Charles Jakob - Network Architect

Q: Where is Charles based?

Charles is based in Hamburg, Germany and can operate in on-site , hybrid , and remote work models.

Q: What languages does Charles speak?

Charles speaks the following languages: English (Native), German (Advanced) .

Q: How many years of experience does Charles have?

Charles has at least 27 years of experience. During this time, Charles has worked in at least 17 different roles and for 19 different companies . The average length of individual experience is 1 year and 5 months . Note that Charles may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Q: What is Charles's latest experience?

Charles's most recent position is Network Architect at RedGlobal GmbH .

Q: What companies has Charles worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Charles has worked for RedGlobal GmbH , Nemensis AG , and Primus Global .

Q: Which industries is Charles most experienced in?

Charles is most experienced in industries like Information Technology (IT) , Education , and Telecommunication . Charles also has some experience in Media, Entertainment and Publishing , Automotive , and Manufacturing .

Q: Which business areas is Charles most experienced in?

Charles is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology (IT) , Operations , and Procurement and Purchasing . Charles also has some experience in Customer Service and Human Resources (HR) .

Q: Which industries has Charles worked in recently?

Charles has recently worked in industries like Information Technology (IT) and Automotive .

Q: Which business areas has Charles worked in recently?

Charles has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology (IT) and Operations .

Recommended expert

Hamburg, Germany

Experience

Nov 2024 - Nov 2024

1 month

Stuttgart, Germany

Network Architect

RedGlobal GmbH

Configuration of Dell switches, routers, and access points.
Error analysis and resolution.
Environment: Extreme, Cisco and Dell switches and routers, Extreme A3 NAC, Extreme CloudIQ.

Aug 2023 - Aug 2023

1 month

Hamburg, Germany

Network Engineer

Nemensis AG

Deployment of Cisco 9200 switches.

Jun 2021 - Sep 2022

1 year 4 months

Senior Network Architect

Primus Global

Gathering information and sharing knowledge for Daimler Benz.
Documenting and taking over IT operations from the previous provider.
Advisory role and reviewing CISM requests from clients to ensure compliance with corporate policies.
Commissioning Fortinet and Palo Alto firewalls, incident analysis and creating rule sets.
Architecture design role for F5 load balancers in two redundant data centers.
Environment: Azure Cloud, F5 load balancers, Squid proxy, DNS, hosting, VXLAN, Check Point firewall, Fortinet firewall and MPLS WAN connections.
Responsible for current and future operating model in EMEA, Asia and North American data centers.

Oct 2019 - Oct 2020

1 year 1 month

St. Gallen, Switzerland

Manager Networks - Projects

Cognizant AG

Operating a nationwide network with over 300 Cisco switches.
Managing Cisco wireless controllers and 190 Cisco access points.
Analyzing and troubleshooting network issues, patching switches, experience with ServiceNow ticketing tool.
2nd level user support.

Apr 2018 - Mar 2019

1 year

Hamburg, Germany

Freelancer Network Architect

Nexperia GmbH

Network administration of a network with 140 Cisco switches (Catalyst 2960s, Catalyst 6513, Nexus 9k).
Configuration and troubleshooting of IPAM, Cisco ASA Firepower, 140 Cisco Catalyst and Nexus switches, dual Cisco wireless controllers and 95 Cisco Aeronet access points.
Monitoring, network troubleshooting, patching, using Cisco Prime and SOLIDSERVER IPAM.

Sep 2017 - Mar 2018

7 months

Hamburg, Germany

Freelancer Senior Network Engineer

QSC

Rollout of 3800 switches in 1100 bank branches with the team.
Tools used: HP Service Manager 9, iTOP, SMC, Bluecat IPAM.

Sep 2015 - Dec 2015

4 months

Hamburg, Germany

Network & Security Administrator

Questax GmbH

Administration of Juniper VPN gateways and PRTG.
Administration of Microsoft PKI, creating and revoking certificates.
Troubleshooting and fixing PKI, SSL, proxy, authentication, and network events using traceroute, ping, CA tools, AD tools.
Working with Helpmatics & Landesk Incident Systems Management tool.

Jul 2014 - Dec 2014

6 months

Munich, Germany

Network Architect

Reutax AG

Analyzing network and security requirements to create firewall rule sets according to company policies.
Developing network and performance solutions for data center migration.
Creating and updating network documentation for a data center migration project in a Europe-wide MPLS network.
Participating in daily and weekly project meetings and conference calls.
Troubleshooting with Wireshark, tcpdump, nslookup, dig, ping, traceroute; handling tickets with Remedy.

Apr 2013 - Apr 2014

1 year 1 month

Munich, Germany

Network Specialist

NSCglobal GmbH

Documenting routers and switches (15,000 ports), VLANs, and gateways in customer branches using Visio and Excel.
Adjusting distribution Layer 3 and access switch configurations according to technical guidelines.
In-depth knowledge of dot1x, RADIUS, TACACS, QoS, VTP, Spanning-Tree on Cisco switches (Catalyst 2960, 3560, 3750, 4500, 6509).
Network management with Spectrum, Cisco Network Compliance Manager, AdminGate, SharePoint.

Aug 2012 - Apr 2013

9 months

Cologne, Germany

Senior Network Architect

Avance Consulting Ltd

Conducting compatibility tests on two Cisco 6513 and HP 5424 switches for an energy company in Hamburg.
Designing network for a data center migration project and implementing routing and switching to connect four data centers using BGP and OSPF.
Configuring redundant Cisco 6513 with VSS and EtherChannel to HP switches and Cisco 4500 in the lab for compatibility and failure scenarios.
Configuring Cisco Nexus 5596 in FabricPath mode and Cisco ACE 4710 in redundant setup in two HA data centers.
Creating high-level and low-level network design documents with Visio and MS Word.
Reviewing and creating the Bill of Materials (BOM).
Managing four data centers.

Jan 2010 - Jul 2012

2 years 7 months

Lagos, Nigeria

Network Consultant

Lorah Technologies Ltd

LAN design for companies.
Implementation of WAN infrastructure for clients.
Configuration of routing protocols (OSPF, EIGRP) on Cisco routers.
Configuration of switching protocols on Cisco switches.
Setup of VPNs for clients with Cisco ASA 5500 firewalls.
Installation, configuration and deployment of Windows 2008 R2 servers and VMware.
Phone support for customers.

Feb 2009 - Jul 2009

6 months

Puchheim, Germany

Telecommunications Specialist

Amway GmbH

Upgrade of IOS software on 150 Cisco routers and 200 Cisco switches across 20 European branches.
Network design (LAN/WAN) and implementation of IT infrastructure for a new branch in the UK.
Configuration of Cisco routers for redundancy (primary link MPLS/BGP, secondary link IPsec/VPN, BGP/EIGRP).
Configuration of STP, VLAN, Port-Channel, QoS on Cisco switches (Catalyst 4000, 3560, 3750, 2960-24TS).
Configuration of QoS, PBR, NAT, access lists on WAN routers (7206-VXR, 7000, 4500, 3660, 3800, 2600, 1600, 1721-VPN, 1800, 2821).
Administration of 50 Riverbed 1050 Steelhead WAN optimization devices.
Support for three data centers, installation of network components in racks.
Network management and monitoring with SolarWinds, Nimbus, NetFlow.
Change management with Remedy, documentation with Visio and MS Office.
Management of the datacenter.

Jun 2007 - Feb 2009

1 year 9 months

Munich, Germany

Senior Network Engineer

itk network GmbH

Technical consulting for pre-sales and network teams.
Review of customer RFPs and creation of technical WAN solutions, approval of the solutions.
Configuration of routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, RIPv2), MPLS VRFs, MBGP.
Designing MPLS/WAN solutions (hub-and-spoke, full-mesh), documenting with Visio.
3rd-level support (WAN) in a team with six colleagues.
Troubleshooting routing, IOS software, and router hardware issues.

Sep 2006 - May 2007

9 months

Oberursel, Germany

IT Support Specialist

Nruns AG

Configuration and management of file and print services, MS DHCP, DNS, GPO, RADIUS, IIS, MS Exchange 2003.
Configuration and deployment of Windows 2003/2000 servers.
Management of Active Directory domains.
Operating and creating security rules on the Checkpoint NGX firewall (R65) in cluster mode.
Creating OS and application software images with Acronis, installing/configuring Sophos antivirus, backing up data to DLT tapes.
Operating the VoIP infrastructure (Cisco IP phones, Call Manager).
Configuration of Fedora Linux and IPCop proxy servers.
Configuration of VTP and VLANs on Cisco c3750 switches.
Selection and evaluation of hardware, technologies, software.
Sales negotiations with suppliers.
Management of the datacenter and lab.

Jan 2006 - Aug 2006

8 months

Friedrichsdorf, Germany

Network Administrator in the Datacenter

Paragon Data GmbH

Configuration and management of Cisco Pix/ASA firewalls and securing customer networks with security rules.
Connecting branch offices to the server farm in the provider network with IPsec.
Management of DHCP, RAS, RADIUS on Windows 2003/2000 Advanced Servers.
Configuration and migration of 350 customer routers to MPLS in cooperation with Deutsche Telekom.
Installing racks and cabling network components in the datacenter.
Configuration of OSPF, ACLs, NAT, IPsec on Cisco routers (6500, 2800, 3600s).
Configuration of STP, VLANs, Port-Channel on Cisco switches (6500, 4000, 3548-XL, 3750).
Network monitoring with Intellipool and Nagios.
Management of the datacenter, migration of a datacenter.

Jun 2003 - Dec 2005

2 years 7 months

Lagos, Nigeria

Cisco Trainer

Nigertel

Conducting seminars to prepare for the Cisco CCNA 2.0 exam.
Managing the lab.
Creating training offerings.

Apr 2001 - Mar 2003

2 years

Hamburg, Germany

Network Administrator

Heinrich Bauer KG

Managing and monitoring 60 Cisco routers and 140 Cisco switches in 20 European branches and in the data center with a team of four.
Configuring and maintaining remote access on Cisco AS5300 access routers.
Configuring, upgrading, and commissioning Cisco Catalyst switches (5000, 4000, 2948, 3548) and routers (6513 with MSFC-II, 3640, 4000, 7000 with RSM, 7206-VXR, 2600, 1600).
Configuring routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP), HSRP, ACL, GRE, NAT/NAPT, PPP, MPPP on Cisco AS5300.
Cabling network components in the data center and equipment rooms.
Administering Checkpoint NG clusters, creating firewall rules, analyzing logs.
Managing a data center.

Jul 1999 - Mar 2001

1 year 9 months

Hamburg, Germany

System Administrator

Mondus.de GmbH

Installing, configuring, and supporting Windows 98/2000 clients, PC hardware, and printers.
Installing, configuring, and operating Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 Server domains.
Installing and maintaining MS Exchange 5.5, upgrading to MS Exchange 2000.
Installing antivirus software and MS Office 2000 on laptops.
Backing up data with Backup Exec.
Administering a Red Hat Linux VPN gateway.
Providing 1st-level support in the team.

Oct 1988 - May 1997

8 years 8 months

Ibadan, Nigeria

Chemistry Teacher

C+K Remedial College

Teaching chemistry.
Head of chemistry department.
Purchasing laboratory supplies.

Industries Experience

See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time. Longer bars indicate deeper hands-on experience, while shorter ones reflect targeted or project-based work.

Experienced in Information Technology (11.5 years), Education (8.5 years), Telecommunication (2.5 years), Media and Entertainment (2 years), Automotive (1.5 years), and Manufacturing (1 year).

Information Technology

Education

Telecommunication

Media and Entertainment

Automotive

Manufacturing

Business Areas Experience

The graph below provides a cumulative view of the freelancer's experience across multiple business areas, calculated from completed and active engagements. It highlights the areas where the freelancer has most frequently contributed to planning, execution, and delivery of business outcomes.

Experienced in Information Technology (18.5 years), Operations (15 years), Procurement (9.5 years), Customer Service (6 years), and Human Resources (2.5 years).

Information Technology

Operations

Procurement

Customer Service

Human Resources

Skills

Operating Systems: Windows 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019 R2 Servers, Windows 10 And 8.1, Debian And Ubuntu Linux
Applications/services: Ms Office, Dns, Dhcp, Ftp, Ipsec, Bash, Python Programming Language, Putty, Ssh, Telnet, Tacacs, Radius, Visio, Wireshark, Tcpdump, Iperf, Traceroute, Ping
Networking: Routing Protocols Including Bgpv4, Ospf, Eigrp, Is-is, Wan Technologies Including Mpls (Hub-and-spoke, Full-mesh, Vrf), Sd-wan, Ipsec Vpn And Dmvpn, Vrrp, Hsrp, Nat/napt, Acls, Gre, Vtp, Stp, Vlan, Site-to-site Vpn, Ipsec Vpn, Remote Access Vpn, Ssl Vpn, Osi And Tcp/ip Models And Protocols Including Ipv6, 802.1d, 802.1x, 802.1q, 802.3, 802.11a/b/g/n, 3des, Aes, Peap, Leap, Dhcp, Ftp, Ssh, Sstp, Ssl, Etherchannel, Spanning-tree Protocols Including Pvst, Rstp & Mst, Vss, Fabricpath, Vpc, Etherchannel Cabling, Fast & Gigabit Ethernet Cabling, Cisco Aci (Spine And Leaf)
Hardware: Fortinet/fortigate 7.2 Firewall, Cisco Asa Firepower And Next-generation Firewalls, Cisco Routers Including 7000, 4500, 3660, 3800, 2500, 2600, 1600, 1721-vpn, Cisco Asr, Cisco Isr, Cisco Catalyst Switches Including 6500 With Nfc, 4500, 3560, 3750, 2960-24ts, 2800, Nexus 9000, 7000, 5000, And 2000 Series Fex

Languages

English

Native

German

Advanced

Education

Oct 1985 - Jun 1988

University of Lagos

Bachelor of Science Honours (Second Class) · Chemistry; minor: Physics, Mathematics · Lagos, Nigeria

Oct 1982 - Jun 1985

Tai Solarin University of Education

National Certificate of Education · Chemistry, Biology and Education · Ijebu Ode, Nigeria

Oct 1976 - Jun 1981

Ibadan Grammar School (Comprehensive School)

General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level · Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, English, Agricultural Science · Ibadan, Nigeria

Certifications & licenses

Microsoft Certified IT Professional

Cisco Certified Network Professional

Cisco Certified Network Associate

Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer

Elekluft GmbH, Hamburg

Systems Engineer / Networks

Elekluft GmbH, Hamburg

Profile

Created

October 2025

Last Update

October 2025

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Frequently asked questions

Do you have questions? Here you can find further information.

Where is Charles based?

Charles is based in Hamburg, Germany and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.

What languages does Charles speak?

Charles speaks the following languages: English (Native), German (Advanced).

How many years of experience does Charles have?

Charles has at least 27 years of experience. During this time, Charles has worked in at least 17 different roles and for 19 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 1 year and 5 months. Note that Charles may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

What roles would Charles be best suited for?

Based on recent experience, Charles would be well-suited for roles such as: Network Architect, Network Engineer, Senior Network Architect.

What is Charles's latest experience?

Charles's most recent position is Network Architect at RedGlobal GmbH.

What companies has Charles worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Charles has worked for RedGlobal GmbH, Nemensis AG, and Primus Global.

Which industries is Charles most experienced in?

Charles is most experienced in industries like Information Technology (IT), Education, and Telecommunication. Charles also has some experience in Media, Entertainment and Publishing, Automotive, and Manufacturing.

Which business areas is Charles most experienced in?

Charles is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology (IT), Operations, and Procurement and Purchasing. Charles also has some experience in Customer Service and Human Resources (HR).

Which industries has Charles worked in recently?

Charles has recently worked in industries like Information Technology (IT) and Automotive.

Which business areas has Charles worked in recently?

Charles has recently worked in business areas like Information Technology (IT) and Operations.

What is Charles's education?

Charles holds a Bachelor in Chemistry; minor: Physics, Mathematics from University of Lagos.

Does Charles have any certificates?

Charles has 5 certificates. Among them, these include: Microsoft Certified IT Professional, Cisco Certified Network Professional, and Cisco Certified Network Associate.

What is the availability of Charles?

Charles is immediately available full-time for suitable projects.

What is the rate of Charles?

Charles's rate depends on the specific project requirements. Please use the Meet button on the profile to schedule a meeting and discuss the details.