Junior Network Engineer jobs in Birmingham B1

Job Title: Virtualisation Engineer

Location: Midlands

Job Type: Full-Time 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday. The role requires participation in an on-call rota.

Salary: Up To £60,000 Per Annum DOE

At Airband, we’re building more than broadband networks, we’re helping reshape connectivity across the UK. Originally established to tackle the digital divide in rural and underserved communities, Airband has grown into a dynamic broadband provider delivering services through Fibre, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and wholesale network partnerships.

Role Summery

The Virtualisation Engineer is responsible for the design, implementation, support and continuous improvement of Airband’s virtualisation and compute infrastructure across on-premise data centres, private cloud platforms and hybrid cloud environments.

The role will provide operational and engineering support for VMware, Proxmox, Linux, Windows Server and associated infrastructure services, ensuring high levels of availability, resilience, performance and security. The Virtualisation Engineer will work closely with Network, Security, NOC and Systems teams to support business-critical platforms, operational tooling and customer-facing services.

The position requires strong technical capability across virtualisation technologies, operating systems, infrastructure automation, backup and recovery and cloud integration. The successful candidate will contribute to platform strategy, infrastructure modernisation, operational support and service optimisation across Airband’s growing technology estate.

Responsibilities

Infrastructure & Platform Management

• Support, maintain and optimise existing VMware and Proxmox virtualisation environments.
• Administer VMware ESXi hosts, clusters, storage and High Availability (HA) configurations.
• Manage virtual machine lifecycle activities including provisioning, migration, patching, optimisation and decommissioning.
• Support Linux and Windows Server environments across operational and business platforms.
• Ensure the stability, performance, resilience and availability of virtualisation and compute infrastructure.
• Manage and maintain backup, recovery and disaster recovery solutions for virtual platforms and associated services.
• Monitor platform health, resource utilisation, capacity and performance to proactively identify risks or degradation.

Engineering & Project Delivery

• Design, build, and implement new infrastructure services and platform capabilities as part of ongoing project delivery.
• Contribute to infrastructure upgrades, migrations and modernisation initiatives across virtualisation and cloud environments.
• Support cloud migration projects and hybrid cloud integration activities where required.
• Assist with Kubernetes platform deployment and operational support activities where applicable.
• Work collaboratively with Network, Security, NOC and Systems & Engineering teams to deliver integrated infrastructure solutions.
• Review infrastructure architecture and recommend improvements relating to resilience, scalability, automation, and operational efficiency

Security & Operational Governance

• Implement and maintain security hardening standards across virtualisation hosts, operating systems and supporting infrastructure.
• Support vulnerability remediation, patch management and operational security initiatives.
• Maintain appropriate firewalling and system access controls, including working knowledge of iptables and host-based security configuration.
• Ensure operational compliance with backup, monitoring, documentation and change management standards.
• Produce and maintain accurate technical documentation, operational procedures, and infrastructure diagrams.

Automation & Continuous Improvement

• Support automation and infrastructure-as-code initiatives using tools such as Ansible, Puppet, or equivalent technologies.
• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, reduce manual intervention, and improve service resilience.
• Support monitoring and alerting improvements to ensure effective operational visibility and service availability.
• Manage operational cloud expenditure responsibly, ensuring services remain cost-effective and aligned to business requirements.

Key Skills & Experience

• Proven experience working in a Virtualisation Engineer, Infrastructure Engineer, or Systems Engineer role.
• Strong hands-on experience with VMware vSphere and ESXi environments.
• Experience administering and supporting Proxmox virtualisation platforms.
• Solid Linux system administration skills across server environments.
• Solid Windows Server administration experience.
• Strong understanding of networking fundamentals including IP addressing, DHCP, DNS, routing and VLANs.
• Understanding of infrastructure security principles, system hardening and operational best practices.
• Working knowledge of iptables, host firewalling and Linux security configuration.
• Experience supporting High Availability (HA), resilience and disaster recovery solutions.
• Experience with cloud platforms and hybrid cloud environments, particularly Microsoft Azure.
• Familiarity with data centre infrastructure environments and operational practices.
• Experience with monitoring, alerting, backup and recovery platforms.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes and containerised infrastructure environments desirable.
• Familiarity with automation and configuration management tools such as Ansible or Puppet.
• Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills across infrastructure, systems, and platform environments.
• Excellent documentation, organisational, and communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across technical teams within a fast-paced operational environment

Additional Key Skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Effective time management and prioritisation
• Strong problem-solving skills
• Attention to detail and accuracy
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a wider Airband team
• Embraces change, is adaptable and is willing to learn
• Customer / user-focused mindset
• Continuous improvement mindset
• Planning and organisational skills
• Competent use of Microsoft 365 tools
• Embraces diversity
• Emotional intelligence and professionalism

Qualifications & Professional Knowledge

Desirable: Experience working within an ISP or carrier environment

What can Airband Offer you?

• 25 days of paid leave a year rising to 30 plus bank holidays with service.
• 5% Airband pension plus a minimum 3% employee contribution.
• Customer referral bonus - a thank you for every customer you send our way.
• We offer hybrid working – a mix of working from home and in the office.
• Free Broadband - If you are in our coverage, you can benefit from free broadband with us! (subject to time served)
• 20% off your monthly line rental on EE’s phone, tablet, SIM only or mobile broadband plans.
• Cycle to work, Tech scheme, Healthcare and medical insurance. Dental care, and Health cash fund (dependent on the length of service)
• Airshare (employee discount platform) - discounts on everyday shopping, weekly groceries, holidays, the list is endless - save up to £1,000 a year!
• Refer a friend reward scheme – a selection of great rewards to choose from!

Pre-employment checks

Please note that you are required to have the right to work in the UK and we request satisfactory references as part of our recruitment process. A DBS check may be required for a number of our roles, particularly those that are customer-facing. Also, a driving licence may be required for positions that require you to be out in the field as part of the role.

Recruitment agency support is not required at this time.

Pay: Up to £60,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee discount
• Free parking
• On-site parking
• Sick pay

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Droitwich