Network Engineer- Senior Engineer/Team Leader - CCNP Qualified

Tender description

Summary of the work DE&S requires an Enterprise Network Service to provide 3rd line support utilising suitably SQEP DV cleared UK nationals to provide on-site network engineering services across a number of systems. The team reports to the System Operating Authority for day to day prioritisation of tasks according to the Operational tempo. Specialist role Designer Expected Contract Length Feb 21-March 21. Option- Apr 21-March 22 Latest start date Monday 3 February 2020 Maximum Day Rate £850 per day Ex VAT inclusive of Agency Fee Who Speclialist Work With The Enterprise Network Service requires a 3rd line support team comprising of DV cleared UK nationals of suitably qualified and experienced personnel (SQEP) to provide on-site network engineering support. This role will report to the System Operating Authority that manage a number of networks and Information Systems at Secret and Above Secret What Specialists Work On 1. Perform IT Service Management activities for the network, including but not limited to: incident management, problem management, change management, configuration management, knowledge management and service validation and testing. 2. To be in attendance during normal working hours (NWH). 3. To occasionally work outside of working hours (OWH) to conduct pre-planned change activity. 4. To travel to other sites to conduct network support. These support tasks may last several days. Not less than 1 in 8 weeks will be spent at sites other than normal place of work. Skills & Experience • Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) (Routing and Switching or Collaboration or Security) • 5-10 years experience supporting complex campus area network (CAN) and wide area networks (WAN) networks based on IP cryptography. • 10+ years experience of project engineering. • Must complete the Supplier Assurance Questionnaire at: http://supplier-cyber-protection.service.gov.uk/ using assessment reference: RAR-73THBAVD Cyber Risk profile: Moderate Nice to Haves • Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) (Routing and Switching) • CCNA (Collaboration) • CCNA (Security) • Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA) • Python Certified Entry-Level Programmer (PCEP) • Programming for Network Engineers (PRNE) • L3 TRL cryptographic equipment (Catapan) • Implementation and administration of encrypted IP tunnelling of classified network traffic across various bearers. • OSPF configuration and management, EIGRP, BGP, L3 TRL Catapan, Nexus-OS, Linux OS, QoS, DSCP marking, Policy Based Routing, logging and analysis tools (e.g. PRTG, Splunk, SolarWinds), DMVPN, Cisco networking equipment. • Dell networking equipment, Juniper firewall equipment, Oracle Communications equipment, VoIP and video teleconferencing, RBAC administration, software defined network (SDN) exposure including SD-WAN, Cisco DNAC and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Work Location West Midlands Working Arrangments 5 days a week (excluding Bank Holidays) assumed 230 working days per year Mon to Fri 08:30 to 17:00 1 x NE from this team is to be on-call OWH. This is assumed to be a 1-in-9 rotation amongst the team unless personnel shortages necessitate a higher frequency. On-call response obligations include: a. Respond to a phone call within 30 minutes (i.e. answer or return a call and maintain voice communications with on-site personnel thereafter). b. Attend a main site within 1 hour. c. Attend any user site within UK within 24 hours. Security Clearance MOD held DV required on day 1 of the appointment and for the duration of the Contract Additional T&Cs DEFCON 5J(Edn 18/11/16)-Unique Identifiers DEFCON 76(Edn 12/06)-Contractor’s Personnel at Government Sites DEFCON 501(Edn 11/17)-Definitions and Interpretations DEFCON 522(Edn 11/17)-Payment and Recovery of Sums Due DEFCON 658(Edn 10/17)-Cyber DEFCON 659A(Edn 02/17)-Security Measures (A Security Aspects Letter will be provided following Contract Award) DEFCON 660(Edn 12/15)-Official-Sensitive Security Requirements DEFCON 703(Edn 08/13)-Intellectual Property Rights - Vesting in the Authority No. of Specialists to Evaluate 3 Cultural Fit Criteria • Ability to work with others in a high pressure, Operational Environment that frequently manages conflicting priorities • Ability to make decisions under pressure. • Ability to work with multiple stakeholders • Ability to work as a team. Assessment Method • Reference • Interview Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Is this an Incumbent for this role? Yes, there is an incumbent in this role. 2. Latest start date is stated as Feb 3. Can you confirm that this is a 4 week contract – Feb 21 to March 21 – with a possible extension of a further 4 weeks – March 22 to April 21 – which is not confirmed currently? The information in the advert is incorrect. The initial contract period will be from Feb 2020 to July 2021, with an option to extend for 6 months. 3. Is there an incumbent for the role? Yes, there is an incumbent in this role. 4. Would you accept Candidates with SC Clearance? No, candidates must hold DV Clearance on day 1 of the appointment and for the duration of the Contract 5. Will you provide a DV clearnace process? No, candidates must hold DV Clearance on day 1 of the appointment and for the duration of the Contract 6. Is there an incumbent in this role? or consultant providing the service? please advise, thank you Yes, there is an incumbent in this role. 7. Is there an incumbent for this role or any other of the network engineer roles that were simultaneously released? Yes, there is an incumbent in this role. There are also incumbents in each of the 5 other Network Engineer roles currently being advertised 8. Which site in the West Midlands will most of the work take place? This information will be released to candidates taken through to interview. 9. Is there currently an incumbent in place for this specialism? Yes, there is an incumbent in place for this specialism. 10. As a team lead, would you be able to give an anticipated balance of admin/technical workload? The team leader is responsible for the technical oversight of the team's network engineering effort. They have responsibility to organise the team for the efficient delivery of outputs in terms of engineering tasks across the organisation's sites. They have no direct HR or administrative responsibility but will perform monitoring and reporting of the team's activity. They will routinely perform engineering tasks and share in the on-call rota. 11. Please confirm if roles have been assessed against IR35 ? This role falls outside IR35, concluded by using the ‘check employment status for tax’ online tool https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-employment-status-for-tax/cluster/. 12. Please confirm if the contract length should say Feb 20 to Mar 21 ? The information in the advert is incorrect. The initial contract period will be from Feb 2020 to July 2021, with an option to extend for 6 months. 13. Please confirm if reference to Agency Fee's includes or excludes expenses for working away from normal place of work The day rate is exclusive of travel expenses. These will be reimbursed at-cost. 14. Can you please confirm the answer format. There isn’t a technical question here, it is an admin question based on a job spec. Are you looking for suppliers to confirm capabilities more than anything?Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) -eg. for this question are looking for confirmation of the skill (the answer is Yes) or are you looking for situation, work done and result? Suggested answer: We are looking for confirmation (Yes) that the candidate holds a current Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Routing and Switching certification and that he/she has the required length of experience. Dates/location showing experience can be included. If essential skills and experience are confirmed, we would expect to request a CV before moving to the next stage. 15. Does this role fall inside or outside of IR35? This role falls outside IR35, concluded by using the ‘check employment status for tax’ online tool https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-employment-status-for-tax/cluster/. 16. Is the day rate exclusive of additional off-site expenses as before, or are expenses now covered by the contractor within the day rate? The day rate is exclusive of travel expenses. These will be reimbursed at-cost. 17. Please clarify the Contract Duration for Specialist as you indicated start date is feb 2020?Expected contract length Feb 21-March 21. Option- Apr 21-March 22 This is a typo, it should read: Expected contract length: February 2020 to July 2021 with an option to extend for 6 months 18. Does this role fall inside or outside of IR35? This role falls outside IR35, concluded by using the ‘check employment status for tax’ online tool https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-employment-status-for-tax/cluster/. 19. Please confirm if roles have been assessed against IR35 This role falls outside IR35, concluded by using the ‘check employment status for tax’ online tool https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-employment-status-for-tax/cluster/. 20. Can you please confirm the answer format. There isn’t a technical question here, it is an admin question based on a job spec. Are you looking for suppliers to confirm capabilities more than anything?Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) -eg. for this question are looking for confirmation of the skill (the answer is Yes) or are you looking for situation, work done and result? We are looking for confirmation (Yes) that the candidate holds a current Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Routing and Switching certification and that he/she has the required length of experience. Dates/location showing experience can be included. If essential skills and experience are confirmed, we would expect to request a CV before moving to the next stage. 21. When will interviews take place? Suggested interview dates are 21-23 January 2020. There is also the possibility for teleconference interviews for those unable to attend in person.