Lead Network & Security Engineer (L3 Architect)

Lead Network & Security Engineer (L3 Architect)

Buffalo, NY 

Full Time

ACI certification is mandatory for this position. Candidates who are not currently certified may also be considered, provided they are willing to obtain the certification

Position Overview

Lead and support complex enterprise network and security infrastructure, providing L3 troubleshooting, architecture, assessments, migrations, and technical leadership across Cisco data center networking, Fortinet, Palo Alto, and network automation.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead network and firewall assessments across Fortinet and Palo Alto environments.

• Perform advanced L3 troubleshooting for routing, switching, VPN, QoS, NAT, ACLs, and network performance.

• Support Cisco NexNX-OS data center environments, including VPC, VXLAN/EVPN, and HA.

• Review firewall policies, governance, SD-WAN, segmentation, and security posture.

• Configure and support SolarWinds and other network monitoring/discovery tools.

• Lead network changes, migrations, upgrades, and change-management activities.

• Develop network standards, documentation, runbooks, and configuration templates.

• Mentor L1/L2 engineers and serve as the final technical escalation point.

Required Qualifications

• 10–12 years of network engineering experience, including 3–4 years at L3/Architect level.

• Strong hands-on experience with Cisco IOS/XE, NX-OS, and Nexus platforms.

• Extensive experience with Fortinet FortiGate and Palo Alto firewalls.

• Strong knowledge of OSPF, BGP, VLANs, STP, EtherChannel, SD-WAN, VPN, and HA.

• Experience with SolarWinds or similar network monitoring tools.

• Working knowledge of Python, Bash, or Cisco EEM for network automation.

• CCNA or equivalent hands-on experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• CCNP Enterprise.

• Fortinet NSE 4+.

• Experience with Aruba Wireless, Extreme, or Juniper.

• ITIL v4 Foundation certification.