Level 3 Field Service Operations Engineer

Role : Level 3 Field Service Operations Engineer, Network and Fortinet

Location: Burlington City , NJ

JOB DESCRIPTION

Level 3 Field Service Operations Engineer, Network and Fortinet

1. Position Summary

The Level 3 Field Service Operations Engineer is responsible for advanced technical support of Burlington’s network infrastructure, with a primary focus on Fortinet FortiGate firewalls, SD-WAN and associated network devices.

The engineer will act as the senior technical escalation point for complex incidents, onsite troubleshooting, hardware replacement, configuration recovery and post-change validation. The role requires close coordination with Field Services, Network Operations, Network Security, NOC, service providers, carriers and Fortinet technical support.

Burlington’s documented environment includes FortiGate devices at retail stores and FortiGate devices operating as SD-WAN hubs. FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer provide centralized Fortinet management and orchestration.

2. Key Roles and Responsibilities

2.1 FortiGate and Fortinet Device Management

• Provide Level 3 operational support for Fortinet FortiGate firewalls and SD-WAN devices.
• Troubleshoot FortiGate hardware, interfaces, routing, policies, NAT, IPsec VPN and SD-WAN issues.
• Monitor and validate device health, interface status, routing tables, VPN tunnels, CPU, memory and connectivity.
• Support FortiGate device onboarding, replacement, recovery and RMA activities.
• Perform pre-change and post-change device-health validation.
• Support approved FortiOS firmware upgrades and device-lifecycle activities.
• Troubleshoot FortiGate communication and synchronization with FortiManager.
• Use FortiAnalyzer for approved log analysis and incident troubleshooting.
• Coordinate complex product issues with Fortinet TAC.

2.2 Incident and Problem Management

• Own complex network incidents escalated by L1, L2, NOC or Field Services.
• Perform end-to-end fault isolation across FortiGate, WAN, LAN, SD-WAN, LTE, routing and IPsec connectivity.
• Lead technical troubleshooting during critical network incidents.
• Analyze logs, configurations and network behavior to identify probable root causes.
• Provide technical findings for Root Cause Analysis and Problem Management.
• Identify recurring issues and recommend permanent corrective actions.
• Maintain complete troubleshooting and resolution details in ServiceNow.

2.3 Field Engineer and Smart-Hands Support

• Provide real-time technical instructions to onsite field engineers.
• Guide onsite resources through:
  • Device and port identification
  • Power and status checks
  • Cabling and interface validation
  • Console connectivity
  • WAN and LAN cable replacement
  • FortiGate installation and replacement
  • Device boot and recovery checks
• Coordinate the deployment and use of approved spare equipment.
• Complete required remote configuration after onsite replacement.
• Validate device reachability, network connectivity and service restoration.
• Remain engaged until repair and post-restoration testing are completed.

2.4 Firewall and Security Operations

• Troubleshoot firewall policies, NAT, traffic flows and deny/permit behavior.
• Support approved firewall-rule implementation and validation.
• Maintain compliance with security, access-control and change-management requirements.
• Support syslog-forwarding and security-monitoring investigations.
• Escalate suspected security incidents or unauthorized access to the appropriate security team.
• Ensure that production changes are made only through approved tickets and change records.

2.5 Change, Deployment and Maintenance

• Participate in planned network changes and maintenance windows.
• Review implementation, validation and rollback plans.
• Perform pre-change health checks and readiness validation.
• Support FortiGate deployment, replacement, migration and firmware activities.
• Execute approved configuration changes through authorized tools.
• Complete post-change connectivity and service validation.
• Support network activities for new stores, relocations, refreshes and closures.
• Update change records with results, evidence, exceptions and final status.

2.6 Documentation and Knowledge Management

• Maintain network runbooks, troubleshooting guides, SOPs and knowledge articles.
• Record detailed technical actions and evidence in ServiceNow.
• Update asset, serial-number and configuration-item information.
• Document known errors, recurring issues and field observations.
• Provide knowledge transfer to L1, L2 and Field Service teams.
• Recommend opportunities for automation and operational improvement.

3. Required Technical Skills

• Strong hands-on experience with Fortinet FortiGate NGFW and FortiOS.
• Experience with FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer.
• Strong understanding of:
  • Fortinet SD-WAN
  • Firewall policies and NAT
  • IPsec VPN
  • BGP and static routing
  • VLANs and trunking
  • TCP/IP, DNS and DHCP
  • DIA, broadband and LTE connectivity
  • High-availability concepts
• Experience troubleshooting LAN, WAN and network-security issues.
• Ability to diagnose issues using FortiGate CLI, logs and centralized management tools.
• Experience with hardware replacement, RMA and remote field support.
• Working knowledge of ServiceNow Incident, Problem and Change Management.
• Familiarity with Cisco switching and Cradlepoint or equivalent LTE devices.

4. Required Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, diploma or equivalent qualification in Information Technology, Telecommunications, Electronics or a related field.
• Recommended six to ten years of network or network-security experience.
• Recommended four or more years of hands-on Fortinet/FortiGate experience.
• Experience supporting large, distributed or multi-site network environments.
• Demonstrated Level 3 troubleshooting experience involving firewalls, routing, VPN and SD-WAN.
• Experience coordinating remote field engineers, carriers and OEM support teams.
• Ability to work during approved maintenance windows, including nights and weekends.
• Ability to travel to customer sites when required.

5. Preferred Certifications

• Fortinet Certified Professional, FCP, or equivalent Fortinet certification
• Fortinet Certified Solution Specialist, FCSS
• Cisco Certified Network Associate, CCNA
• Cisco Certified Network Professional, CCNP Enterprise
• ITIL 4 Foundation
• CompTIA Network+ or Security+

6. Key Competencies

• Advanced network fault isolation
• Fortinet firewall and SD-WAN troubleshooting
• Critical-incident ownership
• Clear technical communication
• Field-engineer coordination
• Customer and service orientation
• Accurate technical documentation
• Change and security discipline
• Root-cause analysis
• Vendor and carrier coordination
• Ability to work effectively under pressure

7. Key Performance Measures

• Incident response and service-restoration performance
• Mean time to restore service
• First-time-fix rate
• Repeat-incident reduction
• Successful FortiGate replacement and recovery
• Change success rate
• ServiceNow documentation quality
• Asset and CMDB accuracy
• Compliance with security and change procedures
• Knowledge transfer to L1, L2 and Field Service teams