Network & Data Center Engineer | Taqniyat | Riyadh

Position Summary

Taqniyat is seeking an experienced, high-caliber Network & Data Center Engineer to join our mission-critical technology operations team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In this vital infrastructure role, you will be responsible for engineering, deploying, maintaining, and optimizing enterprise data center networks, high-performance routing and switching architectures, and resilient mission-critical computing environments. Operating at the core of our digital infrastructure, you will ensure superior network availability, low latency, robust data center security, and seamless service delivery for enterprise systems across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This position offers an exceptional opportunity for a motivated technical professional currently residing in Riyadh to make a substantial operational impact within an established technology leader.

Detailed Job Description

As a Network & Data Center Engineer at Taqniyat, you will drive the operational integrity, performance, and strategic expansion of our enterprise networking and modern data center ecosystems. Working alongside cross-functional infrastructure, security, and systems engineering teams, your mandate spans hands-on configuration, continuous monitoring, proactive troubleshooting, and hardware lifecycle management across complex data center fabrics.

Your core technical scope involves administering spine-and-leaf architectures, core routing and switching hardware, SAN/NAS storage networking fabrics, load balancing appliances, and next-generation firewalls. You will lead infrastructure provisioning, execute structured firmware upgrades, enforce zero-downtime change management protocols, and resolve intricate layer-2 and layer-3 connectivity bottlenecks. Additionally, you will participate in data center capacity planning, environmental monitoring, power and cooling layout assessments, and comprehensive disaster recovery simulations. This role demands exceptional diagnostic rigor, disciplined adherence to telecommunications and IT enterprise standards, and the agility to ensure maximum uptime across Tier-compliant data center operations in Riyadh.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, configure, deploy, and maintain high-performance enterprise data center network architectures, including spine-leaf fabrics, core switches, and edge routers.
• Manage and administer enterprise routing protocols (BGP, OSPF), VLANs, VXLAN, EVPN, link aggregation, and high-availability network topologies.
• Monitor data center network health, traffic patterns, link utilization, and overall throughput using enterprise monitoring tools, ensuring continuous SLA compliance.
• Perform rapid incident triage, root cause analysis (RCA), and end-to-end troubleshooting for complex network, hardware, and data center connectivity failures.
• Maintain, configure, and troubleshoot data center security appliances, including next-generation firewalls, access control lists (ACLs), and VPN gateways.
• Oversee physical and virtual data center infrastructure operations, including rack layout, structured cabling, power distribution units, and environmental monitoring.
• Execute scheduled system patching, OS upgrades, configuration backups, and compliance audits adhering strictly to formal change control procedures.
• Develop, update, and maintain detailed network diagrams, high-level architecture designs (HLD), low-level designs (LLD), and standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Current physical residence in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (mandatory candidate requirement).
• Proven hands-on experience as a Network Engineer or Data Center Engineer working within enterprise-grade environments.
• In-depth technical proficiency with Cisco, Huawei, Juniper, or Arista routing and switching platforms and enterprise operating systems.
• Solid expertise in data center technologies, such as VXLAN, EVPN, BFD, Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), and redundant gateway protocols.
• Demonstrated experience with next-generation firewalls (Palo Alto, Fortinet, or Cisco Firepower) and secure network segmentation.
• Working familiarity with storage area networking (SAN) protocols, fiber channel, iSCSI, and data center virtualization platforms.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English, coupled with analytical problem-solving and structured technical troubleshooting skills.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Professional certifications such as Cisco CCNP Enterprise, Cisco CCNP Data Center, CCIE, or Huawei HCIP/HCIE Data Center Facility.
• Hands-on experience with network automation and programmability using Python, Ansible, or REST APIs.
• Familiarity with public and hybrid cloud networking environments, including AWS Direct Connect or Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute.
• Understanding of data center infrastructure management (DCIM) tools and environmental monitoring systems.
• Familiarity with Saudi Arabian ICT compliance regulations and National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) essential controls.

Application Information

• Employer: Taqniyat
• Job Title: Network & Data Center Engineer
• Location: Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Riyadh residents only)
• Employment Type: Full Time
• Application Email: [email protected]
• Subject Line Requirement: State the exact job title (‘Network & Data Center Engineer’) in the email subject line.
• Eligibility Criteria: Applicants must be currently residing in Riyadh, KSA, and satisfy the stated engineering requirements.