Cyber Security Engineer - Zero Trust Security

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Role: Cyber Security Engineer - Zero Trust Security

Hybrid Role in Vienna, VA or Pensacola, FL

JD:

The Zero Trust Security Engineer is responsible for driving the implementation of Zero Trust security rules, including formal requests to firewall teams, ongoing coordination, validation of changes, and post-implementation verification.

This role is execution-focused and serves as the single point of accountability for ensuring Zero Trust rules are implemented correctly, completely, and auditable across firewall and security platforms.

Key Responsibilities

Rule Implementation & Coordination

• Translate Zero Trust analysis outputs into formal firewall and security rule requests
• Submit detailed implementation requests to firewall teams, including:
• Source identities (users, groups, roles)
• Destination applications, addresses, and services
• Required ports, protocols, and application IDs
• Ensure requests meet firewall team standards and contain all required technical details
  
  

Cross-Team Execution

• Act as the primary liaison between Zero Trust, IAM, firewall engineering, and application teams
• Track firewall requests from submission through completion
• Resolve implementation questions, clarifications, or discrepancies with firewall engineers
  
  

Validation & Verification

• Validate that implemented firewall rules exactly match approved Zero Trust requirements
• Perform post-implementation testing to confirm:
• Authorized access works as expected
• Unauthorized access is blocked
• Identify and remediate misconfigurations, partial implementations, or policy drift
  
  

Audit & Lifecycle Management

• Ensure all implemented rules are properly tagged, documented, and traceable to application and Zero Trust requirements
• Maintain implementation records for audit, compliance, and reporting
• Support ongoing refinement of Zero Trust rules as application access requirements evolve
  
  

Required Skills & Experience

• Hands-on experience working with enterprise firewalls (Palo Alto preferred)
• Strong understanding of user-based and application-aware firewall policies
• Experience submitting and managing firewall rule requests in enterprise environments
• Ability to validate security rule implementations and troubleshoot access issues
• Strong coordination and communication skills across technical teams
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience implementing Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solutions
• Familiarity with IAM, Entra ID groups, Active Directory groups, and RBAC models
• Experience integrating firewall rules with application onboarding frameworks
• Knowledge of audit, compliance, and security reporting requirements
  
  

Success Metrics

• Firewall rules are requested properly and implemented correctly the first time
• Efficient coordination with minimal back-and-forth between teams
• Verified and auditable Zero Trust enforcement across applications