F5/WAF SME

Role: - Network Security Engineer F5/WAF

Location:- Dallas TX (Hybrid 2 days WFO)

Duration:- 6 months extendable contract

Shift Timing:- 10 am 8 pm CST (Thu Sun)

We are looking for an experienced Network Security Engineer with strong hands-on experience in Web Application Firewall (WAF) technologies to join the network security team in Dallas, TX.

The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in F5 BIG-IP WAF/ASM or Imperva WAF, along with a solid understanding of network security, application security, load balancing, HTTP/HTTPS, SSL/TLS, DNS, TCP/IP and enterprise network architecture. This role will be responsible for implementing, managing, troubleshooting, tuning and maintaining WAF and network security technologies supporting business-critical applications.

Must-Have Skills

• Hands-on experience with Web Application Firewall (WAF)
• Strong experience with F5 BIG-IP WAF/ASM/Advanced WAF OR Imperva WAF
• Experience creating, configuring and tuning WAF security policies
• Strong understanding of OWASP Top 10 and common web/application attacks
• Hands-on experience with F5 BIG-IP LTM is highly preferred
• Strong understanding of HTTP/HTTPS, TCP/IP, DNS and SSL/TLS
• Experience with load balancing, reverse proxy and application traffic flows
• Experience troubleshooting production WAF/network security issues
• Experience analyzing WAF logs, security events and false positives
• Ability to work with application, network, infrastructure and security teams

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, configure and maintain enterprise WAF solutions.
• Administer and support F5 BIG-IP WAF/ASM/Advanced WAF or Imperva WAF environments.
• Develop and maintain WAF security policies for enterprise applications.
• Perform WAF policy tuning, signature management, exception handling and false-positive analysis.
• Monitor WAF events and investigate suspicious or malicious application traffic.
• Protect applications against OWASP Top 10, API attacks, SQL injection, cross-site scripting and other application-layer threats.
• Support application onboarding and migration onto WAF platforms.
• Configure and troubleshoot F5 BIG-IP components including Virtual Servers, Pools, Nodes, Profiles, Health Monitors and SNAT.
• Troubleshoot HTTP/HTTPS, SSL/TLS, DNS and application connectivity issues.
• Analyze network traffic using packet captures and tools such as Wireshark/tcpdump.
• Participate in incident, problem and change management activities.
• Perform WAF/F5 software upgrades, patches, configuration changes and health checks.
• Work with application teams to identify and resolve WAF-related application issues.
• Collaborate with SOC, Network Engineering, Infrastructure and Application teams during security incidents.
• Work with vendors/OEM support for complex technical issues and escalations.
• Maintain technical documentation, SOPs, configuration standards and operational procedures.
• Participate in production support and on-call activities as required.

Required Technical Skills

WAF / Application Security

• F5 BIG-IP ASM / Advanced WAF
• OR Imperva WAF
• WAF policy creation and tuning
• WAF signatures and exceptions
• OWASP Top 10
• Application security
• API security

Networking

• TCP/IP
• HTTP/HTTPS
• DNS
• SSL/TLS
• Routing and switching fundamentals
• Load balancing
• Reverse proxy
• NAT/SNAT

F5 Technologies Preferred

• F5 BIG-IP LTM
• Virtual Servers
• Pools & Nodes
• iRules
• Health Monitors
• SSL Profiles
• HTTP Profiles
• Persistence
• High Availability / Device Service Clustering
• Configuration synchronization

Troubleshooting & Security

• Wireshark
• tcpdump
• WAF/security event analysis
• Vulnerability remediation
• Incident and problem management
• Root Cause Analysis

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Palo Alto, Fortinet or Cisco firewalls
• Experience with DDoS protection
• Experience with CDN technologies such as Cloudflare or Akamai
• Experience with AWS/Azure/Google Cloud Platform networking or cloud security
• Experience with SIEM tools such as Splunk, QRadar or Microsoft Sentinel
• Python, Bash or PowerShell scripting
• F5 REST API / automation
• Ansible or Terraform
• Experience in large-scale enterprise environments

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity or related field, or equivalent experience.
• F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator / F5 Certified Technology Specialist is a plus.
• CCNA/CCNP Security, PCNSE, CISSP or other relevant security certifications are a plus.

Experience

• 5+ years of experience in Network Security, Application Security or Network Engineering.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience working with WAF technologies.
• Strong hands-on experience with F5 WAF/ASM or Imperva WAF is mandatory.
• Experience supporting enterprise production environments.
• Strong troubleshooting and communication skills.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a hands-on Network Security Engineer who has worked extensively with F5 WAF/ASM or Imperva WAF, understands application traffic and network security, and can independently troubleshoot WAF, SSL/TLS, HTTP/HTTPS and load-balancing issues in a large enterprise environment.