Senior IT Infrastructure Engineer - Contract

Do you thrive on solving infrastructure chaos rather than just maintaining it? We’re looking for a hands-on Senior IT Infrastructure Engineer to join a major M&A integration programme, taking legacy infrastructure and bringing it into a stable, standardised, target-state environment.

This is not a desk-based architecture role. You’ll be in server rooms and comms rooms, racking and cabling hardware, planning and executing physical relocations, and untangling years of legacy network sprawl - while also mentoring a team that’s relying on you to leave things in better shape than you found them.

THE ROLE

You’ll be joining a global pharmaceutical business as it integrates a newly acquired company’s IT estate. Expect a fast-moving, six-month programme with genuine ownership from day one - this is a role for someone who can hit the ground running and needs minimal hand-holding., Assess legacy infrastructure and design pragmatic, low-risk migration and remediation plans Physically relocate legacy equipment between sites - racking, unracking, cabling and re-cabling comms rooms Commission new server rooms, including racks, hardware population and structured cabling Manage Dell servers, Windows Server and virtualisation (Hyper-V/VMware) across both environments Configure and maintain QNAP NAS storage Own backup and restore using Veeam - monitoring jobs, performing restores, and supporting active migrations Configure and troubleshoot Cisco Meraki networking (MX/MS/MR), including firewalls, VLANs and segmentation Tidy up and restructure legacy network environments Support SaaS and tenancy migrations, including moving services from legacy to new tenants, and identity platform work across AD and Entra ID Act as a senior escalation point, working closely with project managers, security teams and vendors Mentor and upskill junior members of the in-house IT team, ensuring knowledge transfer ahead of handoverWHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Proven, senior-level experience as an Infrastructure Engineer within a mid-to-large, established organisation with complex, bespoke, or “grown organically” legacy environments Experience in a regulated sector (e.g. financial services, healthcare, life sciences or defence) with a solid understanding of handling sensitive data securely, particularly during data transfers Strong hands-on experience with Dell servers, Windows Server, Hyper-V/VMware, QNAP NAS and Cisco Meraki Solid networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, routing, ACLs) Proven track record of physical infrastructure work: racking, cabling, and site relocations Experience with SaaS tenancy migrations and identity platforms (AD/Entra ID) Prior involvement in M&A, infrastructure transformation, or large-scale integration programmes is highly desirable A natural mentor - comfortable leading and upskilling less experienced colleagues without steamrolling them Calm, structured and professional under pressure - a safe pair of hands rather than a firefighter Full UK driving licenceLOCATION & WORKING PATTERN