Role: Network Engineer (L2/L3 Cisco & Palo Alto Focus)
Location: Northfield, IL 60093 (Onsite)
Contract
Mandatory Skills:
- Cisco Switching & Routing (Catalyst & Nexus)
- Cisco ACI Spine & Leaf
- Palo Alto and Panorama
Job Summary:
The Network Engineer is responsible for the support of enterprise and data center network infrastructure, with a strong focus on Cisco switching and routing, Cisco ACI Spine Leaf architectures, and Palo Alto firewalls managed via Panorama. The role involves advanced troubleshooting, change implementation, and collaboration across infrastructure, security, and application teams to ensure secure, high availability network services.
Key Responsibilities
Cisco ACI (Spine & Leaf)
- Deploy, configure, and maintain Cisco ACI Spine Leaf fabric
- Manage ACI components:
- APIC
- Tenants, VRFs, Bridge Domains, EPGs
- Contracts, policies, and micro segmentation
- Troubleshoot ACI fabric, endpoints, and policy issues
- Support ACI integrations with firewalls, load balancers, and external L3 networks
Network Security Palo Alto
- Configure and manage Palo Alto firewalls
- Centralized management using Panorama
- Implement and maintain:
- Security policies and NAT rules
- IPSec and SSL VPNs
- Threat prevention, URL filtering, and application control
- Troubleshoot firewall and security traffic flows
- Collaborate with security teams on incident response and compliance
Operations & Support
- Act as L2/L3 escalation point for network incidents
- Perform deep level troubleshooting and root cause analysis
- Support change management, maintenance windows, and on call rotations
- Ensure high availability, performance, and resilience of network services
Documentation & Improvement
- Maintain network documentation, diagrams, and SOPs
- Contribute to automation and standardization initiatives
- Assist with audits and operational best practices
- Mentor junior engineers as required
Required Skills & Experience
Technical Skills
- Strong hands on experience with:
- Cisco Catalyst & Nexus
- Cisco ACI Spine Leaf architecture
- Palo Alto firewalls and Panorama
- Solid understanding of:
- TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP
- Routing and switching fundamentals
- Network security principles
- Experience with monitoring and troubleshooting tools
Experience
- 4 to 8+ years of network engineering experience
- Experience supporting enterprise or data center environments
- Proven experience handling complex network changes and incidents
Certifications (Preferred)
- CCNP Enterprise / Data Center
- Cisco ACI certification
- PCNSE
- ITIL Foundation (nice to have)
Soft Skills
- Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills
- Clear communication and documentation ability
- Ability to work under pressure during outages
- Team oriented with a proactive mindset
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