Network, Voice and Connectivity Lead

Network, Voice and Connectivity Lead

Permanent, Full Time

£54,463 to £64,073 per annum

Location: Chelmsford*

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 20th April 2026

*Please note this is a hybrid-working role, with a requirement to attend the Chelmsford office 2-3 days per month, depending on business need.

Essex County Council is ambitious and by 2030 it will be one of the most forward looking, effective and financially sustainable Councils in the country. ECC will be a leading-edge digital council that drives excellent customer service with transformation at the heart of service excellence.

The Infrastructure and Service Operations teams lead on ensuring the availability, performance, and scalability of ECC's critical platforms and digital services, forecasting and managing infrastructure and user resources to align with business growth. Teams are responsible for all first-line support, enhancing the overall customer experience and overseeing service operations, supporting around 9,000 users and devices and driving the adoption and development of new solutions and systems to deliver improved infrastructure, platform, and user services for ECC, exemplifying high standards of user-centricity. They manage multi-million-pound commissioned and in-house service, device, network, and platform contracts with expertise in technology contracting

The Network and Communication Lead is responsible for overseeing the design, implementation, and management of the organisation's data network and telephony systems. The postholder acts as the Council’s intelligent client, ensuring a reliable, secure, and efficient communication infrastructure to support business operations. The manager is responsible for key service provider contracts and relationships across network and voice services.

Role responsibilities

• Primary technical interface for the Council’s Network and Voice partners, overseeing the development and implementation of strategic plans for network and telephony systems and managing budget planning and expenditure for network and voice services to ensure value for money.

• Oversee the production of network designs and design policies, strategies, architecture and documentation, covering security, capacity, and resilience for voice, data, text, email, and image, to support business requirements and strategy. This may incorporate all aspects of the communications infrastructure, internal and external, mobile, public and private, Internet, Intranet and call centres.

• Manage the delivery of the network and voice services ensuring high availability, performance, and security of network systems, monitoring performance and troubleshooting any issues to minimise downtime and ensure the service adequately supports business needs.

• Council Technical lead for voice solutions, upgrades and maintenance, overseeing the integration of telephony systems with other communication tools and platforms, and reviewing and rationalising voice services to ensure value for money.

• Lead projects related to network and voice infrastructure improvements and innovations, reviewing and aligning network projects to the Councils strategic ambitions.

• Ensuring the data network and voice systems adhere to relevant regulations and standards and the Council’s security policies to minimise risk of cyber security issues.

• Manage relationships with vendors and service providers for network and voice services, negotiating contracts and service level agreements, monitoring vendor performance and resolving any service issues to ensure optimal performance and cost-effectiveness.

• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Educated to RQF level 6 (Bachelor’s degree) in Computer Science, Information Technology or a related field, or equivalent by experience.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in network and voice/communication management.

• Strong technical knowledge of networking technologies (LAN, WAN, VPN, wireless) and telephony systems (VoIP).

• Experience with network security principles and practices.

• Excellent problem-solving and troubleshooting abilities.

• Excellent customer service, written, verbal communication and presentational skills.

• Technical leadership experience that includes evidence of managing a large budget, planning and resource management in a multi-disciplinary team.

• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional area.

To read more about us please visit: Corporate Services - Working for Essex

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In February 2025, Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, which will see local authorities in Essex work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. You can read more about devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR) on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service.  The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate.  This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained.  For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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