Network Security Engineer

Technical Expertise:

• 10 to 15 years of experience in Cisco Network technologies , with at least 3+ years focused on Cisco ACI.
• Deep knowledge of Cisco ACI components and concepts, including:
• Fabric chitecture: Spine-Leaf topology, Fabric Discovery, and Fabric Access Policies.
• Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC): Clustering, APIs (REST, XML, JSON), and GUI management.
• Endpoint Groups (EPGs), Contracts, and Filters: Policy-based connectivity and segmentation.
• Tenant Model: VRFs, Bridge Domains, and Layer 2/3 connectivity across multiple tenants.
• ACI Multi-Site and Multi-Pod deployments.
• Integration with L4-L7 services (e.g., firewalls, load balancers) using Service Graphs.
• Expertise in ACI troubleshooting: Health Scores, Service Graphs, and CLI/APIC diagnostics.
• Experience with Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insight for monitoring and managing ACI environments effectively.

VXLAN and EVPN Expertise:

• VXLAN Fabric Architecture: Understanding of VXLAN encapsulation for scalable Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks.
• MP-BGP EVPN (Ethernet VPN): Control plane for VXLAN, providing seamless Layer 2 extension and optimized Layer 3 routing.
• Interoperability between ACI and non-ACI environments using VXLAN/EVPN.
• BGP and OSPF Routing Expertise:
• In-depth knowledge of BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) for managing external and internal routing policies.
• Experience with BGP peering, route filtering, and path selection in complex ACI and datacenter environments.
• Expertise in OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) for building dynamic Layer 3 routing in underlay networks.
• Integration of BGP and OSPF within ACI fabric to manage hybrid cloud and multi-pod deployments.

Solution Architecture : (Nice-to-Have only )

• Solution-level understanding of Cisco ACI interoperability with
• Firewalls (e.g., Palo Alto, Checkpoint , Fortinet).
• Load Balancers (e.g., F5 GTM, LTM, ASM).
• Micro-Segmentation solutions and policy enforcement.
• IPAM, DNS, and DHCP systems.
• Added advantage for candidates with hands-on experience integrating ACI with these solutions, though a willingness to learn and adapt to new technologies is acceptable.
• Experience with Ansible, Python scripting, and ACI REST APIs for automation.
• Knowledge of ACI App Center integrations and customization of ACI apps.
• Experience with integrating ACI with multicloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP).

Soft Skills:

• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to engage with stakeholders across departments.
• Self-motivated with a continuous learning mindset and ability to work under pressure.