Role- Cisco/Palo Alto Network Architect

The candidate must provide high and detailed Low Level designs for network and security, implementation skills and combine technical intelligence with communication and presentation abilities.  This canidate needs to have strong hands-on experience in Cisco networking and ideally experience with Cisco ASA and/or Palo Alto Friewalls.This postion requires canidate to do the specific device configuration of all networking equipment.

Candidate must be an individual contributor capable of self directed work showing strong leadership and client relationship skills, focused on driving the complete network project.

Candidate must be able to assume ownership of assigned task/project and make relevant deisng decisions needed to provide requested deliverable based on client requriements that meet the CIS Technical Standards. Typically reports to supervisor and and Program managers during project phase. Works with CIS Architecture Review Board. Works on advanced, complex technical projects or business issues requiring state of the art technical or industry knowledge. Works with overall Project management and timelines and communciation. Will also provide a leadership role and indivdiual contributor role for overall Network Architecture Projects.  

Ability to work independently and remotely, with willingness travel for client engagements as needed. Are you ready to be a change-maker? At Cognizant, we believe those who challenge the way they work today will lead the way tomorrow!

The candidate must have a strong specialized skillset with knowledge and experience and responsible for:

Datacenter/remote office and MFG  extensive experience Design and Implementation-

•    Layer 2/3 technologies – VLANs, vPC, Segmentation

•    Coordinating with Vendors for Support

•    Network appliances and firewalls Health Check Monitoring & Reporting

•    Configuring and Managing and Data or Voice circuits (SD-WAN, MPLS, Internet, SIP)

•    Manage routing tables and IP addresses

•    Managing network security infrastructure, including firewalls, proxies, web filters, ACLs, and network access control

•    Trroubleshoot Network Performance issues

•    Remote Restarts of Component after Outage/Activities

•    Managing Firewall policies on Cisco ASA, Palo Altos, Firepower Devices, Site to Site VPN and ACLs

•    Routing/Switching Issues/Changes

•    WAN/LAN Troubleshooting

•    Performing VLAN/Port MACD

•    Network appliance and firewall Firmware/Software Upgrades 

•    Coordinating Vendor Dispatch Management

•    Configure Manage F5 or similar Load Balancer 

•    Connectivity and link consistency tests

•    network Hardware Diagnostics

•    Perform network traffic analysis as needed

•    Routing and switching optimization

•    Perform Bandwidth Management and Optimization (LAN and Wireless)

•    Decommission & Shutdown Activities

•    SOP & Run book Creation & Documentation

•    Ability to monitor network appliance CPU and memory and interface utilization issues

•    Some experience with Intrusion detection and IPS a plus

•    Automation experience is a plus, such as automated network device

•    Python or other scripting experience 

Required Qualifications:

 

•    Extensive network architecting experience with Palo Alto and Cisco networking, other WAN technologies and  Cisco SD-WAN Viptelea and Meraki SD-WAN

•    Exceptional communication both written and spoken skills – able to speak to top executives, business and technical leaders. Able to adapt vocabulary and style for each situation; able to represent complex ideas with effective documents and visuals and to adapt presentations to the expectations and background of the audience

•    Extensive collaboration and stakeholder management skills - able to work effectively with others on common tasks; build rapport, gain support, instill confidence, take actions which respect the needs and contributions of others; find common ground; negotiate win-win solutions; and share credit with others; all while achieving the objectives of both the team and stakeholders

•    Applied knowledge of enterprise networking  architecture WAN and LAN frameworks, methods, and tools

•    Applied knowledge of network and security concepts and technologies

•    Applied knowledge of server hardware and virtualization technologies including VLAN/VXLAN

•    Some applied knowledge of cloud networking technologies (AWS, Azure, Private cloud, etc.) 

•    Applied knowledge of high availability networking infrastructure designs and methodologies

•    Applied knowledge of systems monitoring and incident handling, capacity planning and performance tuning

•    Solid understanding SOX, PCI-DSS, or HPIAA regulatory compliance. Understanding of  FDA IT compliance and quality control and/or Good Manufacturing Process (GMP) a plus

  
Education and Certifications:

 

•    Minimum of 12+ years’ experience in networking both datacenters and remote offices or MFG facilities including leading complex network projects

•    5+ years Infrastructure Consulting experience

•    Current (not expired) technical certifications preferred (CISSP, HPE , Silver Peak , Cisco (CNP, CCIE) Red Hat, VMware)

•    Bachelor's degree in computer science, business, information systems or related discipline or demonstrated 12+ years IT related work experience. 

Other Requirements/Skills:

•    Exceptional decision-making and problem and troubleshooting solving skills

•    Proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Visio

•    Exceptional personal time management, planning and organizational skills

•    Home office setup (fast Internet, phone or mobile phone, etc.)

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