Network Consultant

Overview

Cathara Consulting is seeking a Network Consultant to support the client’s network and telecommunications services. Working with business representatives, managed service providers, vendors and technical stakeholders, the consultant will provide specialist network advice, hands-on transition support, technical guidance and stakeholder engagement to ensure solutions align with business requirements, technology standards and operational objectives.

The client is delivering a large-scale critical ICT infrastructure transformation program across more than 460 metropolitan, regional and remote sites. The program is modernising network and infrastructure services to provide a secure, resilient and scalable foundation for future digital services. The program includes replacing end-of-life assets, uplifting cyber security, improving service reliability, enabling strategic digital initiatives, remediating audit and compliance findings, and transitioning to contemporary managed infrastructure and support services.

Essential Skills

·       Strong Cisco enterprise networking fundamentals, including hands-on Catalyst switching and practical Layer 2/3 troubleshooting in large campus environments.

·       Foundational knowledge of Cisco SD-Access concepts, including fabric edge, border and control-plane roles, VXLAN, LISP and Security Group Tags.

·       Experience supporting live production networks during transition, post-cutover or hypercare activities.

·       Understanding of micro- and macro-segmentation in Cisco environments.

·       Experience using endpoint information and traffic analysis to maintain accurate network-connected device records.

·       Level 2/3 network or desktop support and systematic fault isolation experience.

·       Experience configuring and installing routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, VPNs and QoS services.

·       Experience monitoring network performance, availability and reliability.

·       Demonstrated experience working within configuration and change management processes.

·       Ability to work effectively with vendors, service providers and technical teams to resolve complex issues.

Desirable Skills and Experience 

·       Exposure to Cisco ISE, NetFlow, telemetry or operational technology visibility platforms such as xDome or similar.

·       Experience supporting IoT devices, particularly within medical or clinical environments.

·       Experience developing strategic program roadmaps and delivering engagements of comparable scale and complexity.

·       Strong stakeholder engagement experience and sound corporate knowledge.

·       Previous experience working in or with a complex public-sector organisation.

·       Experience supporting voice and telephony transitions and on-premises compute or hypervisor migrations.

Key Responsibilities

·       Undertake physical network discovery across client environments, including tracing, identifying, labelling and documenting Ethernet and fibre cabling.

·       Plan, execute and test the migration of end-user equipment from the legacy network to the segregated health LAN.

·       Use endpoint analysis tools to identify devices, apply appropriate micro-segment tags and analyse traffic profiles.

·       Validate firewall rules and access control lists required for communications between micro-segments.

·       Develop treatment plans, detailed checklists and test plans using approved templates.

·       Coordinate resolution of supporting-service issues involving DNS, DHCP, certificates, group policy and voice services.

·       Support Cisco enterprise networks, including Catalyst switching, Layer 2/3 troubleshooting and Cisco SD-Access environments.

·       Support live production networks during transition, cutover and hypercare, following runbooks and escalation processes.

·       Apply IoT and medical-environment experience to develop treatment plans and coordinate configuration changes with third parties.

·       Plan the migration of on-premises compute platforms and hypervisors to the new LAN.

·       Document changes, comply with technical change governance, and complete program reporting in the required format and frequency.