Firewall Security Analyst (Palo Alto / Panorama)

On-Site role

Job Description:

• Firewall Contract Position Overview.
• Monday-Friday, normal business hours.
• This is an in-office position.
• The candidate will need to reside within a commutable distance of Georgia Power Headquarters (Atlanta metro).
• Up to 10% travel with an overnight stay.

• The contractor supports Client’s enterprise firewall environment by assisting with firewall rule request validation, security exception reviews, and adherence to established network security policies and runbooks.
• This role helps maintain compliance and reduce risk through routine audit and remediation activities.
• The contractor analyzes firewall logs and network traffic to support troubleshooting, incident response, and root cause analysis, while contributing to the cleanup and optimization of firewall rules, address objects, and related policy components.
• This role also supports reporting efforts by helping track firewall rule usage, cleanup progress, and operational performance.
• Working closely with network security and infrastructure teams, the contractor contributes to documentation, process consistency, and day-to-day firewall operations.
• The ideal candidate has hands-on experience with Palo Alto Networks firewalls and a solid understanding of firewall policy management and traffic analysis.

• Validate and review firewall rule requests to ensure alignment with enterprise security standards, network policies, and documented runbooks.
• Perform security exception reviews (e.g., geo-location restrictions, SSL decryption), evaluating business justification and risk impact.
• Analyze firewall logs and network traffic data to support troubleshooting, incident response, and root cause analysis.
• Review and assist in optimizing firewall policies, including rules, address objects, service objects, object groups, and templates to improve policy hygiene.
• Develop and maintain reporting that tracks firewall rule usage, cleanup progress, and object utilization.
• Conduct recurring audits of security exceptions and support remediation efforts to maintain compliance with established controls.
• Support the creation and upkeep of network security workflows, procedures, and operational runbooks.

• Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity, Information Technology, or related field, or 3+ years of experience in network security or firewall administration.
• Hands-on experience with Palo Alto Networks firewalls and Panorama.
• Good understanding of firewall concepts, including security zones, NAT, access control policies, and application-based rules.
• Experience reviewing firewall policies, analyzing logs/traffic data, and supporting troubleshooting or incident response in an enterprise environment.
• Ability to evaluate security requests and exceptions, including validating business justification and assessing risk impact.
• Relevant certification(s) such as PCNSA, PCNSE, Security+, or equivalent experience.

• Experience with SSL decryption, security exception management, and firewall policy governance.
• Experience performing firewall policy cleanup, rule recertification, and object optimization.
• Familiarity with reporting/analytics tools such as Power BI, Excel, Splunk, or Panorama reporting.
• Experience building dashboards or metrics to track firewall usage, cleanup progress, or operational performance.

About us:
At our organization, we take our mission and values to heart! We are on a mission to offer more and better jobs all over the world! Our goal is to care for you while you care for our clients and get you paid the highest pay possible. All our associates working with us are expected to embrace our RACE values: R - Results Matter, A- Approachable, C - Care, and E - Emergency i.e. work with a sense of urgency.

For more relevant job opportunities please visit our website: Denken Solutions Careers