Senior Network Security Engineer - Firewall Migration

Ibex is seeking a highly skilled Senior Network Security Engineer to lead a large-scale network security transformation project within an enterprise environment based in Karachi or Lahore. This is a night shift role requiring a hands-on technical leader who will take full ownership of the project from initial assessment through final handover. The successful candidate will evaluate the current security landscape, optimize security policies, design the target architecture, oversee implementation, manage testing and validation, lead production cutover, and provide ongoing post-deployment support. The role demands extensive experience in delivering complex network security projects, expertise in next-generation firewall technologies, and the ability to collaborate effectively with infrastructure, security, and application teams while acting as the primary technical contact.

Key Responsibilities:
- Lead technical workshops and design discussions with stakeholders.
- Assess and optimize firewall, routing, and security configurations.
- Design secure and scalable enterprise security architectures.
- Migrate policies, objects, and configurations while ensuring operational stability.
- Develop detailed implementation, testing, validation, and rollback plans.
- Coordinate user acceptance testing and application validation activities.
- Lead change management and production deployment efforts.
- Troubleshoot complex network and security issues during and after implementation.
- Produce comprehensive technical documentation, operational procedures, and architecture diagrams.
- Provide regular project status updates and technical guidance.
- Serve as the primary technical escalation point throughout the engagement.

Required Qualifications:
- Minimum 8 years of enterprise network security engineering experience.
- At least 5 years of hands-on experience supporting next-generation security platforms in production environments.
- Proven track record leading complex infrastructure or security transformation projects from planning through production support.
- Strong knowledge of network security architecture, security policy management, NAT, VPN technologies, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), web filtering, identity-based access controls, SSL/TLS inspection, high availability environments, and security monitoring/logging solutions.
- Experience with security configuration migration and policy conversion tools.
- Solid networking expertise including OSPF, BGP, VLANs, VRFs, static routing, and policy-based routing.
- Demonstrated ability to execute production deployments, change management, and rollback procedures.
- Excellent troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills.
- Strong communication, stakeholder management, and documentation capabilities.
- Willingness and ability to work U.S. business hours and participate in planned maintenance windows as required.

Preferred Qualifications and Benefits:

Network Security Certifications:
- FCP – Network Security
- FCSS – Network Security
- FCX
- PCNSE
- PCNSA

Networking Certifications:
- CCNP Enterprise
- CCNP Security

Security Certifications:
- CISSP
- GIAC (GCIA, GCFW)

Additional Preferred Experience:
- Enterprise-scale multi-site deployments.
- Security management and centralized policy administration platforms.
- Automation skills using Python, Ansible, and APIs.
- SIEM integrations such as Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, and QRadar.
- Identity and access management integrations with Active Directory, Entra ID, and SAML.
- Consulting or professional services experience.
- Experience in regulated and compliance-driven environments including PCI-DSS, HIPAA, or NIST frameworks.

This project-based contract role reports to the Project Delivery Manager and offers the potential for extension based on project needs. The ideal candidate will be a proactive leader capable of driving technical excellence and ensuring the successful delivery of a critical network security transformation.