Firewall Engineer – Level 2

About the Position

We are seeking a skilled Firewall Engineer – Level 2 with over 5 years of experience in enterprise firewall engineering to join our team in Lisboa, Portugal. This role is fully remote.

Responsibilities

Incident & Problem Management (Level 2 Scope)

• Handle escalated incidents from Level 1
• Troubleshoot complex firewall issues (routing, NAT, clustering, performance)
• Perform deep packet analysis when required
• Conduct root cause analysis (RCA)
• Identify recurring issues and open Problem records
• Participate in post-mortem analysis and improvement plans
• Participate in Level 2 on-call rotation

Firewall Engineering & Automation

• Design and maintain automation for:
  • Software upgrades (CheckPoint, Fortinet, Open-Source)
  • Cluster upgrades and failover validation
  • Policy deployment pipelines
  • Backup & restore procedures
• Implement infrastructure changes through:
  • Ansible / AWX
  • Git-based workflows
  • CI/CD pipelines
• Ensure infrastructure changes are reproducible and version-controlled
• Contribute to Git repositories and review pull requests
• Maintain configuration as code principles

Configuration Governance & CMDB Integrity

• Ensure all firewall objects and rules align with CMDB data
• Enforce Source of Truth model (e.g., NetBox or equivalent)
• Avoid manual configuration drift
• Implement validation checks before deployment
• Contribute to compliance reporting

Firewall Platform Expertise

• Check Point Software Technologies
• R8x architecture
• Management Server / MDS
• SmartConsole
• ClusterXL
• Policy installation & troubleshooting:
  • Fortinet
  • FortiGate
  • FortiManager
  • HA clusters
  • Security Fabric integration
• Open-Source Firewalls
  • nftables / iptables
  • pfSense
  • OPNsense
• Strong understanding of Linux networking stack

DevOps & Engineering Practices

• Infrastructure as Code mindset
• CI/CD pipeline integration
• Unit testing for automation scripts
• Use of Git branching strategies
• Observability integration (logs, metrics, alerts)
• Secure coding practices for automation

Upgrade & Lifecycle Management

• Plan and execute:
  • Major version upgrades
  • Hotfix deployment
  • Security patching
• Automate pre-checks and post-checks
• Maintain upgrade playbooks
• Document rollback strategies

Security & Compliance

• Ensure firewall configurations align with security policies
• Support audit evidence collection
• Support vulnerability remediation
• Ensure secure configuration standards, and best practices
• Participate in security hardening initiatives

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• 5+ years in enterprise firewall engineering
• Strong knowledge of:
  • CheckPoint R8x
  • FortiGate
• Solid understanding of:
  • TCP/IP
  • Routing (BGP, OSPF basics)
  • NAT
  • VPN technologies
  • Experience with Linux networking
  • Experience with automation (Ansible preferred)
  • Git proficiency
  • Strong troubleshooting skills

Nice to Have

• Experience with containerized firewall deployment
• API-driven firewall configuration
• Experience with CI/CD tools (GitLab CI, etc.)
• Experience integrating firewalls with cloud (AWS)
• Experience in high-availability architectures

Soft Skills

• Analytical mindset
• Ability to perform structured RCA
• Autonomous and proactive
• Strong documentation discipline
• Ability to mentor Level 1 engineers
• Clear communication during incident bridges

We Offer

• Competitive salary
• Fully remote work
• Opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies

About the Company

Our company is a leader in IT and telecommunications, providing top-notch information technology services. We are committed to innovation and excellence in our field.