Network Security & SASE Architect - Palo Alto Networks Senior Manager

Security and Risk professionals develop and deliver solutions that protect enterprise systems, applications and data by establishing policies, practices and tools that prevent unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification or disruption. A professional at this position level within Accenture has the following responsibilities: Provides solutions to complex business problems for area(s) of responsibility where analysis of situations requires an in depth knowledge of organizational objectives. Involved in setting strategic direction to establish near term goals for area of responsibility. Interacts with senior management levels at a client and/or within Accenture, which involves negotiating or influencing on significant matters. Has latitude in decision-making and determining objectives and approaches to critical assignments. Decisions have a lasting impact on area of responsibility with the potential to impact outside area of responsibility. Manages large teams and/or work efforts (if in an individual contributor role) at a client or within Accenture. We are looking for a Security Professional for our Security practice who is a recognized Palo Alto Networks network security architect. You have personally designed, deployed and troubleshot PAN-OS Next-Generation Firewalls, Prisma Access and Panorama / Strata Cloud Manager at enterprise scale, and you have grown into leading the sale, solutioning and delivery of network security transformation programs. You are equally credible whiteboarding a target-state architecture with a client's network and security architects, leading a root-cause analysis on a production outage, and presenting the business case to the CISO or CIO. The Work (Key Responsibilities) Business leadership and growth  Originate, shape and sell network security, Zero Trust and SASE transformation programs built on Palo Alto Networks; lead proposal development, solution and effort estimation, commercial structuring and orals, and carry sales and delivery targets for your area of responsibility.  Act as the trusted advisor to client CISOs, CIOs and heads of network and security; translate network security architecture choices into business outcomes, risk reduction and cost cases that executives can act on.  Build and grow Accenture's Palo Alto Networks network security capability: co-sell and co-deliver with Palo Alto Networks account, Solutions Consulting and channel teams, and develop offerings, reference architectures, estimating models and accelerators.  Represent Accenture as an expert at industry conferences, partner events and client briefings, and publish points of view on NGFW modernization, SASE and Zero Trust. Architecture, solutioning and design  Own the end-to-end solution architecture for network security programs: current-state assessment, target-state design, roadmap, bill of materials, sizing and licensing across data center, campus, branch, public cloud and remote users.  Lead high-level and low-level design (HLD/LLD) for Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall deployments (PA-Series, VM-Series, CN-Series and Cloud NGFW): zone and segmentation design, App-ID, User-ID and Content-ID policy design, SSL/TLS decryption, Cloud-Delivered Security Services (Advanced Threat Prevention, Advanced URL Filtering, Advanced WildFire, Advanced DNS Security), high availability and performance sizing.  Architect Prisma Access (SASE/SSE) deployments: Mobile Users (GlobalProtect and explicit proxy), Remote Networks, Service Connections, traffic steering and routing, ZTNA, identity integration (Cloud Identity Engine, Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, SAML/SCIM), SaaS Security, Enterprise DLP, Prisma Browser (formerly Prisma Access Browser) and Autonomous Digital Experience Management (ADEM), including migrations from legacy VPN and on-premises proxy platforms.  Define the management and operating model: Panorama design (device groups, templates and template stacks, log collectors, high availability) and Strata Cloud Manager for cloud-managed NGFW and Prisma Access, including Panorama to Strata Cloud Manager migration, policy optimization, best-practice assessment and AIOps adoption, plus Strata Logging Service and SIEM/XSIAM integration.  Lead firewall consolidation and migration programs from Check Point, Cisco ASA/Firepower, Fortinet, Juniper and other platforms to Palo Alto Networks: policy rationalization and cleanup, object and rule migration tooling, cutover planning and rollback.  Design the surrounding enterprise network: routing (BGP, OSPF), IPsec VPN and SD-WAN (Prisma SD-WAN, SD-WAN for NGFW), NAT, DNS, load balancing, hybrid and multi-cloud connectivity (AWS, Azure, GCP) and macro/micro-segmentation aligned to Zero Trust principles (NIST SP 800-207, CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model).  Review and approve designs produced by the team; set design standards, naming conventions and security policy best practices. Delivery and operations leadership  Lead delivery of multi-workstream programs across onshore and global delivery teams: plan, estimate, staff and manage scope, schedule, budget, risk and quality so client deliverables are produced on time and to Accenture project quality specifications.  Serve as the highest point of technical escalation: lead root-cause analysis for complex issues across PAN-OS firewalls, Panorama / Strata Cloud Manager, GlobalProtect, Prisma Access, routing, IPsec tunnels, decryption, HA failover and performance degradation, using packet captures, session and flow analysis, global counters and the PAN-OS CLI.  Lead the transition of clients into Accenture Network Managed Services: define runbooks, SLAs and KPIs, monitoring and change processes, and ensure a clean handover from build to run.  Produce client-ready documentation: architecture decision records, HLD/LLD, migration and test plans, and executive readouts.  Interpret the relevance of network security controls to legal, regulatory and framework requirements (NIST CSF and SP 800-53, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX) within the designs you deliver. People and practice development  Build, lead and grow a team of network security architects and engineers: recruit, mentor, set Palo Alto Networks certification paths and run design reviews that raise the team's technical bar.  Develop reusable assets: deployment templates, automation (Terraform, Ansible, PAN-OS APIs), migration playbooks, lab environments and demos.  Take initiative to communicate, interact and collaborate with Accenture cloud, network, SOC and identity teams so that all aspects of a client outcome are addressed. Here's What You Need (Basic Qualifications)  Minimum 10 years of experience in enterprise network and network security engineering, architecture or consulting, with progressively increasing technical and leadership responsibility and/or experience and knowledge of network security concepts and architectures around Zero Trust, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Security Service Edge and macro/micro-segmentation  Minimum 5 years of hands-on experience designing, deploying and troubleshooting Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls (PAN-OS) and/or firewalls in large, complex enterprise environments, including Panorama-managed estates (device groups, templates, log collection, high availability)  Minimum 3 years of hands-on experience designing and deploying Prisma Access  Minimum 1 year of hands-on experience with Strata Cloud Manager for cloud-managed NGFW and/or Prisma Access, including Panorama to Strata Cloud Manager migration or coexistence  Minimum 5 years of experience architecting enterprise networks and network security, including routing (BGP, OSPF), IPsec VPN, NAT, SD-WAN, DNS, segmentation and high-availability design, and leading advanced troubleshooting across LAN, WAN, data center and public cloud and/or Minimum 5 years of experience leading solution architecture and design for network security transformation programs (firewall migration and consolidation, segmentation, SASE and Zero Trust), including HLD/LLD, bill of materials and architecture governance  Minimum 5 years of managing teams of 5 or more resources and delivering projects using a standardized set of project management principles  Minimum 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 (minimum 12 years) work experience. (If Associate's Degree, must have minimum 6 years work experience)  Travel will be required for this role. The amount of travel will vary from 75 to 100% depending on business need and client requirements Bonus Points If You Have (Preferred Skills)  Palo Alto Networks certifications: an active PCNSE (the exam retired July 31, 2025; certifications stay valid for two years), or the current role-based certifications such as Next-Generation Firewall Engineer, Next-Generation Firewall Analyst (Strata Cloud Manager focused), Security Service Edge Engineer, SD-WAN Engineer or Network Security Professional  Technical writing and report generation (architecture and design documents, standards, executive readouts)  Industry certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, CCNP or CCIE Security or Enterprise, GIAC (GDSA, GCIA), TOGAF or SABSA  Experience with adjacent Palo Alto Networks products: Prisma SD-WAN and SD-WAN for NGFW, VM-Series and 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: Zscaler (ZIA/ZPA), Netskope, Cisco (ASA/Firepower, Secure Access, Umbrella), Fortinet, Check Point and Illumio/Guardicore, and experience with firewall migration tooling  Automation and infrastructure as code: Terraform (PAN-OS and Prisma Access providers), Ansible, Python, PAN-OS XML/REST APIs and Git-based change workflows  Cloud networking and security: AWS (Transit Gateway, Gateway Load Balancer), Azure (Virtual WAN, hub-and-spoke), GCP, and cloud-native firewall services  Experience operating, or transitioning clients into, managed network security services; ITIL familiarity  Security frameworks and regulations: NIST SP 800-207, CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model, NIST CSF and SP 800-53, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX and FedRAMP  Experience in Identity and Access Management (Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Ping Identity, Cloud Identity Engine) and in IT security testing (penetration testing, vulnerability and technical security assessments)  Previous consulting, systems integrator or Palo Alto Networks Professional Services experience; practice or P&L management; familiarity with the Palo Alto Networks NextWave partner program  Published thought leadership or speaking experience at industry events Compensation at Accenture varies depending on a wide array of factors, which may include but are not limited to the specific office location, role, skill set, and level of experience. As required by local law, Accenture provides a reasonable range of compensation for roles that may be hired as set forth below. We anticipate this job posting will be posted until 12/12/2026. Accenture offers a market competitive suite of benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability coverage, a 401(k) plan, bonus opportunities, paid holidays, and paid time off. See more information on our benefits here: U.S. Employee Benefits | Accenture Role Location Annual Salary Range California $132,500 to $338,300 Colorado $132,500 to $292,200 Connecticut $132,500 to $292,200 District of Columbia $141,100 to $311,200 Illinois $122,700 to $292,200 Maine $112,900 to $249,000 Maryland $132,500 to $292,200 Massachusetts $132,500 to $311,200 Minnesota $132,500 to $292,200 New York $122,700 to $338,300 New Jersey $141,100 to $338,300 Ohio $122,700 to $270,600 Virginia $122,700 to $311,200 Washington $141,100 to $311,200