Senior Network Engineer

Fulltime Role (12 Month Contract to Hire) NO Sponsorship - Green Card or US Citizen Required Candidates must live in/relocate to one of the following cities (Hartford, CT / Nashville, TN / Salt Lake City, UT) Need to know your W-2 Hourly Rate and expected Salary CBTS is seeking a highly skilled Senior Network Engineer on behalf of an Enterprise client undergoing a significant network modernization initiative. This is a 6-month contract-to-hire opportunity offering the successful candidate a path to full-time employment. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in Palo Alto firewall technologies and Azure cloud networking, and is ready to make an immediate, hands‑on impact from day one. The client is actively replacing their existing Sophos firewall infrastructure with Palo Alto High Availability (HA) firewalls across the enterprise. Simultaneously, they have completed a lift‑and‑shift migration of their core network to Microsoft Azure and require expert‑level support to build out, scale, and secure that cloud environment using infrastructure‑as‑code tooling. This role requires the ability to work on‑site from day one in one of three locations: Salt Lake City, UT, Nashville, TN, or Hartford, CT. Candidates must be a US Citizen or Green Card holder. Key Responsibilities Firewall Migration & Management Lead the enterprise‑wide migration from Sophos to Palo Alto High Availability (HA) firewall infrastructure. Design, deploy, and configure Palo Alto HA firewall clusters to meet performance, security, and redundancy requirements. Develop and maintain firewall policies, security zones, NAT rules, and threat prevention profiles in PAN‑OS. Perform ongoing firewall health monitoring, tuning, and lifecycle management. Coordinate with security and network teams to ensure firewall configurations align with corporate security policies and compliance requirements. Build and manage a large‑scale Azure virtual network (vNet) environment, including hub‑and‑spoke topologies and network segmentation. Provision and configure Azure ExpressRoute circuits for dedicated, high‑throughput connectivity between on‑premises and cloud environments. Design, deploy, and manage Azure HA Firewall Clusters to protect cloud workloads. Automate vNet creation, network security group (NSG) management, and routing configurations using Terraform and Ansible. Collaborate with cloud architects to optimize network performance, latency, and cost efficiency within Azure. Implement and maintain Azure network monitoring, alerting, and diagnostics using native Azure tools. LAN/WAN & Infrastructure Support and administer the enterprise LAN/WAN infrastructure, including Ruckus switches and access points. Configure and manage wireless networks, VLANs, STP, and routing protocols across the environment. Troubleshoot complex, multi‑layer network issues across on‑premises and cloud environments. Maintain network documentation, network diagrams, and change records in accordance with ITIL and change management processes. Participate in after‑hours and on‑call rotations to support critical network incidents and scheduled maintenance windows. Requirements Required Qualifications 5+ years of experience in network engineering roles with progressive responsibility. Hands‑on expertise with Palo Alto Networks firewalls, including PAN‑OS administration, policy management, and HA cluster configuration. Proven experience designing and deploying Azure virtual networks (vNets) at scale, including NSGs, route tables, peering, and private endpoints. Proficiency with Azure ExpressRoute configuration and management. Experience building and managing Azure HA Firewall Clusters. Working knowledge of infrastructure‑as‑code tools: Terraform and Ansible for network automation. Experience with Ruckus switching and wireless access point platforms. Solid understanding of network protocols: BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, STP, VLAN trunking, and QoS. Must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident (Green Card holder) — no exceptions. Must be able to work on‑site in Salt Lake City, UT; Nashville, TN; or Hartford, CT starting day one. Preferred Qualifications Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE) certification. Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate (AZ‑700) or equivalent. Experience with Panorama for centralized Palo Alto management. Familiarity with SD‑WAN technologies and concepts. Experience in enterprise firewall migrations (Sophos, Fortinet, or similar to Palo Alto). Knowledge of Zero Trust network architecture principles. Experience working in a managed services or multi‑client enterprise environment. CBTS provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a protected veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. #J-18808-Ljbffr