Lead Network Security Engineer

Job Overview

We are seeking a highly experienced Lead Network Security Engineer to provide technical leadership across enterprise network and security operations. This role combines advanced L3-level troubleshooting, network security expertise, technical guidance and team leadership.

The successful candidate will take ownership of complex network and security escalations, drive infrastructure improvements, mentor engineering teams and ensure high-quality technical service delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & L3 Support

• Lead the resolution of complex L3 network and security incidents, providing advanced troubleshooting and technical expertise.
• Act as the highest-level technical escalation point for critical network and security issues.
• Perform detailed root cause analysis and develop long-term solutions to recurring infrastructure problems.
• Oversee the design, implementation, configuration and maintenance of enterprise network and security infrastructure.
• Provide technical direction across routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs, wireless and SD-WAN environments.
• Review network configurations and security implementations to ensure reliability, performance and compliance.

Network & Security Engineering

• Oversee enterprise networking technologies, including Cisco, Juniper and other routing and switching platforms.
• Lead the implementation and management of security solutions involving Palo Alto, Cisco ASA/ISE and Fortinet firewalls.
• Drive network security improvements, firewall policy optimisation and infrastructure upgrades.
• Provide expertise in load balancing technologies such as F5 and NetScaler.
• Oversee network monitoring, performance management and proactive problem identification.
• Support cloud networking environments across AWS, Azure and GCP.

Team Leadership & Mentoring

• Provide technical leadership, guidance and mentoring to junior and senior network engineers.
• Coach Level 1 and Level 2 engineers to strengthen technical capabilities and troubleshooting skills.
• Review technical escalations and ensure appropriate resolution approaches are followed.
• Encourage knowledge sharing, technical documentation and continuous learning within the team.
• Support team development and contribute to improving engineering standards and processes.

Service Delivery & Stakeholder Management

• Ensure incidents and service requests are managed and resolved within agreed SLAs.
• Coordinate with internal teams, customers, vendors and external service providers on critical technical matters.
• Identify service delivery risks and recommend improvements to enhance network reliability and customer satisfaction.
• Drive continuous service improvement initiatives and contribute to operational reporting.
• Ensure technical processes and service management practices align with ITIL principles.

Requirements & Technical Skills

• 8+ years of experience in network engineering and network security, with strong enterprise-level technical expertise.
• Extensive hands-on experience with L3 network troubleshooting and complex infrastructure escalations.
• Strong expertise in routing and switching technologies, including Cisco and Juniper.
• Advanced knowledge of enterprise firewall technologies, particularly Palo Alto, Cisco and Fortinet.
• Strong understanding of network security architecture, VPNs, wireless technologies and authentication solutions.
• Experience with SD-WAN implementations and enterprise network infrastructure.
• Hands-on experience with load balancing solutions such as F5 or NetScaler.
• Good understanding of cloud networking across AWS, Azure or GCP.
• Experience with network monitoring, performance management and incident management tools.
• Proven experience mentoring engineers and providing technical leadership.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication and decision-making skills.

Desirable

• Relevant advanced certifications such as CCNP, CCIE, PCNSE or equivalent.
• Experience working within managed services or large-scale enterprise environments.
• Previous experience leading technical teams or acting as an L3 escalation point.
• Experience driving infrastructure transformation and continuous service improvement initiatives.