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Principal Technical Consultant - Network Security

AHEAD· Network Delivery
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Remote$210k - $240kFull-timePosted 2mo ago

About the role

Senior technical leader for network security engagements across firewall design, network access control, load balancing/application delivery, and SASE/Zero Trust architectures. Owns end-to-end delivery from discovery to knowledge transfer, mentors engineers, supports sales campaigns, and develops reusable assets.

Responsibilities

  • Design and deploy Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls running PAN-OS, App-ID, User-ID, Content-ID enforcement, security profiles, SSL/TLS decryption, and centralized management (Panorama/Strata Cloud Manager).
  • Design and deploy Fortinet FortiGate firewalls including security profiles, VDOMs, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer.
  • Design and deploy Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) with related management centers, Snort 3, malware defense, URL filtering, and high-availability configurations.
  • Lead firewall migration programs (e.g., ASA to FTD) and cross-vendor migrations with policy translation and rollback planning.
  • Design network segmentation using firewall zones, VRFs, and least-privilege controls; implement HA and multi-context deployments.
  • Deploy cloud-native and virtual firewalls (Palo Alto Cloud NGFW, FortiGate in cloud, Cisco Secure Firewall Virtual).
  • Design and deploy VPN (IPsec/SSL) architectures with redundancy.
  • Configure centralized logging and SIEM integration (Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel) and NetFlow/IPFIX.
  • Perform firewall rule optimization and compliance auditing (PCI-DSS, HIPAA, NIST 800-53); automate provisioning with Terraform/Ansible and vendor APIs.

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in network security, infrastructure security, or security engineering with at least 4 years in consulting/delivery.
  • Hands-on design/deployment experience with at least two: Palo Alto PAN-OS/Panorama, Cisco Secure Firewall, Fortinet FortiGate/FortiManager.
  • Production experience deploying Cisco ISE for 802.1X, MAB, RADIUS/TACACS+ across wired/wireless/VPN with distributed nodes.
  • Production experience with F5 BIG-IP (LTM) and at least one of BIG-IP DNS or BIG-IP Advanced WAF.
  • Production experience with at least one SASE platform (Zscaler ZIA/ZPA or Palo Alto Prisma Access).
  • Strong understanding of routing (BGP/OSPF/EIGRP), VPNs, DNS, and Zero Trust principles.
  • Cloud experience (AWS/Azure/GCP) including security groups, cloud firewalls, cloud-native load balancing, hybrid connectivity.
  • Experience with Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, SAML 2.0, SCIM integrations with firewalls/NAC/SASE.
  • Experience integrating security with SIEM (Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel) and syslog; automation with Terraform/Ansible and vendor REST APIs.
  • Proven ability to lead large multi-technology projects and mentor teams; strong executive communication; travel at least 25%.

Skills

Required:Firewall design and deploymentNetwork Access Control (NAC) - Cisco ISELoad Balancing & Application Delivery

Benefits

  • Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
  • 401(k)
  • Paid company holidays
  • Paid time off
  • Paid parental and caregiver leave
  • Plus more details at benefits page
Last updated Oct 21, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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About AHEAD

Digital Platforms Engineered for Modern Enterprises

AHEAD accelerates the impact of technology on clients by engineering customized data, developer, and infrastructure platforms that improve IT operations.

Platform SolutionsInfrastructure ModernizationLifecycle ManagementSeamless Integration
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