Network Engineer

About This Role

Job Description: Network Engineer

Department: IT / Security Operations

Reports To: Managed Services Lead

Location: UAE

Employment Type: Full-Time

Role Summary

We are looking for a skilled Network Engineer to manage, monitor, and optimize our enterprise network infrastructure, with a strong focus on Fortinet security platforms. The role involves day-to-day firewall administration, network troubleshooting, and supporting the Security Operations Center (SOC) with network-level incident response.

Key Responsibilities

* Manage and administer FortiGate firewalls across multiple sites using FortiManager for centralized policy control, configuration management, and change auditing.

* Implement and maintain firewall policies, VPN tunnels (IPSec/SSL), NAT rules, SD-WAN configurations, and network segmentation in line with security best practices.

* Monitor network performance, availability, and security events; investigate and resolve network-related incidents in coordination with the SOC team.

* Perform rule-base hygiene, periodic firewall audits, and recertification of access rules to maintain a clean and compliant policy set.

* Support 24×7 security response activities including emergency containment actions (IOC blocks, geo-blocking, temporary deny rules) per approved runbooks.

* Configure and manage network devices including switches, routers, access points, and load balancers.

* Participate in change management processes, including pre/post validation and rollback planning for network changes.

* Provide operational support and troubleshooting for policy-related connectivity issues in collaboration with internal IT and security teams.

* Produce scheduled and on-demand reporting on firewall utilization, policy effectiveness, and network health metrics.

* Maintain network documentation including topology diagrams, IP address management (IPAM), and configuration standards.

Required Qualifications & Certifications

* Fortinet NSE 6 or NSE 7 certification (mandatory).

* 3+ years of hands-on experience with FortiGate firewalls, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer.

* Solid understanding of TCP/IP, routing protocols (OSPF, BGP), VLANs, VPN technologies, and network segmentation.

* Experience with SD-WAN design and implementation (Fortinet SD-WAN preferred).

* Familiarity with SIEM integration, log forwarding (Syslog/CEF), and network-based threat detection.

* Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

* Additional certifications: CCNA/CCNP, NSE 8, or equivalent.

* Experience with Palo Alto, Cisco ASA, or other enterprise firewall platforms.

* Exposure to cloud networking (Azure, AWS) and hybrid network architectures.

* Experience working in a Managed Security Services or SOC environment.

Work Location: In person