Explore expert-level Run & Maintain SME – Network & Security Infrastructure jobs, a critical senior operational role at the heart of modern enterprise IT. Professionals in this field are the designated Subject Matter Experts responsible for the ongoing health, stability, and security of an organization's core networking and security platforms. Unlike project-focused engineers who design and deploy new systems, these SMEs own the operational lifecycle, ensuring that critical infrastructure performs reliably, securely, and efficiently day after day. This position is essential for businesses that rely on complex, hybrid environments and require deep, specialized knowledge to maintain business continuity and mitigate risk. A Run & Maintain SME typically shoulders a broad range of responsibilities centered on operational excellence. Their primary duty is to serve as the final point of escalation for incident management, diagnosing and resolving complex faults, performance bottlenecks, and configuration issues within the network and security stack. They conduct proactive monitoring of system health and performance metrics to prevent outages. A significant part of the role involves meticulous change management, including reviewing, implementing, and validating configuration changes, as well as executing patching, firmware upgrades, and lifecycle management for a wide array of devices. Maintaining rigorous documentation—such as operational runbooks, network topology diagrams, and asset inventories—is a fundamental task. Furthermore, these experts ensure all systems adhere to internal security policies and compliance frameworks, often generating vulnerability and compliance reports for audit purposes. To succeed in these high-stakes jobs, individuals must possess a deep, hands-on technical foundation. Common requirements include several years of experience in network or security operations, with expert-level knowledge in specific vendor ecosystems—such as Aruba, Juniper, Palo Alto, Cisco, or Fortinet—encompassing switches, routers, firewalls, and network access control solutions. A strong grasp of core networking concepts (e.g., BGP, OSPF, VLANs, STP) and security protocols (e.g., RADIUS/TACACS, 802.1X, IPsec) is mandatory. Increasingly, proficiency in automation and scripting using tools like Python, Ansible, or Bash is highly preferred to streamline repetitive tasks and ensure configuration consistency. Beyond technical acumen, ideal candidates demonstrate strong analytical problem-solving skills, a process-oriented mindset with strict adherence to ITIL-based change control procedures, and the ability to collaborate effectively with engineering, security, and application teams. These roles often require participation in an on-call rotation to provide 24/7 operational coverage, making resilience and clear communication under pressure key attributes for professionals seeking Run & Maintain SME – Network & Security Infrastructure jobs.
