Freelance Core Network Engineer Jobs in Mount Prospect, IL

We are seeking a full-time, remote IT Network Engineer III. This position will perform enterprise network engineering, administration, and support functions within a hybrid onpremises and cloud environment. The Network Engineer III is accountable for the analysis, design, implementation, administration, and support of Paradigm’s firewall and network infrastructure. This role operates as a senior individual contributor within the IT organization, helping to build, maintain, secure, and troubleshoot enterprise networking platforms in a dynamic and evolving environment. The position requires strong technical competency, reliability in delivering missioncritical infrastructure, and a continued focus on availability, performance, and security. Specific areas of emphasis within firewall and network responsibilities may vary by assignment, with some Network Engineer III roles serving as primary firewall owners and others serving as secondary firewall contributors while maintaining primary responsibility for core network platforms. Demonstrates a customer-first mindset through a commitment to delivering the best possible outcomes for our customers, which include; injured workers, payors, clients, providers, stakeholders, and internal teams. By fully leveraging Paradigm’s solutions, delivering consistently highquality service, and collaborating effectively with internal and external partners, we create an exceptional customer experience.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Firewall & Network Engineering

• Design, implement, administer, and support enterprise firewallcentric network infrastructure, including firewall platforms, routing, switching, and wireless technologies.
• Engineer, configure, and maintain firewall policies, NAT rules, VPNs, and network segmentation to support business, security, and compliance requirements.
• Implement secure network connectivity solutions across onpremises data centers, cloud environments, and thirdparty integrations.
• Evaluate and improve network designs to enhance resiliency, scalability, and security posture.

Operations & Platform Support

• Monitor firewall and network performance, availability, and capacity to ensure optimal operation of the enterprise environment.
• Perform system tuning, troubleshooting, and maintenance of multisite network infrastructure.
• Serve as a senior escalation point for complex firewall and network incidents.
• Perform root cause analysis and implement corrective and preventive actions.

Security & Compliance

• Implement and maintain network security controls aligned with Paradigm security standards and Zero Trust principles.
• Partner with Information Security and GRC teams to support audits, risk assessments, and compliance initiatives.
• Identify and remediate network vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and security risks.
• Participate in firewall and networkrelated security incident response and remediation efforts.

Project Delivery & Change Management

• Identify tasks necessary to achieve project goals and provide accurate work effort estimates.
• Lead or contribute to complex network initiatives including upgrades, migrations, firewall refreshes, and modernization projects.
• Execute network changes in accordance with established change management and operational processes.
• Coordinate activities with internal teams and external vendors to ensure successful delivery of network solutions.

Documentation, Standards & Continuous Improvement

• Create and maintain accurate documentation of firewall & network architectures, firewall configurations, and operational procedures.
• Contribute to the development and enforcement of network standards, best practices, and lifecycle management processes.
• Remain current on networking, firewall, and security technologies and recommend improvements aligned with business needs.

Collaboration & Mentorship

• Work as part of a team of infrastructure engineers who collectively demonstrate strong technical competency and operational reliability.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior network engineers.
• Collaborate closely with server, cloud, application, and security teams to deliver integrated infrastructure solutions.

• Utilizes AI tools to support day-to-day tasks, improve efficiency, and enhance output quality. Adopts new technologies as trained and applies them in alignment with established processes and guidelines.
• Demonstrates a customer-first mindset by developing a broad and deep (where appropriate) understanding of Paradigm organization, products, operations, and customers. Prioritizes collaboration to meet customer needs and expectations and takes personal accountability for service quality.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field preferred, or equivalent experience.

Experience

• 6+ years of progressive experience in enterprise network engineering roles, with demonstrated seniorlevel responsibility for firewall and network platforms.
• Proven experience designing, implementing, and operating firewallcentric network solutions in production environments.
• Experience serving as a technical lead or primary owner for firewall and network initiatives, including upgrades, policy redesigns, or securitydriven changes.
• Demonstrated experience supporting enterprisescale, multisite, or regulated environments.

Technical Competencies

• Owning and operating nextgeneration enterprise firewall platforms (e.g., Palo Alto, Fortinet, Check Point, or equivalent), including policy lifecycle management, platform upgrades, and highavailability designs.
• Advanced, handson expertise with enterprise firewall platforms, including:
  • Security policy design and lifecycle management
  • VPN technologies (sitetosite and remote access)
  • NAT, segmentation, and traffic inspection
• Strong expertise in enterprise networking fundamentals, including:
  • Routing and switching architectures
  • Network resiliency and highavailability design
  • Core network services (DNS, DHCP)
• Demonstrated ability to independently design and execute firewall and network changes in production environments.
• Experience integrating onpremises firewall and network infrastructure with cloud platforms (Azure and/or AWS).
• Proficiency with network monitoring, logging, troubleshooting, and packet analysis tools.

Security & Operational Competencies

• Experience making riskbased decisions related to firewall policy, segmentation, and network security controls in partnership with Information Security teams.
• Strong understanding of network security principles, including Zero Trust concepts and defenseindepth.
• Experience assessing risk, implementing security controls, and participating in security incident response related to firewall and network infrastructure.
• Ability to perform root cause analysis and implement longterm corrective actions following incidents or outages.

Preferred Experience

• Experience operating firewall and network platforms in regulated or compliancedriven environments.
• Experience leading or materially influencing firewall policy redesigns, segmentation initiatives, or securitydriven network changes.
• Familiarity with firewall or network automation, configuration standardization, or infrastructureascode approaches.
• Experience acting as a technical mentor or escalation resource for junior network engineers.
• Relevant industry certifications, including firewall vendor certifications and/or CCNPlevel networking certifications.