Palo Alto Networks Practice Manager / Technical Lead

Responsibilities

• Define and stand up VSO's Palo Alto Networks Security practice — service offerings, delivery methodology, and technical standards across NGFW, Panorama, Prisma SASE, and SD-WAN.
• Design and review architectures for NGFW deployments, Panorama-managed environments, and Prisma SASE/SD-WAN rollouts.
• Serve as the senior technical escalation point and hands-on lead for early engagements while the delivery team is being built out.
• Develop repeatable playbooks, reference architectures, and migration methodologies for legacy-to-NGFW and SASE/SD-WAN transitions.
• Recruit, hire, mentor, and technically develop engineers as the practice grows, building bench strength and internal certification paths.
• Support sales and account teams with technical scoping, solution design, and proposal content for Palo Alto opportunities.
• Maintain relationships with Palo Alto Networks account and SE teams to stay ahead of product direction and partner resources.
• Track practice technical health — delivery quality, engineer utilization, and skill gaps — and report progress to VSO leadership.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in network and security solutions, with deep, hands-on Palo Alto Networks NGFW and Panorama experience at scale (PA-1400/3400/5500/7000 Series, VM Series).
• Strong technical depth in Prisma SASE and SD-WAN architectures (ZTNA, SWG, CASB, cloud-delivered firewall, app-aware routing).
• Prior experience building, launching, or significantly scaling a technical practice or service line — ideally vendor-aligned (PANW, Cisco, Fortinet, etc.).
• Strong understanding of BGP, SD-WAN concepts, VXLAN, and general routing/switching.
• Experience leading complex NGFW/SASE migrations from design through cutover in large, mission-critical environments.
• Comfortable supporting pre-sales conversations and technical scoping, without this being the primary focus of the role.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; confident presenting architecture and technical strategy to senior leaders and customers.
• Entrepreneurial mindset — comfortable operating with ambiguity and building technical structure where none currently exists.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, MIS, Business, or equivalent education, training, or experience.
• Familiarity with DoD security frameworks and classified network environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• PCNSE, CISSP, CNSE, CCNA, or JNCIE-SEC certification.

Requirements

• Must be within driving distance of Reston, VA or Fort Meade, MD OR willing to relocate there (Relocation Assistance Package Available).
• Must be willing to work onsite.
• Active TS/SCI clearance with CI Polygraph required.
• Minimum Security+ certification required (SecurityX / CASP+ acceptable).
• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to operate independently, build from zero, and lead in a mission-focused environment.