Lead Network Engineer- Palo Alto Firewalls

Job Description

Overview 

CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) is a leading global provider of commercial and residential real estate information, analytics, and online marketplaces.  Included in the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ 100, CoStar Group is on a mission to digitize the world’s real estate, empowering all people to discover properties, insights and connections that improve their businesses and lives.  

We have been living and breathing the world of real estate information and online marketplaces for over 35 years, giving us the perspective to create truly unique and valuable offerings to our customers.  We’ve continually refined, transformed and perfected our approach to our business, creating a language that has become standard in our industry, for our customers, and even our competitors.  We continue that effort today and are always working to improve and drive innovation.  This is how we deliver for our customers, our employees, and investors.  By equipping the brightest minds with the best resources available, we provide an invaluable edge in real estate.    

We are hiring a Lead Network Engineer to take ownership of the Palo Alto firewall infrastructure at Costar Group.  We have approximately 70 firewalls spread across several continents,  supporting both the customer-facing products (CoStar Suite, Apartments.com, Homes.com, etc) and our employee in-office base. This is a hands-on engineering role responsible for design, deployment, configuration, management, and ongoing improvement of our firewall and network security posture. 

This position can be based in Arlington, VA or Richmond, VA with a schedule of 4 days in office and 1 day remote.

Responsibilities  

• Design, implement, and maintain secure network configurations across Palo Alto firewalls using PanOS and Panorama.  

• Familiarity with designing and implementing secure network architectures, including segmentation, zero-trust principles, and intrusion prevention. Take full ownership of firewall-related issues, from initial troubleshooting through to resolution, ensuring minimal downtime and optimal performance.  

• Ensure High Availability (HA) configurations are intact and conduct regularly scheduled failover tests to guarantee proper resiliency.  

• Consolidate and optimize firewall rule sets, NAT policies, threat prevention profiles, URL filtering, App-ID and User-ID to enhance performance, reduce complexity, and maintain security standards. 

• Lead firewall upgrades, migrations, and hardware refresh projects. Document key design decisions, maintain pre/post-update procedures, and develop test plans for updates and configurations. Deploy PanOS updates in lab environments, validate stability in lower environments, and collaborate with other engineers to help roll out updates across the fleet.  

• Automate firewall configuration changes and deployments using tools like Terraform and Azure DevOps, Python or Ansible to improve operational efficiency.  

• Perform in-depth log analysis and packet captures to identify and mitigate security threats, connectivity issues, and misconfigurations. 

• Lead or support incident response efforts during security breaches, including forensic analysis, containment, and remediation in collaboration with security teams. 

• Mentor junior team members, providing technical guidance and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. 

• Stay current with industry trends, Palo Alto Networks updates, and emerging security threats to proactively enhance our security posture. 

Basic Qualifications 

• 7+ years of network engineering experience
• 5+ years of experience engineering enterprise-grade firewalls, with at least 3+ years of hands-on experience with Palo Alto Networks 

• Bachelor’s Degree is required from an accredited, not for profit university or college.   

• A track record of commitment to prior employers  

Preferred Qualifications and Skills 

• Advanced Palo Alto Firewall Expertise: Deep understanding of PanOS and Panorama, including advanced topics such as Virtual Systems (VSYS), Advanced Threat Protection including WildFire. 

• High Availability (HA) configurations, including active/passive and active/active setups, with regular failover testing to ensure resiliency. 

• Panorama management for centralized control of multiple firewalls, including template and rule set management. 

• Security Architecture and Integration: Knowledge of security architecture design and the ability to integrate cybersecurity engineering principles into infrastructure planning, design, and deployment.  

• Policy and Rule Management: Expertise in creating, updating, and optimizing firewall policies to align with security and business requirements.  

• Troubleshooting and Incident Response: Proficiency in diagnosing and resolving connectivity issues (e.g., VPN, routing, policy misconfigurations) through packet captures and log analysis, and leading incident response efforts for security breaches, including forensic analysis and remediation.  

• Automation Proficiency: Hands-on experience automating firewall changes using Terraform or Ansible, including provisioning, policy updates, and configuration management.  

• Log Analysis and Troubleshooting: Expertise in analyzing firewall logs using tools like Panorama, Splunk, Log Analytics or similar platforms to identify security incidents, performance issues, or misconfigurations.  

• Protocol and Application Knowledge: Strong understanding of networking protocols (TCP, UDP, ICMP, etc.) and application-layer protocols, including:  

• Dynamic Routing Protocols (BGP, OSPF) 

• Switching and LAN architectures (VLANs, Spanning Tree, ACI, Spine/Leaf) 

• Microsoft M365 suite (Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams) 

• HTTPS and TLS inspection, including SSL decryption policies and certificate management. 

• Common enterprise applications (e.g., DNS, DHCP, FTP, SMTP) and their security requirements 

• Scripting and Tools: Proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Python, Ansible, Bash) for custom automation and integration with Palo Alto APIs.  

• Experience with other network security platforms (e.g., Cisco, Fortinet) or cloud security (e.g., AWS, Azure) is a plus but not required. 

• Policy-Based Forwarding (PBF) and Quality of Service (QoS) for optimized traffic management. 

• PCNSE (Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer) 

What’s in it for You 

When you join CoStar Group, you’ll experience a collaborative and innovative culture working alongside the best and brightest to empower our people and customers to succeed.  

CoStar Group also invests in your professional and academic growth with internal training, tuition reimbursement, and an inter-office exchange program.  

Our benefits package includes (but is not limited to):  

• Comprehensive healthcare coverage: Medical / Vision / Dental / Prescription Drug  

• Life, legal, and supplementary insurance  

• Virtual and in person mental health counseling services for individuals and family  

• Commuter and parking benefits  

• 401(K) retirement plan with matching contributions  

• Employee stock purchase plan  

• Paid time off  

• Tuition reimbursement  

• On-site fitness center and/or reimbursed fitness center membership costs (location dependent), with yoga studio, Pelotons, personal training, group exercise classes 

• Access to CoStar Group’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Employee Resource Groups  

• Complimentary gourmet coffee, tea, hot chocolate, fresh fruit, and other healthy snacks  

We welcome all qualified candidates who are currently eligible to work full-time in the United States to apply.  However, please note that CoStar Group is not able to provide visa sponsorship for this position.  

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CoStar Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer; we maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing