Chief Network Officer

Are you a Chief Network Officer / Head of Network Operations with 5+ years of recent experience in senior leadership (Head / Chief job titles) of telecom NOC & Engineering teams of 50+ people within the technical area of Fibre / LAN / WAN / Wifi / IP / MPLS / Private Wireless / 5G? First Point Group has a truly exciting Senior Leadership opportunity within an established connectivity and managed network services provider for a Head of Networks / Chief Network Officer. This is not a turnaround role - you'll join an established network organisation with an existing team of experienced technical leaders and strong operational capabilities. The focus will be on harmonisation - taking the function to the next stage of operational maturity by strengthening collaboration, developing leadership capability, improving efficiency and ensuring network strategy remains closely connected to customer and commercial priorities. The business delivers critical connectivity and managed network solutions across complex, multi-site customer environments - backed by Private Equity investment, with long-term alignment that includes potential international expansion beyond the UK market. This is a senior technical and operational leadership role combining people leadership (40%), technical operational capability (35%) and commercial accumen (25%).

• PLEASE NOTE - mandatory requirement of UK-based candidates only - visa sponsorship is not possible. This role is hybid-working (3 days per week in London). Key Responsibilities
• Set and execute the network strategy and technology roadmap aligned with commercial and customer objectives.
• Lead Network Operations, Engineering, Architecture and Service Performance, establishing clear accountability across the function.
• Own network availability, resilience, capacity, security, performance and associated business risk.
• Drive SLA/OLA achievement, continuous improvement and major incident/service recovery.
• Set technical direction and ensure network architecture is scalable, resilient, supportable and commercially sustainable.
• Lead transformation across automation, observability, operational efficiency and AI-enabled network operations.
• Work with Product, Delivery, Commercial and Customer teams to improve customer experience, retention and growth.
• Own network OPEX, CAPEX and headcount budgets, driving cost optimisation and measurable EBITDA improvement.
• Build business cases for network investment and transformation initiatives.
• Manage strategic suppliers, carriers and technology vendors.
• Lead senior customer escalations and executive-level network discussions.
• Build a high-performing network organisation with strong succession, capability and employee engagement. Key Requirements
• Senior leadership experience within telecommunications, connectivity, managed services or technology infrastructure.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary Network Operations, Engineering, Architecture and Service teams at scale.
• Strong understanding of large-scale, business-critical network environments.
• Proven improvements across network reliability, SLAs, customer experience and operational efficiency.
• Experience delivering complex network transformation and service-improvement programmes.
• Technical credibility across network architecture, resilience, security, capacity and operational risk.
• Commercial experience managing significant OPEX, CAPEX and headcount budgets and delivering cost efficiencies.
• Strong executive, customer, supplier and carrier stakeholder-management experience.
• Ability to balance technical strategy and innovation with operational stability and commercial return. Desirable (nice to have):
• Experience within a high-growth ISP, connectivity, managed network or managed Wi-Fi environment.
• Knowledge of access/core networks, fixed connectivity, SD-WAN, Wi-Fi and network monitoring.
• Experience applying AI, intelligent automation and advanced tooling to improve network operations, troubleshooting and service management.