Network Security Engineer - NSE 26-00509

Job Title: Network Security Engineer

Work Schedule: Annapolis, MD - Hybrid 2 days remote / 3 days onsite (Monday Friday)
Contract Duration: 5 Years

Position Overview

An enterprise organization is seeking an experienced Network Security Engineer to support secure, scalable, and highly available 24x7 network operations. This role will actively participate in planning, designing, implementing, and supporting secure data and network environments, while leading or assisting with modernization initiatives and next-generation security platform migrations.

Key Responsibilities

• Proactively identify organizational requirements and design secure network solutions aligned with business needs

• Perform project-based engineering, design, installation, and troubleshooting of secure data networks

• Assess, design, and implement secure networking environments

• Develop comprehensive graphical and written design documentation

• Manage implementation efforts from design through final acceptance

• Support capacity planning, monitoring, maintenance, and performance reviews of secure networks

• Lead or assist in migrations from legacy network security platforms to next-generation technologies

• Support full lifecycle defense-in-depth security architectures

• Assist network engineering teams with troubleshooting critical issues and security threat remediation

• Implement and enforce configuration standards, change management processes, and operating procedures

• Coordinate and guide engineering team activities to resolve end-user issues efficiently

• Generate weekly status reports covering milestones, progress, and deliverables

• Lead or participate in weekly status meetings and project review sessions

Required Qualifications

• Associate degree

• Active certifications:

  • Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Administrator (PCNSA) or Palo Alto Networks Network Security Professional

  • Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Enterprise or CCNA Security

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years of CONUS technical experience in IT networking and network security

• Associate degree in an Information Technology (IT) related field

• Certifications (active or expired within the last 3 years):

  • Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE) or equivalent

  • Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Enterprise or Security

Required Experience

• 5+ years of experience with Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewall services

• 5+ years of experience with Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP/IPS) using Palo Alto Networks

• 5+ years of experience with Content Filtering using Palo Alto Networks

• 5+ years of experience with VPN technologies using Palo Alto Networks

• 5+ years of experience with Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

• 5+ years of experience with TLS/SSL Inspection

• 4+ years of experience in complex switching, routing, and wireless environments using Cisco technologies

• 3+ years of experience with reverse proxies and load balancing using A10 Networks

• 2+ years of experience with Network Access Control (Cisco Client, FreeRADIUS, ACLs)

Additional Technical Experience

• Microsoft Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

• Cloud-based virtual networking and security services

• 802.1X authentication standards

• Routing protocols: EIGRP, OSPF, BGP

• Enterprise data center micro-segmentation

• PKI and certificate lifecycle management

• Security and networking tools:

  • Nessus, NMAP

  • Windows, Unix, Linux

  • Opnet, Riverbed, Wireshark

  • Panorama, SolarWinds