Network Security Specialist

The Lead Network Security Specialist will serve as Candescent’s principal technical authority for securing our networked and cloud-connected environments. This role oversees the design, implementation, and ongoing evolution of modern network security controls—including identity-centric Zero Trust enforcement, firewall and segmentation strategy, secure remote access, and encrypted traffic visibility.

The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise, strong leadership experience, and a passion for continuous improvement in a highly dynamic environment.

Key Responsibilities and Deliverables

Strategic Leadership

· Define and execute Candescent’s network security strategy aligned to business objectives, risk posture, and Zero Trust principles.

· Serve as the subject-matter expert for network security architecture, providing guidance to leadership, engineering, infrastructure, and product teams.

· Evaluate emerging technologies and regulatory requirements, ensuring Candescent’s network defenses remain current and aligned with leading practices.

Architecture, Engineering & Operations

· Architect, implement, and maintain network security technologies across cloud, data center, and branch environments—including NGFW, segmentation, VPN/ZTNA, DNS security, WAF, and DDoS protection.

· Oversee firewall policy lifecycle management, ensuring consistent, scalable, and auditable deployment of rules and objects.

· Lead secure connectivity initiatives supporting cloud adoption, SD-WAN evolution, Zero Trust access patterns, and encrypted traffic inspection capabilities.

· Partner with DevOps/Platform teams to integrate network security into CI/CD pipelines, automation frameworks, and infrastructure provisioning.

· Ensure resiliency through documented recovery procedures, redundancy planning, and continuous performance tuning.

Governance, Compliance & Assurance

· Maintain alignment with PCI, SOC 2, GLBA, and internal security standards.

· Develop and maintain documentation including network security standards, runbooks, diagrams, and technical reference architectures.

· Support internal/external audits and risk assessments, providing evidence and remediation plans as required.

Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

· Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of network security engineers.

· Oversee workload planning, technical decision-making, and escalations for incidents and complex engineering challenges.

· Foster strong partnerships with Infrastructure, Cloud Engineering, Security Operations, Application Security, and Product teams.

· Champion a culture of secure-by-design engineering and continuous improvement.

Qualifications and Experience

· 8+ years of experience in network security engineering, with at least 3 years in a lead or senior technical role.

· Hands-on expertise with enterprise-grade firewall platforms, secure network architecture, segmentation, and threat prevention services.

· Strong experience securing hybrid architectures (cloud, data center, branch) and implementing ZTNA or Zero Trust-aligned controls.

· Advanced understanding of TCP/IP, routing, VPN technologies, DNS security, and encrypted traffic inspection.

· Experience with infrastructure-as-code practices (Terraform, CloudFormation), network automation, and CI/CD integration.

· Strong analytical, communication, and incident leadership skills.

Preferred Distinctions

· Experience in financial services or other regulated industries.

· Certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, PCNSE, NSE7, AWS/Azure/GCP architectures, or equivalent.

· Familiarity with container networking, service mesh architectures, and secure API connectivity.