Lead Consultant - Network Security

Allstate Insurance Co.; Illinois; Hybrid; USD 98,000 - 168,000; Full time

Job summary

Allstate Insurance Co. is seeking a Vended Application Lead Consultant Engineer to join its Network Security engineering team.

The role combines hands-on engineering with technical leadership to automate infrastructure and security platforms across enterprise environments. You will bridge traditional infrastructure with modern automation, apply Ansible and CI/CD to firewall and network services, and collaborate across security, cloud, and application teams to deliver secure connectivity and

Qualifications

• Strong background in network engineering and network security.
• Strong understanding of core networking concepts including: TCP/IP, Routing, Subnetting, NAT, DNS, VPN technologies, Network segmentation, Load balancing and application connectivity.
• Experience engineering or supporting enterprise firewall platforms, preferably Palo Alto Networks or equivalent technologies.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code concepts, practices, and tooling.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a lead engineer and technical resource for enterprise network security platforms and vended applications.
• Engineer, maintain, and improve firewall and network security infrastructure across enterprise environments.
• Develop and promote an Infrastructure as Code approach for provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management.
• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines to automate infrastructure configuration, validation, testing, and deployment.
• Develop automation using Ansible, APIs, scripting, and related automation technologies.
• Design solutions that reduce manual operational activities and improve the consistency and repeatability of infrastructure changes.
• Provide technical leadership for Palo Alto Networks firewall technologies or comparable enterprise firewall/security platforms.
• Partner with networking, cloud, application, security, and infrastructure teams to design and implement secure connectivity solutions.
• Troubleshoot complex network and security issues across application, network, firewall, and cloud environments.

Skills

Networking

Network security

Palo Alto

Ansible

CI/CD

REST APIs

Python

PowerShell

Tools

Git

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

Azure DevOps

Job description

Position Overview

We are seeking a Vended Application Lead Consultant Engineer to join our Network Security engineering team. This role will provide technical leadership for the engineering, automation, deployment, and lifecycle management of enterprise network security platforms. The ideal candidate will bring a strong foundation in networking and network security, combined with experience applying modern software engineering and infrastructure automation practices to infrastructure platforms. This individual should be comfortable working with technologies such as Palo Alto Networks or comparable enterprise firewall platforms, while also having hands‑on experience with Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD pipelines, Ansible, APIs, and automation frameworks. This is a hands‑on technical leadership role for someone who can bridge traditional infrastructure engineering with a modern, automated approach to managing network security services.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a lead engineer and technical resource for enterprise network security platforms and vended applications.
• Engineer, maintain, and improve firewall and network security infrastructure across enterprise environments.
• Develop and promote an Infrastructure as Code approach for provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management.
• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines to automate infrastructure configuration, validation, testing, and deployment.
• Develop automation using Ansible, APIs, scripting, and related automation technologies.
• Design solutions that reduce manual operational activities and improve the consistency and repeatability of infrastructure changes.
• Provide technical leadership for Palo Alto Networks firewall technologies or comparable enterprise firewall/security platforms.
• Partner with networking, cloud, application, security, and infrastructure teams to design and implement secure connectivity solutions.
• Troubleshoot complex network and security issues across application, network, firewall, and cloud environments.
• Establish engineering standards, reusable automation patterns, and technical best practices.
• Identify opportunities to improve platform reliability, resiliency, scalability, and operational efficiency.
• Participate in product lifecycle activities including upgrades, platform modernization, capacity planning, vulnerability remediation, and technology refreshes.
• Lead technical implementation efforts and provide engineering guidance to other members of the team.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, operational procedures, and engineering standards.

Required Qualifications

• Strong background in network engineering and network security.
• Strong understanding of core networking concepts including: TCP/IP, Routing, Subnetting, NAT, DNS, VPN technologies, Network segmentation, Load balancing and application connectivity.
• Experience engineering or supporting enterprise firewall platforms, preferably Palo Alto Networks or equivalent technologies.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code concepts, practices, and tooling.
• Hands‑on experience with Ansible for infrastructure configuration and automation.
• Experience developing or supporting CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure or application deployments.
• Experience integrating infrastructure platforms through REST APIs or other programmatic interfaces.
• Working knowledge of scripting or programming languages used for automation, such as Python, PowerShell, Bash, or similar languages.
• Experience troubleshooting complex infrastructure problems across multiple technology domains.
• Ability to translate technical requirements into scalable and supportable engineering solutions.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to work across engineering, operations, application, and security teams.

Preferred Qualifications

Hands‑on experience with Palo Alto Networks firewalls, Panorama, or related Palo Alto technologies.

Experience managing network security infrastructure in public cloud environments such as AWS or Azure.

Experience with source‑control platforms and development workflows such as Git.

Experience with CI/CD and automation platforms such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, Azure DevOps, or similar technologies.

Experience working with enterprise IT service management and change‑management processes.

Experience creating reusable automation frameworks rather than one‑off scripts.

Experience working in an environment adopting product‑oriented engineering and DevOps practices.

Experience modernizing traditional infrastructure platforms through automation and Infrastructure as Code.

What We’re Looking For

We are looking for more than someone who knows how to configure a firewall. The successful candidate will be an engineer who understands networking deeply and approaches infrastructure as an engineering product that can be automated, tested, version‑controlled, and continuously improved. They should be comfortable moving between troubleshooting a complex network connectivity issue, developing an Ansible automation workflow, reviewing a CI/CD deployment pipeline, and helping determine the future technical direction of the platform.

Core skill profile

• Networking & Security: Strong networking fundamentals with enterprise firewall/security experience.
• Infrastructure as Code : Experience managing infrastructure through repeatable, version‑controlled automation.
• Automation: Strong Ansible experience supplemented by scripting and API integration.
• CI/CD: Experience applying software delivery practices to infrastructure deployment and configuration.
• Firewall Platforms: Palo Alto experience is preferred, but strong experience with comparable enterprise firewall platforms is also valuable.
• Technical Leadership: Ability to lead engineering efforts, establish standards, mentor others, and drive modernization of the platform.

Compensation

Compensation offered for this role is 98,100.00 - 167,850.00 annually and is based on experience and qualifications.

The candidate(s) offered this position will be required to submit to a background investigation.

Joining our team

Joining our team isn’t just a job — it’s an opportunity. One that takes your skills and pushes them to the next level. One that encourages you to challenge the status quo. One where you can shape the future of protection while supporting causes that mean the most to you. Joining our team means being part of something bigger – a winning team making a meaningful impact.

Employment Policies

Allstate generally does not sponsor individuals for employment‑based visas for this position.

Effective July 1, 2014, under Indiana House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1242, it is against public policy of the State of Indiana and a discriminatory practice for an employer to discriminate against a prospective employee on the basis of status as a veteran by refusing to employ an applicant on the basis that they are a veteran of the armed forces of the United States, a member of the Indiana National Guard or a member of a reserve component.

For jobs in SanFrancisco, please click “here” for information regarding the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

For jobs in LosAngeles, please click “here” for information regarding the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance.

To view the “EEOKnow Your Rights” poster click “here”. This poster provides information concerning the laws and procedures for filing complaints of violations of the laws with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

To view the FMLA poster, click “here”. This poster summarizing the major provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and telling employees how to file a complaint.

It is the Company’s policy to employ the best qualified individuals available for all jobs. Therefore, any discriminatory action taken on account of an employee’s ancestry, age, color, disability, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual and reproductive health decision, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, race (include traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles), religion (including religious dress), sex, or sexual orientation that adversely affects an employee's terms or conditions of employment is prohibited. This policy applies to all aspects of the employment relationship, including, but not limited to, hiring, training, salary administration, promotion, job assignment, benefits, discipline, and separation of employment.

Technology & Work From Home

Allstate provides a comprehensive technology setup, including a laptop, monitors, headset, keyboard, and mouse. Employees eligible to work from home also receive a monthly connectivity reimbursement to help offset internet costs. When working from home, you must have a dedicated, private workspace free from distractions, along with appropriate desk and seating.

Reliable internet is required, with minimum speeds of 50MB download and 5MB upload.

When working from home, you must have a dedicated, private workspace free from distractions, along with appropriate desk and seating. Reliable internet is required, with minimum speeds of 50MB download and 5MB upload. If you require any accommodations or have questions ahead of your interview please reach out to your recruiter. Note: Internal candidates are only asked to join on video; a Valid Photo Identification is not needed for the interview.

Company Values

At Allstate, we work hard to help people live a good life every day. Allstaters are dedicated to serving clients, customers, and communities, which allows employees to find meaning and value in their work. Allstate offers an environment that fosters innovative thinking where you’ll be able to explore your ideas and feel proud of the work you do. Allstate helps protect nearly 16million households with auto, home, life, and retirement products. We want every professional connected to Allstate to be committed to giving our customers the best and that means finding the best talent. We want you to be our next great addition.