Operational Lead – D2D Ops (Cloud Network, Firewall & Load Balancer, Security)

Rackspace; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading cloud technology service provider is seeking an Operational Lead – Day-to-Day Operations. This role focuses on managing network services and security controls in a hybrid cloud environment. The ideal candidate will lead operations across cloud and data center infrastructures, ensuring performance, availability, and security of critical services. Candidates should have at least 8 years of experience in IT networks and security, along with strong leadership skills and a background in managing cloud infrastructures.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in IT network and security operations.
• At least 2–3 years in a leadership role.
• Hands-on experience with enterprise firewalls.

Responsibilities

• Lead daily operations and incident response across cloud network infrastructure.
• Ensure uptime, performance, and integrity of cloud networking.
• Administer and troubleshoot firewalls, VPNs, routers, and switches.

Skills

Network protocols

Routing

Switching

VPNs

Security architectures

Communication skills

Leadership skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Information Technology

Tools

Palo Alto

Fortinet

F5

Cisco ASA/Firepower

Wireshark

Job description

Rackspace Technology is a leading provider of expertise and managed services across all the major public and private cloud technologies. We’ve evolved Fanatical Support to encompass the entire customer journey — providing Fanatical Experience™ from first consultation to daily operations. Our passionate experts combine the power of proactive, always-on service and expertise with best-in-class tools and automation to deliver technology when and how our customers need it.

We are looking for an experienced and proactive Operational Lead – Day-to-Day (D2D) Operations with a focus on cloud networking, security infrastructure, firewalls, and load balancers. This role involves managing and maintaining network services and security controls in a hybrid cloud environment to ensure performance, availability, and security of business‑critical services. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in managing cloud and on‑premise network/security infrastructures and leading daily operational activities across multiple platforms.

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Responsibilities

• Lead daily operations and incident response across cloud and data center network infrastructure, including firewalls (FW), load balancers (LB), and security tools.
• Ensure uptime, performance, and integrity of cloud networking and perimeter security components.
• Administer and troubleshoot virtual and physical firewalls, VPNs, routers, switches, and load balancers (e.g., F5, Palo Alto, Fortinet).
• Monitor and manage network traffic, routing policies, and segmentation across hybrid environments.
• Maintain rule bases, NAT, ACLs, and policies on firewalls and security appliances.
• Coordinate with security, cloud, and infrastructure teams to ensure security compliance and risk mitigation.
• Drive operational excellence in response handling, root cause analysis (RCA), and long‑term remediation.
• Collaborate with cloud architects to optimize secure connectivity between on‑prem and public cloud.
• Develop and maintain operational runbooks, SOPs, network diagrams, and security documentation.
• Participate in change management, patching cycles, and infrastructure upgrades with minimal service impact.
• Oversee monitoring and alerting for network and security devices, responding to issues as per SLAs.
• Lead the support team for Tier 2/3 escalations and guide junior network/security engineers.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in IT network and security operations, with at least 2–3 years in a leadership role.
• Deep understanding of network protocols, routing, switching, VPNs, and security architectures.
• Hands‑on experience with enterprise firewalls and next‑gen security appliances (e.g., Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco ASA/Firepower).
• Experience managing load balancers and ADCs (e.g., F5, Citrix NetScaler, HAProxy, NGINX).
• Knowledge of cloud networking constructs and security groups in public clouds (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Experience with IPS/IDS, SIEM tools, vulnerability management, and secure access controls.
• Proficiency in troubleshooting L2/L3 network issues and packet analysis tools (e.g., Wireshark).
• Familiarity with security best practices, hardening standards, and compliance frameworks (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001).
• Strong understanding of ITIL‑based operational processes and incident/change/problem management.
• Excellent communication, coordination, and leadership skills.

Additional Skills (Good to have)

• Certifications: CCNP/CCIE, PCNSE, NSE4/NSE5, F5‑CTS, or equivalent.
• Public cloud certifications (e.g., Azure Network Engineer, AWS Advanced Networking).
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for network automation (e.g., Terraform, Ansible).
• Familiarity with Zero Trust Architecture and SASE frameworks.
• Exposure to DevSecOps tools and security automation practices.
• ITIL Foundation certification.

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