Palo Alto SME Deployment Specialist

Position: Palo Alto SME Deployment Specialist

Type of hire: C2C

Location: Palo Alto-CA-Remote

Domain: Banking / Network & Security

Need 12+ Years Candidate Only

Job Summary:

We are seeking a skilled and experienced Palo Alto Networks SME (Subject Matter Expert) to lead and support the deployment of Palo Alto firewalls and security solutions across enterprise environments. The ideal candidate will bring deep technical expertise, strong hands-on experience with deployment, and the ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams and clients.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the end-to-end deployment of Palo Alto firewalls (hardware and virtual appliances) across data centers and cloud environments.
• Design and implement security policies, NAT, and VPN configurations (IPSec, GlobalProtect).
• Configure and manage Panorama for centralized management and logging.
• Collaborate with network, security, and cloud teams to integrate PAN solutions with existing infrastructure.
• Perform pre-deployment assessments, create deployment plans, and execute staged rollouts.
• Validate deployments with post-implementation testing, rule reviews, and traffic validation.
• Conduct troubleshooting and performance tuning during and after go-live.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, runbooks, and change requests.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to junior engineers and stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with security and change management processes.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience as a network security engineer, with 3+ years specializing in Palo Alto Networks products.
• Strong experience deploying and configuring:

• Palo Alto physical/virtual firewalls
• Panorama
• IPSec/SSL VPNs
• Security policies and threat prevention profiles

• Solid understanding of:

• Networking fundamentals (L2/L3, VLANs, routing protocols, NAT)
• Network security best practices (zero trust, segmentation, IDS/IPS)
• Cloud networking (AWS, Azure preferred)

• Experience with change control processes in enterprise environments.
• Strong documentation and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PCNSE Certification (Palo Alto Certified Network Security Engineer)
• Experience with Terraform/Ansible/automation tools for configuration
• Familiarity with SIEM tools, logging, and alert tuning
• Experience in financial, healthcare, or regulated environments

Soft Skills:

• Ability to lead deployment efforts independently with minimal supervision.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Collaborative, with excellent interpersonal communication.
• Customer-facing experience is a plus.