Important InformationLocation: Remote — Texas residents only, preferably in Austin
Contract: 12 months
Compensation: $11,500–$13,000 USD
Eligibility: U.S. residents only
About the Role
We’re looking for a highly skilled Tier 3 Network Security Engineer with strong hands-on experience supporting Cisco Secure Firepower Firewalls in an enterprise-scale environment.
This contractor role supports a long-term Managed Network Services (MNS) engagement for a State Government Agency, working as part of a dedicated firewall operations team. You’ll serve as a Tier 3 escalation point, handling complex troubleshooting, root cause analysis, operational support, and approved network changes.
The position is primarily remote, with periodic on-site support in the Austin, TX area for critical troubleshooting, major network changes, or situations requiring hands-on access.
What You’ll Do
- Serve as a Tier 3 escalation point for complex firewall and network security issues.
- Troubleshoot and perform root cause analysis for Cisco Secure Firepower incidents.
- Provide day-to-day operational support through Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC).
- Monitor firewall health and system performance.
- Analyze traffic flows, connection behavior, and packet-level issues.
- Support routing protocols within secured network environments.
- Troubleshoot site-to-site and remote access VPNs, including Cisco AnyConnect.
- Analyze, implement, and optimize firewall access control and security policies.
- Work with Snort 3, including IPS and File Policies.
- Troubleshoot NAT/PAT, Security Intelligence policies, and access control rules.
- Participate in formal change management, including documentation, peer review, approvals, and scheduled implementations.
- Execute approved changes during after-hours maintenance windows when required.
- Participate in a team-based on-call rotation for emergency and after-hours incidents.
- Collaborate with engineering teams and operational stakeholders to meet Managed Network Services requirements.
- Clearly document technical findings, configurations, troubleshooting, and change activities.
What We’re Looking For
- Strong hands-on experience with Cisco Secure Firepower Firewalls.
- Advanced firewall troubleshooting and root cause analysis experience.
- Solid operational experience with Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC).
- Strong experience with:
- Snort 3 — IPS and File Policies
- Traffic flow analysis and packet inspection
- NAT / PAT configuration and troubleshooting
- Security Intelligence policies
- Access control rule analysis
- OSI Layers 1–7, particularly Layers 1–4
- Proven experience troubleshooting Cisco AnyConnect VPNs.
- Strong understanding of routing concepts and protocols in secured network environments.
- Ability to operate effectively within structured, process-driven environments.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with engineering and operations teams.
Nice to Have
- Experience with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN.
- Experience with ServiceNow or similar ITSM platforms for incident and change management.
- Experience creating and maintaining network topology diagrams.
- Microsoft Visio experience.
- Experience supporting large-scale enterprise or government environments.
Work Expectations
- Primarily remote, with periodic on-site support in the Austin, TX area.
- Availability for after-hours maintenance and scheduled change windows.
- Participation in an on-call rotation.
- Adherence to formal operational, security, and change-control processes.
- Professional communication and documentation appropriate for a government-supported enterprise environment.
Why This Role?
This is an opportunity to join a critical enterprise network security operation supporting a long-term government engagement. You’ll work on complex firewall environments where strong Tier 3 troubleshooting skills, operational discipline, and deep Cisco expertise directly contribute to the reliability and security of the network.
If you’re a seasoned Cisco Firepower engineer who enjoys solving difficult security and networking problems and wants to work at the Tier 3 level, we’d love to hear from you.