Network Security Architect Job Washington area,District of Columbia USA,IT/Tech

Role & responsibilities

Design and implement secure, scalable, and resilient enterprise network security architectures.
Develop security architecture strategies aligned with business, regulatory, and organizational requirements.
Design and maintain security solutions including firewalls, VPNs, IDS/IPS, WAF, NAC, proxies, and network segmentation.
Lead the implementation of Zero Trust, SASE, SD-WAN security, and secure remote-access architectures.
Assess existing network infrastructure and identify security gaps, vulnerabilities, and potential risks.
Define network security standards, policies, controls, and architecture guidelines.
Integrate network security solutions with SIEM, IAM, endpoint security, and security monitoring platforms.
Design security architectures for cloud and hybrid environments across AWS, Azure, and GCP.
Conduct threat modeling, risk assessments, security reviews, and architectural assessments.
Collaborate with infrastructure, cloud, application, Dev Ops, SOC, and compliance teams.
Support incident response, root-cause analysis, and remediation of complex network security incidents.
Evaluate emerging security technologies and recommend appropriate solutions.
Ensure network security architecture complies with applicable security standards and regulatory requirements.
Lead technical projects, provide architectural guidance, and mentor network and security engineers.
Maintain comprehensive architecture documentation, network diagrams, security policies, and technical procedures.

Preferred candidate profile

5 to 10 years of professional experience in network security, cybersecurity, infrastructure security, or security architecture.
Strong hands-on experience designing and implementing enterprise network security solutions.
Excellent understanding of TCP/IP, routing, switching, DNS, VPN, firewalls, IDS/IPS, WAF, and network segmentation.
Experience with leading firewall and security platforms such as Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco, Check Point, or similar technologies.
Strong knowledge of Zero Trust, SASE, SD-WAN, cloud security, and hybrid-network architectures.
Experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP security services and cloud networking.
Familiarity with SIEM, SOC operations, threat detection, vulnerability management, and incident response.
Strong understanding of IAM, PKI, encryption, SSL/TLS, authentication, and access-control mechanisms.
Experience conducting security assessments, threat modeling, risk analysis, and architecture reviews.
Knowledge of security frameworks and standards such as ISO 27001, NIST, CIS Controls, PCI DSS, and SOC 2.
Strong analytical, troubleshooting, communication, documentation, and stakeholder-management skills.
Ability to lead cross-functional security initiatives and mentor technical teams.
Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CCNP Security, CCIE Security, PCNSE, Fortinet certifications, or cloud-security certifications are preferred.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Network Engineering, or a related discipline; a Master's degree is an added advantage.