The Senior Network Engineer is a hybrid engineering and operations leader responsible for designing, implementing, securing, and supporting enterprise network services across on-premises and cloud environments.In addition to core networking expertise, this role is expected to drive automation and leverage AI capabilities to improve operational efficiency, standardization, and scalability—particularly in areas such as Palo Alto firewall configuration management and deployment workflows.Palo Alto Firewall Engineering (Primary Focus)Design, deploy, and manage Palo Alto NGFW infrastructure including policies, NAT, VPN, and segmentationManage centralized configuration via Panorama and ensure consistency across environmentsLead firewall optimization, rule lifecycle management, and security posture improvementsAI & Automation for Palo Alto (Key Expectation)Develop and implement automated firewall rule deployment (“push automation”) using APIs, scripting, or orchestration toolsReduce manual changes by building standardized templates and policy modelsExplore and implement AI-assisted workflows to:Identify redundant or unused rulesRecommend rule optimization or cleanupDetect anomalies or misconfigurations in policy setsIntegrate firewall automation into CI/CD-style pipelines where applicablePartner with security teams to align automation with governance and audit requirementsCisco Meraki (Store / Branch / Edge)Deploy and support Meraki MX/MS/MR infrastructure across distributed environmentsStandardize configurations for rapid store/branch rolloutAutomate repetitive tasks (config templating, provisioning, monitoring Workflows)Develop AI monitoring capabilities with the goal of issue identification, notification and remediation within MerakiCisco Routing & SwitchingConfigure and support routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP) and enterprise switchingTroubleshoot complex network issues including packet-level analysisContribute to resilient network design and failover strategiesAzure Networking & Hybrid ConnectivityDesign and manage Azure networking (VNets, subnets, routing, NSGs, connectivity)Implement hybrid connectivity (ExpressRoute / VPN) between on-prem and cloudAlign network patterns with secure cloud architecture principlesAutomation & AI Expectations This role is expected to lead the evolution from manual operations to automated and intelligent network management:Identify and eliminate repetitive operational tasks through automationBuild reusable automation frameworks across:Firewall changes (Palo Alto focus)Network provisioning and configurationMonitoring and alerting workflowsEvaluate and introduce AI-assisted tooling to:Improve troubleshooting accuracyEnhance observability and predictive insightsSupport decision-making in network and security operationsDrive adoption of automation across the team (documentation, standards, mentoring)Leadership ExpectationsAct as a technical lead and escalation point across networking and security domainsMentor engineers on both networking fundamentals and automation practicesLead cross-functional initiatives (network, cloud, security, operations)Influence roadmap decisions with focus on scalability, automation, and efficiencyBalance delivery of projects with ownership of operational health