Network Capability Manager

As part of the reshaping of the Secure Infrastructure capability, we are establishing three new senior leadership roles: a Capability Lead for each of the Network, End User Compute, and Core Infrastructure domains. These are new positions, open to internal and external candidates on the same basis.

The Capability Lead is a senior technical leader, leading the Network domain, which covers Routing, Switching, Firewalling, Network Design and Performance, and the specialist platforms and monitoring tools that support secure network operations across government and defence clients. They are the single accountable leader for the domain. They own the technical direction, the engineering standards, and the people outcomes for the engineers within it. The Capability Lead is the senior technical authority for their domain.

The role combines technical leadership with direct people management. Technical credibility is essential, but the role is not designed for the deepest technical specialist in every discipline. The Capability Lead works through Principal Architects, Principal Engineers, and Technology Team Leads who hold the specialist depth. The Lead’s value is in setting direction, making sound technical judgements across the domain, and leading the people who deliver against it.

What you'll be doing:

• Providing senior technical leadership and strategic direction for the network domain, working through Principal Architects and Engineers to define standards and patterns.
• Owning and maintaining technical standards, reference architectures, and approved patterns across multiple teams and client environments.
• Leading and developing engineers within the capability, with full accountability for performance, progression, and overall people outcomes.
• Representing the domain in Design Authority forums and contributing to cross-capability technical alignment.
• Acting as the final point of technical escalation, making sound decisions where risk or differing expert views exist.
• Leading recruitment for technical roles within the domain, defining requirements and assessing candidates for suitability.

What you’ll bring:

• Strong senior technical leadership experience within infrastructure, with credibility recognised by engineering peers.
• Proven ability to lead, develop and grow technical teams in complex delivery environments.
• Experience setting and maintaining technical standards across multiple teams or accounts.
• Strong network engineering background across routing, switching, firewalling and secure network environments.
• Ability to make sound technical judgements in real delivery contexts, not just theoretical design.
• Experience working in enterprise or multi-supplier environments, including secure or classified networks.

It would be great if you had:

• Experience working within a supplier or systems integrator delivering to UK public sector clients.
• Experience in capability or practice leadership models beyond project or programme delivery.
• A track record of mentoring and developing senior engineers or architects.
• Experience working with workforce planning or HR functions on recruitment and performance.
• Experience supporting government, defence, or critical national infrastructure clients.
• Familiarity with vendor platforms such as Cisco, Palo Alto, F5 or equivalent technologies.

Location: UK-based – remote with travel as required.
Security Clearance Level: Security cleared – minimum eligibility for SC clearance, with route to DV where required.
Internal Recruiter: Rebecca.

Sopra Steria’s Aerospace, Defence and Security business designs, develops and deploys digital solutions to Central Government clients. The work we do makes a real difference to the client’s goal of National Security, and we operate in a unique and privileged environment. We are given time for professional development activities, and we coach and mentor our colleagues, sharing knowledge and learning from each other. We foster a culture in which employees feel valued and supported and have pride in their work for the customer, delivering outstanding rates of customer satisfaction in the UK’s most complex safety- and security-critical markets.