Network Administrator / Network Engineer

About the role

Spektrum supports apex purchasers (NATO, UN, EU and national government and defence) and their Tier 1 suppliers with specialist services, including aerospace and defence sales, delivery and subject-matter expertise. The role supports the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), which provides secure communications and IT services to NATO member countries and partners. The Network Administrator / Network Engineer operates, maintains and develops the LAN, WAN, wireless and voice infrastructure behind NATO CIS services, administering and troubleshooting network services daily and, at engineer level, designing changes, planning capacity and producing network design documentation. The position is based in Izmir, Turkey, with support to the NCIA Support Element in Ankara and other NATO locations as needed.

Key responsibilities

• Administer, monitor and troubleshoot routers, switches, wireless controllers and associated network services, restoring connectivity within agreed service levels.
• Prepare, peer-check, apply, verify and record approved network configuration changes (VLANs, routing, firewall rules, QoS) in line with change management.
• Support VoIP and SIP services, coordinate with WAN and carrier providers and perform connectivity and performance testing.
• Analyse monitoring data, logs and telemetry to identify performance issues, capacity needs and operational risks.
• Maintain configuration baselines, network diagrams, IP address records and operating procedures.
• Engineer level: translate requirements into network designs, technical specifications and implementation plans, including capacity planning.
• Engineer level: plan and execute installations, upgrades, migrations and technology refreshes, develop test plans and support acceptance and handover.
• Engineer level: investigate complex incidents, perform root cause analysis and develop automation for configuration, backup and validation.
• Apply security standards and coordinate with cyber security, systems and project teams throughout the network lifecycle.

Required profile

• Technical or vocational qualification, or degree, in networking, telecommunications, IT or a related discipline.
• Administrator level: at least three years of experience administering enterprise LAN, WAN and wireless networks.
• Engineer level: at least four years, including design and implementation.
• CCNA or equivalent (administrator level); CCNP, JNCIP or equivalent (engineer level).
• Right to work and reside in Turkey (work and residence permit or Turkish citizenship) and a valid NATO SECRET security clearance at the start of the assignment.
• Professional working proficiency in English, spoken and written (NATO STANAG 6001 SLP 3333 or equivalent desirable).

Required skills

• Strong knowledge of Layer 2/3 networking: Ethernet, VLANs, STP, IP addressing and subnetting, OSPF; BGP at engineer level.
• Hands-on configuration and troubleshooting of Cisco, Juniper or HPE network equipment.
• Working knowledge of DNS, DHCP, IPAM, SNMP, QoS, VPNs, firewalls and network redundancy.
• Experience with network monitoring and diagnostic tools, and with incident, change and configuration management processes.
• Desirable: MPLS, VRFs, multicast, IPv6 and SD-WAN; network access control (Cisco ISE, 802.1X, RADIUS, TACACS+); network automation with Python or Ansible; VoIP/SIP, video or satellite communications integration; VMware NSX/vDS and ITIL Foundation; NATO, defence or security-sensitive environment experience.