Senior Network Security Engineer (Palo Alto / Cloudflare)

Role: Senior Network Security Engineer (Palo Alto / Cloudflare)

Location: Plano, TX (Hybrid)

Type: Contract

Position Overview

• The customer is seeking a highly experienced Senior Network Security Engineer to support a strategic initiative involving the encryption and decryption optimization of approximately 80 Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) utilizing Palo Alto Networks technology. The engineer will be responsible for implementing Palo Alto recommended best practices and configuration changes while collaborating closely with internal engineering resources.
• This role requires strong expertise in Palo Alto firewall administration, SSL/TLS decryption policies, network security architecture, troubleshooting, and integration with Cloudflare and load balancing environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead implementation of Palo Alto recommended changes across approximately 80 NGFW firewalls.
• Design, configure, and optimize SSL/TLS encryption and decryption policies.
• Perform firewall rule analysis, policy tuning, and security hardening.
• Collaborate with engineering teams on architecture, deployment planning, and operational readiness.
• Work alongside Cloudflare and load balancer infrastructure teams to ensure secure and optimized traffic flow.
• Troubleshoot complex networking and security issues involving encrypted traffic inspection.
• Validate firewall performance, stability, and security compliance after implementation changes.
• Develop implementation documentation, operational procedures, and knowledge transfer materials.
• Mentor and support the junior engineer assigned to the project.
• Assist in transition and operational handoff to the designated customer engineer being groomed for long-term ownership.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of hands-on network security engineering experience.
• Strong expertise with Palo Alto Networks NGFW platforms.
• Deep understanding of SSL/TLS decryption technologies and best practices.
• Experience implementing Palo Alto recommended security architecture and policy changes.
• Hands-on experience with Palo Alto Panorama, Security policies and NAT, Threat Prevention, URL Filtering, SSL Forward Proxy / Inbound Inspection.
• Experience integrating security controls with Cloudflare environments.
• Strong understanding of load balancer technologies and traffic flow concepts.
• Excellent troubleshooting and analytical skills.
• Strong documentation and communication abilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Palo Alto certifications (PCNSE preferred).
• Experience in large enterprise firewall environments.
• Familiarity with Zero Trust and modern security architectures.
• Experience working in staff augmentation or consulting engagements.