Principal Palo Alto Networks Architect (Remote)

General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc.; Virginia; Hybrid; USD 153,000 - 207,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with company match

Comprehensive health and wellness

Professional growth opportunities and

Paid vacation and holidays

Paid education and certifications

Job summary

General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. seeks a Principal Palo Alto Networks SME to lead design, deployment, and optimization of advanced network security architectures. You will provide senior technical leadership across firewall engineering, segmentation, threat prevention, and Zero Trust integration.

The ideal candidate has deep hands-on Palo Alto experience and can drive enterprise-scale solutions from strategy through implementation.

Qualifications

• BA/BS or equivalent degree required.
• 10+ years of network security engineering experience.
• 5+ years hands-on Palo Alto Networks experience.
• Deep expertise in Panorama, firewalls, GlobalProtect, Threat Prevention, URL Filtering, WildFire.
• Secret Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture, engineering, and configuration of Palo Alto firewalls across NGG environments.
• Design and deploy security policies, NAT, app-ID, user-ID, and threat profiles.
• Architect and optimize Panorama for centralized management and scale.
• Implement Zero Trust segmentation per NGG security requirements.
• Support migration from legacy security stacks to Palo Alto platforms.
• Develop design artifacts: HLDs, LLDs, runbooks, and implementation plans.
• Conduct advanced troubleshooting, packet analysis, and platform tuning.
• Advise leadership on best practices, risks, and roadmap recommendations.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (network, cloud, cyber, ops).
• Mentor junior engineers and serve as technical decision maker.

Skills

IT Roadmap

Network Security Engineering

Zero Trust Architecture

Education

BA/BS or equivalent

Tools

Palo Alto Networks

Panorama

GlobalProtect

Threat Prevention

URL Filtering

WildFire

Job description

General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. seeks a Principal Palo Alto Networks SME to lead design, deployment, and optimization of advanced network security architectures. You will provide senior technical leadership across firewall engineering, segmentation, threat prevention, and Zero Trust integration.

The ideal candidate has deep hands-on Palo Alto experience and can drive enterprise-scale solutions from strategy through implementation.