Network & Telephony Lead

As Network & Telephony Lead within our Technology Infrastructure function, you'll take full ownership of the network and telephony estate across our corporate, retail, and garage locations. With a Juniper SD-WAN deployment in its final stages, a WiFi modernisation programme to drive forward, and a telephony estate spanning Teams Phone Direct Routing and a customer-facing contact centre platform, there's plenty of substance to get into from day one. Day to day, you'll oversee WAN, LAN, SD-WAN, WiFi, and site connectivity across a geographically distributed estate, own the PSTN and Direct Routing layer underpinning Teams Phone, and maintain the contact centre telephony platform. You'll co-own network security alongside the Head of Information Security and manage the outsourced service provider, setting clear performance expectations and driving continuous improvement against agreed outcomes. This is a hands-on technical leadership role with real breadth, spanning infrastructure delivery, supplier management, and cross-functional collaboration. If you have deep network expertise, experience completing large-scale deployment programmes in live operational environments, and the confidence to hold an outsourced partner to account, this is a role where the scope and pace will keep things genuinely interesting., + Complete the global Juniper SD-WAN deployment, driving the programme to a controlled close, ensuring all sites are fully transitioned and the platform is handed into a stable operational state with appropriate runbooks, monitoring, and support processes

• Own and operate the full network estate across all corporate, retail, and garage locations, covering WAN, LAN, SD-WAN, WiFi, and site connectivity, ensuring reliability and performance across a diverse, geographically distributed estate
• Lead the WiFi modernisation programme, assessing remaining legacy wireless infrastructure, building a prioritised refresh roadmap, and delivering upgrades in a planned and minimally disruptive way
• Own the PSTN and Direct Routing connectivity layer for Teams Phone, working alongside the Modern Workplace Lead to ensure the telephony infrastructure is reliable and correctly integrated
• Own the contact centre telephony platform, maintaining availability and performance, and managing the outsourced provider relationship
• Co-own network security with the Head of Information Security, implementing and maintaining firewall policy, network segmentation, VLAN design, and remote access controls
• Manage the outsourced network and telephony service provider, holding the partner accountable for service quality and driving continuous improvement against agreed outcomes
• Define network and connectivity requirements in partnership with Procurement and collaborate with the Cloud & Hosting Lead on cloud network architecture and connectivity standards

• Deep, hands-on technical expertise across WAN, LAN, WiFi, and SD-WAN, with proven experience designing, deploying, and operating enterprise network infrastructure in multi-site, geographically distributed environments
• Demonstrable experience with Juniper networking platforms, including SD-WAN, with the ability to close out a global deployment and transition it into a stable BAU model
• Solid understanding of network security principles, including firewall policy management, network segmentation, VLAN design, and remote access controls
• Proven experience managing PSTN connectivity and Direct Routing for Microsoft Teams Phone, with a clear understanding of the boundary between infrastructure and platform configuration
• Experience owning or managing a contact centre telephony platform, including supplier management and operational performance oversight
• Proven ability to manage a fully outsourced network or telephony service provider, including SLA ownership, escalation, and driving service improvement
• Experience leading network infrastructure improvement programmes in live operational environments, with the ability to sequence and deliver change without disrupting the business
• Familiarity with cloud networking concepts such as Azure Virtual Network or ExpressRoute is advantageous, as is experience with network monitoring and observability tooling
• Experience in UK retail, omnichannel, or multi-site operational environments would be a bonus, though not essential

• A fair and competitive salary evaluated against market data, car allowance, annual discretionary bonus scheme, pension, life assurance, 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays and enhanced family leave.
• Commitment and dedication to your ongoing personal and professional development. We help you to own and grow your potential so you can be at your best in your current role and to support your future career aspirations.
• We offer hybrid working with a blend of working in our Support Centre and from home.
• You will have access to a wealth of employee discounts across the Halfords suite of products and services.
• Wellbeing and inclusion are at the heart of our colleague experience. We offer resources and ongoing support to enhance your wellbeing at work and active Colleague Networks supporting inclusion initiatives across Halfords.

Halfords is on a journey - building the future of motoring and cycling and looking for people who want to help shape what comes next. We're a place for cocreators: people who want to make a real impact, take ownership and be part of something that's still evolving. Technology at Halfords is at a turning point. We're modernising our foundations, sharpening our delivery, and ensuring every technology decision is connected to real commercial and customer outcomes. We're looking for people who act as trusted advisors to the business, take end-to-end accountability for outcomes, and can balance pace with long-term architectural integrity. Innovation here means practical, scalable solutions, not ideas that stay on whiteboards. Halfords operates a hybrid working policy - this position will be based 3 days per week at our support centre in Redditch, West Midlands., Not sure you meet all the criteria? We'd encourage you to take the wheel and apply anyway! At Halfords we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for our colleagues. We're an equal opportunities employer and proud to welcome applications from all backgrounds and embrace diversity within our one Halfords Family. Note: Halfords operates a hybrid working policy - this position will be based 3 days per week at our support centre in Redditch, West Midlands.