Principal Network DevOps Engineer

• Hybrid work environment in Sydney CBD
• 18mth Fixed Term Contract opportunity supporting a major vulnerability management and network security uplift
• Lead the technical evolution of enterprise networking through automation, secure engineering and Network DevOps practices

About the business/role/team


The Reserve Bank of Australia's Network Services team is responsible for engineering and supporting the Bank's enterprise network infrastructure and associated network services.


We are seeking an experienced Principal Network DevOps Engineer to provide technical leadership to a team of Network DevOps Engineers supporting a significant Vulnerability Management and Hardening uplift. The role will work closely with the Network Engineering Team Lead and collaborate across Cyber Security, Architecture, Operations, project teams and technology vendors.


This is a senior technical leadership role for someone who can bring together deep enterprise networking expertise with DevOps, automation and modern engineering practices, while providing technical direction, mentoring engineers and helping establish sustainable engineering capabilities.



About the role


As Principal Network DevOps Engineer, you will:

• Provide technical leadership and direction to Network DevOps Engineers across network engineering, automation and security uplift activities.
• Lead architecture and engineering decisions across complex enterprise network environments, including routing and switching, WAN/SD-WAN, data centre, firewalls, F5 and network security.
• Establish and promote Network as Code and DevOps engineering practices, including Git, CI/CD, peer review, automated testing and controlled deployment.
• Lead and enable network automation using technologies such as Python, Ansible, APIs and platform-native automation capabilities.
• Provide technical leadership for network vulnerability remediation, patching, hardening and configuration compliance.
• Help establish repeatable and, where appropriate, automated pre-change and post-patch validation to protect network availability and resilience.
• Provide technical oversight of network management and patching capabilities across technologies such as Cisco Catalyst Center, Cisco FMC and F5 tooling.
• Establish engineering standards, reusable automation patterns, design principles and technical governance.
• Lead technical assessment of automation and orchestration opportunities, including proofs of concept where appropriate.
• Work closely with Cyber Security, Architecture and operational teams to manage technical risk, vulnerabilities, exceptions and remediation dependencies.
• Provide technical leadership during complex incidents and critical or zero-day vulnerability responses.
• Mentor and develop engineers, improve engineering capability and reduce key-person dependencies.
• Ensure new engineering capabilities are supportable and can transition effectively into BAU operations.
  
  

About you:


You will bring:

• Extensive experience designing, engineering and supporting large-scale enterprise network environments.
• Strong technical expertise across network technologies such as routing and switching, BGP, WAN/SD-WAN, data centre networking, firewalls, load balancing and network security.
• Demonstrated experience providing technical leadership to senior engineers and engineering teams.
• Strong experience in network automation and Network DevOps, using technologies such as Python, Ansible, REST APIs and infrastructure/network-as-code approaches.
• Practical experience with Git and CI/CD practices, including peer review, automated testing, deployment controls and rollback.
• Experience with network management, security or automation platforms such as Cisco Catalyst Center, Cisco FMC and F5 BIG-IQ or equivalent technologies.
• Experience with vulnerability remediation, security patching, infrastructure hardening and configuration compliance.
• Strong architecture and solution design capability, including the ability to assess technical options, risks, dependencies and operational impacts.
• Demonstrated ability to establish engineering standards, technical governance and design assurance.
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving capability across complex production environments.
• Experience mentoring engineers and building sustainable engineering capability.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to translate complex technical issues into clear recommendations and decisions.
• A collaborative approach, with the ability to work effectively across Network Services, Cyber Security, Architecture, Operations, projects and external vendors.

Be More


Working for an organisation that truly makes a difference to the people of Australia, we can offer development and career opportunities in a collaborative environment that supports your growth, wellbeing and promotes flexibility. Your individual growth and success drives the RBA forward as an organisation. Be more means you can do more, for yourself and for Australia.


Why RBA?


The RBA makes an important contribution to the Australian economy through the pursuit of national economic policy objectives and associated activities in financial markets and banking. We also issue Australia's banknotes and operate infrastructure critical to the payments system, all of which contribute to the welfare of the Australian people.


Made up of specialists across a wide range of fields, our people, values, and culture play a critical role in achieving our objectives. Striving to be Open & Dynamic, we consider and incorporate different perspectives, work across teams and are transparent with each other, whilst delivering quality together effectively and focusing on outcomes by prioritising, testing, learning, and refining as we go.


Our people conduct themselves with a high degree of integrity, while striving for excellence in the work they perform and the outcomes they achieve. We encourage intelligent inquiry and treat one another with respect while promoting the public interest through our efforts.

We know it is the growth and success of our people that drives the RBA forward. Come and make a bigger contribution while you build and develop your own skills too, because being more means you can do more, for yourself and for Australia.


The Reserve Bank of Australia is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion through key initiatives. We welcome and encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those living with a disability and members of the LGBTQ+ community. We are committed to making the recruitment process fair and equitable for all candidates.