Network Security & SASE Architect – Palo Alto Networks Senior Manager

Accenture•Miami, FL

9d•$112,900 - $338,300

About The Position

Accenture Security is seeking a senior Palo Alto Networks network security architect to lead the sale, solutioning, architecture, and delivery of enterprise network security transformation programs. The role combines deep hands-on expertise with business leadership: advising client CISOs, CIOs, and network and security leaders; developing business cases; building client relationships; and growing Accenture’s Palo Alto Networks capabilities and offerings. The architect owns end-to-end designs for network security programs, including assessments, target architectures, roadmaps, sizing, licensing, and high- and low-level designs across data centers, campuses, branches, public clouds, and remote users. The work spans Palo Alto Networks NGFW, Prisma Access, Panorama, Strata Cloud Manager, SASE, Zero Trust, firewall migrations, enterprise networking, cloud connectivity, and security operations models. The role also leads complex troubleshooting and multi-workstream delivery, supports transitions to managed services, ensures designs address relevant regulatory requirements, and produces client-ready technical and executive documentation. The position includes leading and developing teams of architects and engineers, creating reusable technical assets and automation, collaborating across Accenture’s cloud, network, SOC, and identity teams, and representing Accenture through client briefings, partner events, conferences, and published points of view. Travel is required and may range from 75% to 100%, depending on business and client needs. Accenture lists annual salary ranges that vary by state, from $112,900 to $338,300 across the locations specified in the posting.

Requirements

At least 10 years of enterprise network and network security engineering, architecture, or consulting experience with increasing technical and leadership responsibility, and/or experience and knowledge of Zero Trust, ZTNA, SSE, and macro/micro-segmentation concepts and architectures.
At least 5 years of hands-on experience designing, deploying, and troubleshooting Palo Alto Networks NGFWs (PAN-OS) and/or firewalls in large, complex enterprise environments, including Panorama-managed estates.
At least 3 years of hands-on experience designing and deploying Prisma Access.
At least 1 year of hands-on experience with Strata Cloud Manager for cloud-managed NGFW and/or Prisma Access, including Panorama migration or coexistence.
At least 5 years of experience architecting enterprise networks and network security—including BGP, OSPF, IPsec VPN, NAT, SD-WAN, DNS, segmentation, and high availability—and leading advanced troubleshooting across LAN, WAN, data center, and public cloud; alternatively, at least 5 years leading network security transformation architecture and design, including firewall migration and consolidation, segmentation, SASE, Zero Trust, HLD/LLD, bills of materials, and architecture governance.
At least 5 years managing teams of 5 or more resources and delivering projects using standardized project management principles.
At least 3 years of business development experience shaping proposals, statements of work, estimates, and pricing, and presenting solutions to client executives.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, defined as a minimum of 12 years of work experience. With an associate degree, at least 6 years of work experience is required.
Willingness to travel 75% to 100%, depending on business need and client requirements.

Nice To Haves

Active PCNSE certification, or current role-based Palo Alto Networks certifications such as Next-Generation Firewall Engineer, Next-Generation Firewall Analyst, Security Service Edge Engineer, SD-WAN Engineer, or Network Security Professional.
Technical writing and report-generation experience, including architecture and design documents, standards, and executive readouts.
Industry certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, CCNP, CCIE Security or Enterprise, GIAC (GDSA or GCIA), TOGAF, or SABSA.
Experience with adjacent Palo Alto Networks products, including Prisma SD-WAN, SD-WAN for NGFW, VM-Series, CN-Series, Cloud NGFW for AWS and Azure, Enterprise DLP, SaaS Security, IoT Security, Prisma Browser, ADEM, Strata Logging Service, and Cortex XSIAM/XDR integration.
Multi-vendor and competitive knowledge of Zscaler, Netskope, Cisco, Fortinet, Check Point, Illumio, or Guardicore, and experience with firewall migration tooling.
Automation and infrastructure-as-code experience with Terraform, Ansible, Python, PAN-OS XML/REST APIs, or Git-based change workflows.
Cloud networking and security experience with AWS, Azure, GCP, and cloud-native firewall services.
Experience operating or transitioning clients into managed network security services and familiarity with ITIL.
Knowledge of security frameworks and regulations including NIST SP 800-207, CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model, NIST CSF and SP 800-53, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX, and FedRAMP.
Experience with identity and access management products such as Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Ping Identity, or Cloud Identity Engine, and with penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, or technical security assessments.
Previous consulting, systems integrator, or Palo Alto Networks Professional Services experience; practice or P&L management; or familiarity with the Palo Alto Networks NextWave partner program.
Published thought leadership or speaking experience at industry events.

Responsibilities

Originate, shape, and sell Palo Alto Networks-based network security, Zero Trust, and SASE transformation programs; lead proposals, solutioning, estimates, commercial structuring, and presentations, and carry sales and delivery targets.
Advise client CISOs, CIOs, and network and security leaders, translating architecture decisions into business outcomes, risk reduction, and cost cases.
Develop Accenture’s Palo Alto Networks capability, co-sell and co-deliver with partner teams, and create offerings, reference architectures, estimating models, and accelerators.
Represent Accenture at industry conferences, partner events, and client briefings, and publish points of view on NGFW modernization, SASE, and Zero Trust.
Own end-to-end network security solution architecture, including current-state assessments, target-state design, roadmaps, bills of materials, sizing, and licensing.
Lead HLD and LLD for Palo Alto Networks NGFW deployments, including policy, segmentation, decryption, security services, high availability, and performance sizing.
Architect Prisma Access SASE/SSE deployments and migrations from legacy VPN and on-premises proxy platforms.
Define management and operating models for Panorama and Strata Cloud Manager, including migrations, policy optimization, best-practice assessment, AIOps adoption, logging, and SIEM/XSIAM integration.
Lead firewall consolidation and migration programs from other vendors to Palo Alto Networks, including policy rationalization, migration tooling, cutover planning, and rollback.
Design enterprise routing, VPN, SD-WAN, NAT, DNS, load balancing, hybrid and multi-cloud connectivity, and macro/micro-segmentation aligned with Zero Trust principles.
Review and approve team designs and establish design standards, naming conventions, and security policy best practices.
Lead delivery across onshore and global teams, managing scope, schedule, budget, risk, quality, staffing, and client deliverables.
Serve as the highest point of technical escalation and lead root-cause analysis for complex network security and performance issues.
Lead client transitions to Accenture Network Managed Services by defining runbooks, SLAs, KPIs, monitoring, and change processes and ensuring a clean build-to-run handover.
Produce architecture decision records, HLD/LLD documents, migration and test plans, and executive readouts.
Interpret the relevance of network security controls to legal, regulatory, and framework requirements in delivered designs.
Recruit, mentor, and lead network security architects and engineers; establish certification paths and conduct design reviews.
Develop reusable deployment templates, automation, migration playbooks, lab environments, and demonstrations.
Collaborate with Accenture cloud, network, SOC, and identity teams to address all aspects of client outcomes.