What are the responsibilities and job description for the Lead Network Engineer position at Fire Fighter Sales & Service Co.?
**This role is onsite daily. Not hybrid**
We are seeking an experienced Lead Network Engineer to join our Infrastructure and Network Services team. This individual will play a key role in shaping the future of our enterprise network environment by providing technical leadership, architectural guidance, and hands-on engineering expertise.
The ideal candidate will have deep experience with Palo Alto Networks security platforms, enterprise network architecture, and infrastructure modernization initiatives. This role will focus on evaluating the current environment, identifying opportunities to simplify and optimize network operations, and implementing solutions that align with modern networking best practices while supporting the organization's long-term business objectives.
Key Responsibilities
Network Architecture & Strategy
- Assess and evaluate the current enterprise network infrastructure and security architecture.
- Develop strategic recommendations to simplify, modernize, and optimize network services.
- Design scalable, secure, and resilient network solutions that support current and future business requirements.
- Establish and promote networking standards, best practices, and governance frameworks.
- Create network roadmaps that align technical investments with organizational objectives.
Palo Alto Security Leadership
- Serve as the primary subject matter expert for Palo Alto firewalls, Panorama, VPN technologies, security policies, and advanced threat prevention capabilities.
- Review existing firewall architectures and implement improvements to enhance performance, security, and manageability.
- Lead network security initiatives, including segmentation, access control, traffic inspection, and policy optimization.
- Support compliance, risk management, and cybersecurity initiatives through secure network design.
Network Engineering & Operations
- Provide advanced engineering support for routing, switching, wireless networking, WAN, SD-WAN, and network security environments.
- Lead complex infrastructure projects including network refreshes, upgrades, migrations, and technology implementations.
- Troubleshoot and resolve escalated network issues across enterprise environments.
- Maintain high levels of network availability, performance, and reliability.
- Evaluate emerging technologies and provide recommendations for adoption where appropriate.
Team Collaboration & Leadership
- Partner closely with network engineers, infrastructure teams, security teams, and business stakeholders.
- Mentor and provide technical guidance to engineers on network architecture, design principles, and best practices.
- Contribute to project planning, budgeting, and technology decision-making processes.
- Develop and maintain comprehensive network documentation, diagrams, standards, and operational procedures.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent work experience.
- 8 years of progressive experience in enterprise networking roles.
- 5 years of experience designing and implementing complex network architectures.
- Deep hands-on expertise with:
- Palo Alto Networks Firewalls
- Panorama Management
- IPSec and SSL VPN Technologies
- Network Segmentation and Security Architecture
- Strong experience with:
- Enterprise Routing and Switching
- LAN/WAN Design
- Wireless Networking
- Network Performance Optimization
- High Availability and Disaster Recovery Architectures
- Expert knowledge of networking protocols including:
- BGP
- OSPF
- EIGRP
- MPLS
- VLANs
- QoS
- Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills.
- Excellent communication, documentation, and stakeholder management abilities.