apetito business operates 24/7 providing a vital service to our customers. IT is central to the success of the business and the IT team supports the infrastructure and services vital to its operation. We are embarking on a period of exciting change and this role will be a key appointment in its delivery.
 
We are looking for an IT Systems Engineer to be part of our team as we undertake a significant transformation to modernize our IT services across the apetito group. Our team is committed to delivering world-class services to the business and supporting its continued growth.  This role will play a pivotal part of our service delivery offering and will lead the way in supporting our network and server infrastructure on-premise at our office locations as well as our datacentre & hosted infrastructure.

This role is based out of our Head offices in Trowbridge, Wiltshire - but may require travel to other locations. 

We have a flexible working policy with an expectation of a minimum of three days on-site and up to two days per week remote.

You will be part of an on-call rota for out-of-hours support. Remunerated with an on-call payment for active on-call weeks.

This is a fixed term contract for 12 months.

apetito is the UK’s leading food supplier to the health and social care sectors serving more than 1,300 care homes, health care and education settings.

Our meals are expertly crafted by our dieticians and chefs, and then frozen to lock in the goodness.

Wiltshire Farm Foods, our sister company, is the UK’s largest ready meal supplier cooking and delivering over 330 different delicious frozen ready meals across the UK.

• SME for on-premise infrastructure (servers, network, etc.), maintaining & monitoring these environments alongside support partners.
• Manage and maintain the hosting environments.
• Responsible for the daily operations & continued development of the on-premise environments.
• Work on complex systems and their connecting network platforms which support critical infrastructure.
• Ensuring the on-premise infrastructure adheres to the latest best security practice, implementing robust security controls.
• Develop high and low-level designs to meet challenging infrastructure requirements.
• Understanding environment demands to scale resources and link capacities efficiently and proactively. Working with the Head of Service Delivery, Cloud & Infrastructure to properly budget for resource trends.
• Proficiently identifying, monitoring, and resolving issues to a successful conclusion.
• Collaborating with team members, providing knowledge exchange, and assisting more junior members where necessary.
• Technical lead for internal projects with on-premise infrastructure.
• Resolving escalated issues within the on-premise infrastructure.
• Work with the IT Service Desk to support on-premise services.
• Maintain the CMDB and ensure infrastructure documentation is accurate.
• Manage and implement patching schedules, ensuring timely updates and security compliance.
• Stay up to date on the latest technologies and trends.
• Generate system and service-level reporting for performance and security metrics.
• Review configurations with 3^rd party support to ensure they adhere to best practices.

Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate, or other industry equivalent is essential.

Essential Experience:

• Managing on-premise networks & servers for at least 3 years in a senior role
• Infrastructure engineering within a complex business
• Working with 3^rd party support partners and being able to direct them effectively
• Management and maintenance; including patch schedules and reporting
• Creating highly accurate technical service documents
• Working with monitoring systems & configuring monitoring dashboards
• RDS farms.
• Communication and collaboration
• Time management and methodical approach to prioritising a complex workload
• Logical troubleshooting approach to challenges & incidents.

Essential Skills and Knowledge:

• An understanding of prioritises and SLAs within a ticketing system.
• VMware (vSphere, ESXi, vCenter) administration & maintenance
• Server hardware & data center maintenance (Dell, HPE, Lenovo, etc.)
• Storage solutions & SAN/NAS administration
• Strong understanding of:
  • IP Addressing and subnetting.
  • IP Protocols (ICMP, UDP, TCP).
  • IP Access-lists & Firewalling.
  • Windows Server Operating Systems
  • Active Directory
  • WSUS
  • Linux Operating Systems
• Ability to create and support VPNs
• Knowledge on best practice for security focused environments
• Interest in automation & efficiency, as well as good problem solving skills
• Knowledge on IP Networking and the OSI model 

Desirable:

• Azure Fundamentals or higher
• CompTIA S+ or other industry equivalent 
• Cisco CCNA or other industry equivalent 
• Knowledge of Cisco Meraki 
• Knowledge of Fortinet products 
• Knowledge of Cisco ISE 

• Competitive salary – accredited Living Wage employer
• 25 days holiday per year, plus bank holidays
• Option to purchase up to 5 additional days holiday per year
• Discretionary annual bonus scheme
• Pension scheme - employer matched contributions up to 4%
• Life assurance scheme worth at least 1x annual salary
• Subsidised canteen
• Free parking
• Free turkey or voucher at Christmas
• apetito perks scheme including salary sacrifice options and retail discounts

As a family-owned business, we take great pride in being a company that makes a real difference and is dedicated to creating outstanding meals to be proud of.

We develop a range of products designed to enhance health and well-being for all our customers.

We are driven by a passion for service and dedicated to feeding some of the UK’s most vulnerable people.

We proudly support British food and farming, focusing on using the best ethical and sustainable produce in alignment with our goal to reach Net Zero by 2040.

Our ethical standards are recognised by the ETI and we are an accredited Living Wage employer.
Learn more about apetito’s commitment to a more sustainable future.

We embrace inclusion, empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Our commitment to making a real difference extends to customers, communities, and staff and we're on a mission to build an inclusive workplace where everyone reaches their full potential.