Cybersecurity Engineer
Columbus, Georgia, United States of America
Contract
3 weeks ago
$50 - $55 USD
Key skills
PrismaSplunkCommunicationCollaborationNetwork SecurityZero TrustFirewall
About this role
Position Details:
Cybersecurity Engineer VPN, SD-WAN & Palo Alto Specialist
Columbus, Ohio (On-site)
Long Term
Exp: 8 to 10 years of experience
Job Description:
Overview
The Cybersecurity Engineer will be responsible for designing, implementing, and supporting secure network connectivity with a focus on site-to-site VPNs, SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks NGFW, and Prisma Access. This role will lead the migration of IPsec tunnels from Cisco routers to Palo Alto firewalls while supporting SD-WAN integration to ensure resilient, secure, and optimized connectivity with business partners
Key Responsibilities
VPN & Connectivity Engineering
- Design, deploy, and support site-to-site IPsec VPN tunnels for enterprise and third-party partner connectivity
- Lead migration of IPsec tunnels from Cisco routers to Palo Alto NGFW
- Validate tunnel configurations including:
- IKEv1/IKEv2 settings
- Phase 1 / Phase 2 proposals
- Crypto profiles and lifetimes
- Troubleshoot VPN issues including latency, packet drops, and tunnel instability
- Coordinate with business partners to establish and test secure connectivity
SD-WAN Integration & Support
- Assist in the design, deployment, and support of SD-WAN solutions for branch and partner connectivity
- Integrate SD-WAN with IPsec VPN tunnels and Palo Alto firewalls
- Support traffic steering, path selection, and failover policies across WAN links
- Troubleshoot SD-WAN-related issues including path degradation, failover events, and performance bottlenecks
- Collaborate with network engineering teams to align SD-WAN architecture with security controls
- Ensure secure segmentation and enforcement of policies across SD-WAN fabric
Palo Alto Firewall Management
- Configure and manage Palo Alto Networks NGFW (PAN-OS) including:
- Security policies
- NAT rules
- Routing (static, BGP)
- Zone-based segmentation
- Implement best practices aligned with Palo Alto reference architectures
- Perform firewall rule reviews, cleanup, and optimization
Prisma Access (SASE)
- Support and maintain Prisma Access for remote users and branch connectivity
- Configure and troubleshoot GlobalProtect VPN (portal & gateway)
- Integrate Prisma Access with on-prem NGFW and SD-WAN environments
- Assist with policy alignment between on-prem firewalls and Prisma Access
Migration & Transformation
- Plan and execute migration of partner tunnels from Cisco to Palo Alto with minimal downtime
- Develop migration runbooks, rollback plans, and validation procedures
- Perform packet captures and traffic flow validation during cutovers
- Ensure proper documentation of all migrated tunnels and configurations
Monitoring & Troubleshooting
- Monitor VPN, SD-WAN, and firewall health using tools such as:
- Panorama / Strata Cloud Manager
- AIOps
- SIEM (e.g., Splunk)
- Troubleshoot issues using:
- Packet capture (tcpdump, PAN-OS packet-diag)
- Logs (traffic, system, IKE, GlobalProtect)
- Partner with SOC/operations teams for incident response
Security & Compliance
- Ensure configurations align with NIST, TSA, and enterprise security standards
- Implement secure encryption standards and key management practices
- Maintain audit-ready documentation for firewall, VPN, and SD-WAN configurations
Documentation & Collaboration
Create and maintain:
Network diagrams (Visio)
Tunnel inventories and SD-WAN topology documentation
Runbooks and knowledge base articles
Work closely with:
Network engineering
Security operations (SOC)
Business partners and vendors
Required Qualifications
5+ years of experience in network security engineering
Strong hands-on experience with:
Palo Alto Networks NGFW (PAN-OS)
Site-to-site IPsec VPNs
SD-WAN technologies (design or support)
Cisco VPN configurations (for migration context)
Experience with Prisma Access and GlobalProtect
Strong understanding of:
Routing (BGP, static routing)
NAT and security policy design
Encryption standards (AES, SHA, DH groups)
Experience troubleshooting VPN, SD-WAN, and firewall issues in production environments
Preferred Qualifications
- Palo Alto certifications (PCNSE, PCCSE)
- Experience with:
- Panorama / Strata Cloud Manager
- AIOps for NGFW
- SIEM platforms (e.g., Splunk)
- Experience in OT/critical infrastructure environments
- Familiarity with zero trust and SASE architectures
Key Competencies
- Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
- Ability to lead partner-facing technical discussions
- Experience executing large-scale migrations with minimal downtime
- Strong documentation and communication skills
- Ability to operate in a fast-paced, incident-driven environment
Success Metrics
- Successful migration of 100% of partner IPsec tunnels from Cisco to Palo Alto
- Stable and optimized SD-WAN connectivity with minimal failover impact
- Reduction in VPN/SD-WAN-related incidents and MTTR
- Improved visibility and logging of partner traffic
- Compliance with enterprise security standards and audit requirements
- Accurate and up-to-date documentation of all connectivity