Cybersecurity Systems Engineering Analyst

Vertage is seeking a Cybersecurity Systems Engineering Analyst to support a 24x7 CSOC environment by engineering and improving Secure Access Service Edge and legacy Inspection Zone capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Participate in implementation, support, and lifecycle management of Palo Alto Networks Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions in a large-scale enterprise environment, including Prisma Access, Global Protect, and Strata Cloud Manager
• Maintain integration between SASE platforms and Inspection Zone technologies (including F5 BIG-IP and SWG/Proxy)
• Design, deploy, and continuously optimize cloud-delivered security controls aligned to Palo Alto SASE architecture, including SWG, CASB, ZTNA, and threat prevention
• Provide advanced engineering support for SASE and Inspection Zone security platforms in partnership with Security Operations, Network Engineering, and Incident Response
• Drive security monitoring, telemetry integration, and policy enforcement across SASE and on-prem inspection environments to support consistent visibility and threat detection
• Perform system hardening, high availability design, and resilience engineering for SASE and Inspection Zone environments, including failover strategy and service continuity planning
• Apply understanding of the global threat landscape using Palo Alto threat intelligence and best practices to proactively reduce enterprise risk exposure
• Improve detection and response capabilities by leveraging SASE telemetry to enhance incident analysis, threat hunting, and mitigation effectiveness
• Develop and report operational and security metrics (example: policy effectiveness, threat prevention performance, user activity visibility) to support leadership decisions and operational maturity
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and leadership to align SASE strategy with enterprise security architecture and modernization initiatives (example: legacy proxy replacement) and business objectives

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree, preferably in Cybersecurity, Information Security, Computer Science, Management Information Systems, or a closely related field
• Alternative: 4+ years of Cybersecurity and/or IT experience in military information security and/or system administration roles may substitute for a degree
• If holding a degree: 3+ years of experience in cybersecurity fields or roles focused on cybersecurity or IT functions
• Hands-on experience with Palo Alto Networks SASE (Prisma Access), including Mobile Users, Remote Networks, and Service Connections
• Strong understanding of Security Service Edge (SSE) capabilities, including SWG, CASB, ZTNA, DNS Security, and SaaS security
• Expertise in policy design, traffic steering, and segmentation within cloud-delivered security platforms
• Strong knowledge of network protocols and SASE connectivity design, including BGP, IPSec, routing, and NAT
• Experience integrating SASE with on-prem Inspection Zone and hybrid cloud architecture
• Proficiency with Global Protect and remote access/VPN solutions

Technologies

• Palo Alto Prisma Access
• Global Protect
• Strata Cloud Manager
• Palo Alto Networks Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
• Palo Alto threat intelligence
• F5 BIG-IP
• SWG/Proxy
• Secure web gateway (SWG), CASB, ZTNA, DNS Security, SaaS security
• IPSec, BGP, Routing, Network Address Translation (NAT)
• Python, scripting, APIs, Terraform
• Remote access/VPN

Nice-to-have / Preferred Skills

• Experience with automation and scalability (APIs, scripting, infrastructure-as-code such as Python or Terraform)
• Strong background in high availability design, system hardening, and performance optimization
• Experience leading or supporting migration from legacy proxy or multi-vendor environments to SASE platforms
• Strong understanding of cybersecurity frameworks and best practices (NIST, CIS, Zero Trust)
• Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally, communicate risk effectively, and provide leadership-ready updates
• Multiple industry-standard certifications such as SANS GIAC/GCIA/GCIH/GCFA, CISSP, CISA, CISM, or other network/system security certifications

Employment Details

• Employment type: Temporary to permanent; intent to convert to full-time after approximately 6 months
• Location: United States (onsite), Charlotte (no relocation provided)
• Travel: 5%-10%
• Compensation: USD 50 - 55 per hour
• Minimum experience: 3 years
• Language: English (professional working proficiency)