About the Role
This position involves a key role in designing, implementing, and maintaining the network infrastructure for enterprise LAN/WAN, data centers, and branch connectivity. The incumbent will lead efforts in ensuring high availability and security through advancements in firewall management and data protection solutions, while also troubleshooting complex network issues and guiding junior engineers.
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Key Responsibilities
- Lead the design, implementation, and maintenance of enterprise LAN/WAN, data center, and branch connectivity, including routing, switching, and SD-WAN.
- Architect, deploy, and manage next-generation firewalls (Palo Alto, FortiGate), including security policies, NAT, segmentation, and high availability.
- Own the firewall rule lifecycle: review, optimize, audit, and clean up rule bases to keep them compliant with security standards.
- Design and maintain site-to-site and remote-access VPN solutions.
- Configure and tune IDS/IPS, URL filtering, and threat prevention profiles on network security platforms.
- Design and secure Azure Virtual Networks (VNets), including hybrid connectivity (ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway), NSGs, and Azure Firewall.
- Monitor and analyze network performance, and implement optimizations to improve speed, reliability, and uptime.
- Provide Tier 3 escalation support for complex network, firewall, and voice issues.
- Investigate and respond to network-related security incidents in coordination with the security team.
- Coordinate vulnerability assessments and penetration tests on network infrastructure, and drive remediation.
- Manage SSL/TLS certificate issuance and renewal for network and security devices.
- Enforce privileged access controls for network and firewall devices (PAM, AAA, TACACS+/RADIUS).
- Manage and support VoIP systems, including SIP configuration, call routing, and voice quality monitoring.
- Lead network changes through the change management process, including planning, risk assessment, and rollback plans.
- Maintain up-to-date documentation of network configurations, architecture diagrams, changes, and procedures.
- Participate in developing, testing, and executing disaster recovery and business continuity plans.
- Mentor junior engineers and work with IT, infrastructure, and application teams to secure services end to end.
- Evaluate new technologies and manage relationships with vendors and service providers.
Required Skills & Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Networking, or a related field.
- 7+ years of experience in network engineering, with at least 3 years managing enterprise firewalls.
- Deep knowledge of routing and switching protocols (BGP, OSPF, VLANs, STP, HSRP/VRRP, QoS).
- Expert hands-on experience with Palo Alto and/or FortiGate firewalls in production environments.
- Hands-on experience with Cisco, HP, and Huawei switching and routing.
- Experience with Azure networking (VNets, hybrid connectivity, Azure Firewall/NSGs).
- Solid understanding of network security principles, segmentation, and Zero Trust concepts.
- Experience with VoIP technologies, including Cisco Call Manager and Avaya.
- Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, and the ability to lead under pressure during outages and incidents.
- Excellent documentation and communication skills.
Preferred Certifications
- PCNSE, Fortinet NSE 4–7, CCNP Enterprise / CCNP Security (CCIE a plus), Microsoft AZ-700
Tools & Technologies
- Firewalls and VPNs (Palo Alto, FortiGate, Azure Firewall)
- Panorama / FortiManager / FortiAnalyzer
- Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS)
- Network monitoring tools (e.g., SolarWinds, PRTG, Zabbix)
- Vulnerability scanners (Nessus, Qualys)
- Privileged Access Management (PAM), TACACS+/RADIUS
- VoIP platforms (Cisco CUCM, Avaya)
