Network Engineer – Load Balancing / F5 BIG-IP

OPTIVEUM

1d•Remote

About The Position

Optiveum is recruiting and contracting for an experienced Network Engineer to join the network operations team of the central IT services provider of a large German banking group. The client operates core banking infrastructure for regional savings banks across Germany, in a large and regulated environment. The successful candidate will sign a B2B cooperation agreement directly with Optiveum. The role is full-time and 100% remote from Poland, with a rate of 160–200 PLN per hour net, depending on experience. The B2B contract runs until the end of 2026, with a planned extension through 2027. The start is ASAP. The role includes a rotating 24/7 on-call schedule and planned changes during maintenance windows, usually at night and on weekends. Fluent English is required; German is a strong plus.

Requirements

Several years of hands-on experience with F5 BIG-IP (LTM, DNS, iRules, and TMOS) in high-availability data center environments.
Working knowledge of F5 BIG-IP AFM.
F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator (F5-CA) certification or equivalent.
Willingness to join a rotating 24/7 on-call schedule, including nights, weekends, and public holidays.
Experience handling major incidents in a regulated environment, ideally banking.
Solid understanding of ITIL processes in a regulated environment: Incident, Problem, Change, Release, Knowledge, Configuration, Event, Availability, and Capacity Management.
Fluent spoken and written English.
An existing one-person company (działalność gospodarcza) registered in Poland.

Nice To Haves

German language skills.
F5 Certified Solution Expert (F5-CSE).
ITIL certification.
Network automation with Ansible and Python, and experience with CheckMK and Splunk.

Responsibilities

Run and operate the F5 BIG-IP Load Balancing service end to end, from transitioning new infrastructure into operations through changes, releases, and decommissioning.
Configure, administer, and troubleshoot F5 BIG-IP LTM, DNS, and AFM.
Manage virtual servers, pools, iRules, SSL offloading, and the certificate lifecycle.
Manage the firmware lifecycle, including TMOS upgrades, and F5 BIG-IP licensing.
Analyze and resolve application delivery issues involving persistence, health monitors, and HA-pair failover.
Carry out planned maintenance and changes during maintenance windows outside core hours, and participate in the weekly Change Advisory Board (CAB).
Handle second- and third-level incidents and support root cause analysis, known-error documentation, and workarounds.
Support the Lead Network Engineer during major incidents, including bridge calls, data collection, and emergency changes.
Tune event monitoring in CheckMK and report on service availability, including uptime, MTBF, and MTTR, and on capacity.
Investigate log anomalies flagged in Splunk and maintain standard syslog configurations.
Run vulnerability management, including security patches, CVE tracking, and remediation, in line with ISMS requirements.
Maintain the CMDB, including IP addresses, VLANs, VRFs, and configuration items, and track licenses and asset lifecycle.
Support internal and external audits and drive continual service improvement and automation.
Share knowledge with stand-ins and contribute to runbooks, configuration standards, and SOPs.