Network Architect - Squid Proxy & Palo Alto

Kent / Hybrid - 2 days per week onsite

Up to £780 per day inside ir35

Active SC clearance - Sole UK National

We are seeking an experienced Network Architect / Senior Network Engineer with strong hands-on expertise in Squid Proxy, Palo Alto Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW) and App-ID technologies to support and enhance secure enterprise network infrastructure.

This is an excellent opportunity for a technically strong network security specialist to take ownership of critical proxy and firewall services, focusing on secure web access, application visibility, security policy management and network optimisation.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, configure and support enterprise Squid Proxy environments, including forward, reverse and transparent proxy deployments.

• Administer and optimise Palo Alto Next-Generation Firewalls, including Panorama management.

• Develop and maintain granular firewall security policies using Palo Alto App-ID, User-ID and Content-ID technologies.

• Configure and manage URL filtering, Threat Prevention, WildFire, GlobalProtect and SSL decryption.

• Manage proxy ACLs, authentication integrations, SSL inspection and web filtering policies.

• Review and optimise firewall rule bases, transitioning legacy port-based rules towards application-aware security policies.

• Troubleshoot complex network and application connectivity issues across Layers 2-7.

• Perform packet analysis using tools such as Wireshark and tcpdump.

• Support firewall and proxy upgrades, migrations, patching and high-availability configurations.

• Work alongside Cyber Security teams to support vulnerability remediation, incident investigations and security compliance activities.

Essential Skills & Experience

• 5+ years' experience supporting enterprise network infrastructure.

• Strong hands-on administration and support experience with Palo Alto Networks firewalls.

• Demonstrable experience configuring and managing Palo Alto App-ID security policies.

• Extensive experience with Squid Proxy, including ACLs, SSL inspection and authentication.

• Experience with Palo Alto Panorama, User-ID, URL Filtering and Threat Prevention.

• Strong understanding of TCP/IP, routing, VLANs, DNS, DHCP, NAT and VPN technologies.

• Experience troubleshooting SSL/TLS, authentication and application connectivity issues.

• Proficiency with network analysis tools such as Wireshark and tcpdump.

• Experience working within highly secure, regulated or business-critical environments.

Desirable Experience

• Experience within Defence, Government or Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).

• Experience supporting secure customer environments.

• Knowledge of network segmentation and Zero Trust security principles.

• Experience with infrastructure automation using Python or Ansible.

• Familiarity with monitoring platforms such as Splunk, SolarWinds, ELK or Grafana.

If you have strong hands-on experience with Squid Proxy and Palo Alto firewalls, particularly App-ID and application-aware security policy management, we would be keen to hear from you.

If this role is of interest, apply now or email your CV to me directly at laura.fitzgerald@cbsbutler.com