Senior Firewall Engineer

Job Description
Senior Firewall Engineer (Contractor)

Type of Interview-In person

100% onsite Carson or Las Vegas

Work Location

1. In Office; Carson City, NV

2. In Office; Las Vegas, NV

NDOT is seeking a Senior Firewall Engineer to provide dedicated management, administration, and engineering support for its hybrid network security environment. This role is responsible for the day-to-day operation and continuous improvement of on-premise Fortinet firewalls and will also support Palo Alto Prisma SASE (cloud-delivered NGFW) as part of the agency's evolving cloud security architecture. The engineer will ensure firewall policies are properly designed, implemented, maintained, and documented to support secure and reliable business operations.

NDOT is currently engaged in a firewall modernization effort in partnership with a vendor, and this role will work closely with vendor engineering resources during implementation. The Senior Firewall Engineer will play a key role in operationalizing, maintaining, and supporting the environment post-implementation, ensuring long-term sustainability, performance, and security of firewall services.

This position serves as the primary technical resource for firewall management, addressing a current gap in ownership and operational consistency. The contractor will be responsible for managing the full lifecycle of firewall rules, including intake, review, implementation, validation, and periodic cleanup to reduce risk and eliminate unnecessary or outdated access. The role also includes monitoring firewall performance and security events, supporting incident response efforts, and ensuring timely resolution of network security issues.

In addition to operational responsibilities, the Senior Firewall Engineer will provide architectural guidance for network security across both on-premise and cloud environments. This includes designing and maintaining network segmentation, supporting secure connectivity for applications and users, and contributing to the maturation of NDOT's cloud security capabilities, including SASE where applicable. The engineer will work closely with network, infrastructure, security, and application teams to ensure firewall policies align with business needs while maintaining strong security controls.

A critical component of this role is documentation and process maturity. The contractor will develop and maintain clear, audit-ready documentation including firewall rules, network diagrams, and standard operating procedures. They will also support compliance efforts by aligning configurations with established security best practices and assisting with audit and risk mitigation activities.

What We're Looking For
•7+ years of hands-on experience in firewall engineering and network security operations
•Strong experience managing Fortinet (FortiGate) firewalls in an enterprise environment
•Experience with Palo Alto technologies is a plus; Prisma SASE or cloud-delivered firewall experience preferred but not required
•Proven ability to manage firewall rule lifecycles, including design, implementation, and optimization
•Experience working in hybrid environments (on-premise and cloud)
•Solid understanding of network protocols, segmentation, VPNs, and secure access design
•Ability to analyze logs, troubleshoot issues, and support incident response activities
•Experience developing and maintaining technical documentation and operational procedures
•Strong collaboration skills and ability to work across technical teams and business units
•Certifications are a plus but not required; practical, hands-on experience is prioritized