CND Systems Engineer (Network) at Government Communications Security Bureau, Wellington

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

Are you inspired by protecting New Zealand?

Looking for a role where your expertise will be highly valued?

Join our diverse and talented people and work at the heart of national security, providing essential intelligence to the NZ government to protect New Zealand and its people.

Why Join Us?

If you're driven by protecting New Zealand's digital future, this is the role for you. You'll work on high‑impact cyber‑defence projects, develop cutting‑edge network solutions, and have a clear pathway to Level 3 - Senior Network Engineer.

About the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is the heart of Aotearoa New Zealand’s cyber defence. We fulfil the cyber security responsibilities of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) | Te Tira Tiaki, and provide cyber security services to all New Zealanders – from individuals and small businesses and organisations up to large enterprises, government, and critical national infrastructure.

The role

We’re looking for an experienced Senior Network Engineer to design, build and operate our enterprise software defined LAN & WAN platforms. In this critical role, you’ll be at the forefront of enhancing GCSB’s capability to detect, disrupt, and deter sophisticated cyber threats facing New Zealand—contributing to the security of our nation.

Our work may be classified, but the secret to our success isn’t—it’s our people. Our engineers are the backbone of ground breaking cyber security solutions that have earned national acclaim, including the 2023 Public Service Commission's Spirit of Service Award for Service Excellence, the Prime Minister's Award, and the 2022 iSANZ Award for Best New Zealand Security Product or Service.

This is your opportunity to be part of a high performing team of CND Systems Engineers. The mission is vital and the challenge is unlike anything else.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership as a senior network engineer
• Design, build and manage enterprise LAN & WAN as the Subject Matter Expert
• Champion industry best practices and frameworks into engineered solutions
• Coach and Mentor Systems Engineers
• Relationship Management & Stakeholder Engagement

Who we're looking for

You’ll be instrumental in delivering enterprise systems by being the subject matter expert, applying industry best practices and frameworks, driving automation initiatives, mentoring team members, and supporting end-to-end project execution and day-to-day operations.

To achieve this, you will be proactive and enthusiastic with strong relationship management skills and the ability to navigate complexity with confidence.

You will ideally bring:

• 5+ years' experience as a SME in designing, building and operating SDN and SD WAN platforms
• Experience defining and evolving reference architectures (cloud networking, hybrid connectivity, WAN, segmentation) and codifying standards that enable consistency across teams and environments.
• Knowledge in developing and maintaining a multi-quarter network roadmap covering capacity, refresh cycles, end-of-support remediation, and major initiatives (e.g., SD-WAN rollout, zero trust segmentation, defence-in-depth).
• Experience implementing for redundancy, failure domains, and graceful degradation; ensuring critical paths have appropriate high availability and tested failover.
• Experience embedding network controls (segmentation, firewall policy, DDoS protections, secure remote access) into architecture patterns and build processes.
• Experience implementing and optimising routing (BGP/OSPF/IS-IS), VLANs/VRFs, QoS, and resilient L2/L3 designs across datacentres and campuses.
• Experience in enforcing baseline configurations, secure defaults, and policy-as-code checks (where feasible); support audits with evidence and traceability.
• Experience maintaining accurate network diagrams, configurations-as-code repositories, and operational runbooks to reduce key-person risk.

The expected appointment range for this opportunity is:  $120,359 - $128,383.

Why work for us

Alongside getting to work with other talented people, we also offer a range of comprehensive benefits which include:

• Medical insurance and vision care packages
• Enhanced employer contributions to your Kiwisaver
• Generous leave benefits, including additional paid days off and enhanced sick and parental leave
• Childcare allowance for your pre-schoolers
• Opportunities for personal and professional growth and career pathways across the intelligence community
• Great work-life balance

Before you apply

Working within our unique environment means we must ensure you’re eligible for employment. You must:

• Have been a New Zealand Citizen for at least 10 years
  OR
  Hold a current NZ Residency Class visa and ideally have been a citizen of the UK, USA, Canada or Australia for at least 10 years
• Be eligible to obtain a Top Secret Special (TSS) clearance
• Ordinarily this means you will have a 15-year checkable background in countries NZSIS Vetting can make meaningful and reliable checks

Still unsure? Use this online tool to self-check your eligibility for a TSS security clearance: http://www.protectivesecurity.govt.nz/eligibility-tool

The NZIC treats all applications for employment in the strictest confidence and we expect that you maintain a similar level of confidentiality during the recruitment process and throughout your career.

We'll provide you with information and tips throughout the recruitment process, but in the meantime check out some of our Security FAQs here The security clearance process | Beyond Ordinary Careers

You can also learn more about our work and understand our areas of focus by reading New Zealand's Security Threat Environment | New Zealand Security Intelligence Service