Network Architect - Squid Proxy & Palo Alto
Kent/Hybrid - 2 days per week onsite
Up to 780 per day inside ir35
Active SC clearance - Sole UK National
We are seeking an experienced Network Architect/Senior Network Engineer with strong hands-on expertise in Squid Proxy, Palo Alto Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW) and App-ID technologies to support and enhance secure enterprise network infrastructure.
This is an excellent opportunity for a technically strong network security specialist to take ownership of critical Proxy and Firewall services, focusing on secure web access, application visibility, security policy management and network optimisation.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, implement, configure and support enterprise Squid Proxy environments, including forward, reverse and transparent Proxy deployments.
- Administer and optimise Palo Alto Next-Generation Firewalls, including Panorama management.
- Develop and maintain granular Firewall security policies using Palo Alto App-ID, User-ID and Content-ID technologies.
- Configure and manage URL filtering, Threat Prevention, WildFire, GlobalProtect and SSL decryption.
- Manage Proxy ACLs, authentication integrations, SSL inspection and web filtering policies.
- Review and optimise Firewall rule bases, transitioning Legacy port-based rules towards application-aware security policies.
- Troubleshoot complex network and application connectivity issues across Layers 2-7.
- Perform packet analysis using tools such as Wireshark and tcpdump.
- Support Firewall and Proxy upgrades, migrations, patching and high-availability configurations.
- Work alongside Cyber Security teams to support vulnerability remediation, incident investigations and security compliance activities.
Essential Skills & Experience
- 5+ years' experience supporting enterprise network infrastructure.
- Strong hands-on administration and support experience with Palo Alto Networks firewalls.
- Demonstrable experience configuring and managing Palo Alto App-ID security policies.
- Extensive experience with Squid Proxy, including ACLs, SSL inspection and authentication.
- Experience with Palo Alto Panorama, User-ID, URL Filtering and Threat Prevention.
- Strong understanding of TCP/IP, routing, VLANs, DNS, DHCP, NAT and VPN technologies.
- Experience troubleshooting SSL/TLS, authentication and application connectivity issues.
- Proficiency with network analysis tools such as Wireshark and tcpdump.
- Experience working within highly secure, regulated or business-critical environments.
Desirable Experience
- Experience within Defence, Government or Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).
- Experience supporting secure customer environments.
- Knowledge of network segmentation and Zero Trust security principles.
- Experience with infrastructure automation using Python or Ansible.
- Familiarity with monitoring platforms such as Splunk, SolarWinds, ELK or Grafana.
If you have strong hands-on experience with Squid Proxy and Palo Alto firewalls, particularly App-ID and application-aware security policy management, we would be keen to hear from you.