Senior Engineer, Networks at NZ Defence Force, Auckland

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

Mō te tūnga | About the role

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Senior Engineer to join our Enterprise Networks team. This team supports a complex, multi-vendor network environment spanning datacentres, multiple large campus networks across many operational sites.

As a Senior Engineer, you will play a critical role in designing, building, and maintaining resilient and secure communications infrastructure that underpins operational continuity across NZDF.

You will provide expert technical leadership, drive rapid fault resolution, and collaborate closely with internal stakeholders, external vendors, government agencies, and coalition partners to ensure the integrity, security, and availability of enterprise network services.

We are particularly seeking someone who brings strong experience operating and troubleshooting large-scale network environments, with a proven ability to diagnose and resolve complex connectivity, routing, and service delivery issues across geographically dispersed sites.

Bring your experience, new ideas and new thinking for us to benefit from. 

Key responsibilities include:

• Designing, building, and maintaining large-scale IPSec VPN and enterprise network solutions.
• Managing and optimising datacentre switching and network fabric infrastructure.
• Leading the troubleshooting and resolution of complex network incidents across external, remote, and operational environments.
• Partnering with field teams to investigate and resolve connectivity and service issues affecting customers and remote sites.
• Collaborating with technical teams to design, test, implement, support, and decommission network services.
• Working closely with vendors, government agencies, and coalition partners to deliver, troubleshoot, and transition network capabilities.
• Contributing to capability development through the evaluation and integration of emerging technologies.
• Providing technical leadership, guidance, and mentorship to a small team of engineers.

Once you have undergone training and are up to speed, there is a requirement to go on an on-call roster for which you will be compensated for over your annual salary.

The salary for this role ranges from $111,517 to $122,125, inclusive of a 4% superannuation contribution. Appointments within this range are based on skills and experience.

Ngā pūkenga me ngā wheako | Skills and Experience

This role will suit a highly experienced Senior Engineer with a proven background supporting large-scale enterprise and external network environments, collaborating across technical teams and organisations, and leading the delivery and support of business-critical network services.

You will be confident working in complex, geographically dispersed environments and have a strong track record of troubleshooting and resolving complex network issues.

You will bring:

• Extensive experience supporting, troubleshooting, and optimising large-scale enterprise networks, including external connectivity and geographically distributed environments.
• Strong experience with dynamic routing protocols, particularly OSPF and BGP, within complex enterprise and hybrid-cloud environments.
• Proven experience designing, deploying, and supporting IPSec VPN solutions at scale.
• Hands-on experience working within multi-vendor network environments, including:
• Cisco routing and switching
• Cisco CCNA and/or CCNP Certifications PLUS, extensive experience
• Juniper routing and switching
• Juniper JNCIA-JUNOS and/or JNCIP-ENT and/or JNCIP-SP
• Physical rack mount installation configuration and support
• Azure Fundamentals and/orAdministrator certification or equivalent experience
• Red Hat System Administration (eg RH124/RH134 certification or equivalent experience
• Palo Alto Configuration and maintenance certification or equivalent experience, and Palo Alto Next-Generation Firewalls
• Demonstrated ability to diagnose and resolve complex network, routing, and connectivity issues across diverse infrastructures.
• Experience collaborating with internal technical teams, vendors, government agencies, and external partners to deliver and support critical network services.
• Working knowledge of network automation and configuration management tools, including Ansible and Git.
• A solid understanding of IP telephony and its underlying network requirements.
• Experience working within, and a sound understanding of, SAFe Agile methodologies.
• Experience in technical leadership, mentoring, and stakeholder engagement skills, with the proven ability to guide and develop other engineers.

You will need a full clean Class 1 drivers licence

Please note: 

As this role requires a high level of security clearance, you will need to be / have been a NZ, UK, Australian, Canadian or USA citizen for a minimum of 15 years to be eligible for this role. 

The successful candidate is required to undergo a psychological assessment as part of the pre-employment security vetting process.  

Nōu te rourou | What's in it for you

Your skills and dedication deserve recognition, and NZDF delivers with competitive pay matched to your experience. But that's just the beginning – safeguard your loved ones with a fully funded life cover of up to $300,000 and critical illness protection. Other benefits include discounted additional insurances, free will services and savings schemes for the Defence community. Get expert financial guidance and mortgage broker services. Find all our benefits and more on the Force 4 Families website.

NZDF champions diversity and inclusivity, valuing every member and fuelling their success. We embrace uniqueness, understanding that diverse teams drive creativity, innovation, and excellence. With an open door to all – irrespective of gender, ethnicity, ability, age, or family dynamics – NZDF offers a flexible, empowering work environment. Join us in shaping a brighter future, where everyone thrives.

Me pēhea te tuku tono | How to Apply

Applications close on Thursday 22 October 2026.

Use the links on this page where you'll be directed to the Defence Careers website.

Please Note:

• All applications must be made online, via the Defence Careers website. Each listing contains the Position Description and a Contact Us option for any queries or technical issues.
• Your cover letter will be a key part of our selection process, so please highlight how your experience relates to the key activities outlined in the Advert and Position Description.
• Applicants will be required to undergo a pre-employment drug-screening test prior to any offer of employment being made.

NZDF Employees/Members – please apply internally via the HR Toolkit; this will ensure that you are visible as an internal candidate.

NZDF Contractors – please apply via the Defence Careers website.

NZDF Reserves – please apply via the Defence Careers website if you cannot access the HR Toolkit.

Please Note:

To be eligible for the required level of government security clearance with the NZ Defence Force, you need to meet certain citizenship and residency criteria. Here's what you need to know:

Higher Level Security Clearance

• You must be a New Zealand Citizen for at least the last ten (10) years.
• At minimum, you must hold New Zealand Permanent Residence or have a current New Zealand Residency Class Visa, and you must be a citizen of and have lived in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America or New Zealand continuously for the last ten (10) years.
• To obtain this level of clearance, you must have a background history of fifteen (15) years that can be verified and assessed appropriately by the NZ Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) to determine if you are suitable for a security clearance at this level.

If you do not meet the minimum criteria, unfortunately, your application will not be accepted. We do welcome your application at a time when you will meet the requirements.