Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency’s heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 9,600+ employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 50+ additional offices throughout the US, EMEA, and APAC. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.

The Firewall Engineer, Infrastructure Managed Services role within Merkle is responsible for designing, building and operational support for the security infrastructure of datacenters and cloud solutions. This includes installing hardware, configuring firewall, setting up virtual private network, and upgrades.  The Firewall Engineer must be able to assess the scope and impact of incidents and services requests and respond with an appropriate sense of urgency following all applicable policies and procedures, keep up to date on industry trends and deliver the highest level of customer service possible. Candidates will work in a team setting, sharing information, collaborating, and assisting other team members.  Candidate must possess a strong dedication to quality customer service, excellent follow through, attention to detail, and a drive to be part of a larger team and engage with broad Corporate IT challenges and initiatives.

The Firewall Engineer reports to the Director, Data Platforms.  The role will work with a team of geographically distributed Merkle staff and contract employees.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide incident and service request support for assigned security infrastructure
• Plan, coordinate and execute upgrades to security infrastructure and other change management activities
• Ensure that all security devices are aligned with IT standards and best practices
• Ensure that controls designed to ensure security and availability of the Merkle information technology environment are adhered to
• Identify areas in need of improvement and develop solutions to address those needs
• Proactively monitor security devices and applications to identify issues before they occur
• Provide high level of customer service to all levels of the organization
• Manage and prioritize multiple incidents and service requests while adapting to changing business conditions
• Document standard operating procedures for repeatable tasks
• Act as an escalation point for incidents and service requests not resolved in the Tier 1 organization
• Provide on-call and after-hours support as required
• Uphold and promote Merkle’s core values and culture

Measures of Success

• Consistently drive technical incidents/service requests to resolution within SLA/OLA timeframe, escalating where appropriate.
• Contribution to the development and implementation of existing and new security solutions that exceed customer expectations on time and on budget.
• Positive recognition as noted on Employee and Customer satisfaction surveys, completed on a periodic basis.
• Rapid personal and career growth.

Strong expertise configuring and supporting IPsec tunnels in a multi-vendor environment

• Hands-on experience and knowledge implementing, configuring, integrating, and supporting network security devices to include: Juniper, F5 Load balancers, and Cisco routers and switches
• Hands-on experience building secure network infrastructure in either a private or public cloud environment
• Strong working knowledge of JunOS , IOS, NX-OS, and IOS-XE
• Expertise in Dynamic Routing (OSPF and BGP)
• Knowledge of SSL VPN solutions
• Enterprise productization processes, including developing product guides, asset management, data protection, capacity management, performance management, and lifecycle management
• Demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Understanding of enterprise infrastructure concepts and standard operating procedures.
• Ability to learn new skills, techniques, and responsibilities and train other team members.
• Proactive, upbeat, and collaborative communication style, with the ability to be direct, tactful, and transparent. 
• Ability to promote teamwork and collaboration.
• Requires 3 - 5+ years of experience with managing and securing Juniper and Cisco equipment including firewalls, switches, routers, and management tools.
• Cloud security experience required
• Juniper and Cisco network certifications highly desirable

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.