on skills in networking, firewalls, VPNs, cloud.

• Proven incident response leadership.

• Ability to make strong technical decisions under pressure.

• Ready to work on contract

Preferred Qualification

• Certifications (CCIE, cloud networking, etc.).

• Automation/scripting experience (Python, Ansible, Terraform).

• ITIL exposure and work in regulated environments.

• Experience with global, multi-time-zone teams.

• Technical leadership

• Incident/crisis management

• Clear communication

• Analytical problem solving

• Focus on continuous improvement