Systems Administrator III
City of El Paso
FreshPosted Apr 16
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Posted: April 15, 2026 (5 days ago)
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SENIOR IT PROFESSIONAL-INFRASTRUCTURE (Network Firewall)
City of Houston
Houston Information Technology Services
Location
Houston, Texas, 77002
Salary
$3,220 - $4,478.30
per week
Type
Full-Time
More Other jobs →Closes
April 30, 2026
SES Pay Grade
Base salary range: $147,649 - $221,900
Typical requirements: Executive-level leadership experience. Senior executive qualifications required.
Note: Actual salary includes locality pay (15-40%+ depending on location).
Job Description
Summary
This job involves leading the design, setup, and maintenance of the city's network firewalls to keep data secure across hundreds of sites and cloud systems, while working with teams to handle threats and improve operations.
It's ideal for an experienced IT expert who enjoys solving complex security challenges and mentoring others in a large public organization.
The role supports critical services for thousands of employees and focuses on making the network reliable and safe.
Key Requirements
- Hands-on experience administering Cisco Secure Firewall technologies, including Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) and Firepower Management Center (FMC)
- Strong background in designing and implementing advanced firewall policies such as Access Control, Intrusion Prevention (IPS), URL filtering, and SSL/TLS decryption
- Proficiency in managing cloud-based firewalls in platforms like Azure and AWS, ensuring policy consistency and secure connectivity
- Skills in threat prevention, log analysis, event correlation, and integration with SIEM/SOAR platforms for incident response
- Experience with VPN solutions, including site-to-site and remote-access configurations, routing, NAT, and high-availability
- Ability to conduct firewall rule audits, risk assessments, and compliance reviews, plus developing automation scripts using Python or PowerShell
- Strong collaboration skills with networking, security, and cloud teams, along with creating documentation and mentoring junior staff
Full Job Description
Applications accepted from: ALL PERSONS INTERESTED
Job Classification: SENIOR IT PROFESSIONAL-INFRASTRUCTURE (Network Firewall)
Posting Number: 38576
Division: Enterprise Infrastructure ServicesReporting Location: 611 Walker, Houston, TX 77002
Workdays & Hours: MONDAY – FRIDAY 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM* *Subject to Change
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES / ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
The Houston Information Technology Services (HITS) Network & Data Services team supports an infrastructure that consists of more than 350 sites spread across the City of Houston (COH).
This includes thousands of network devices and multiple datacenters, which collectively support the needs of over 20,000 city employees and 23 city departments, including mission-critical public safety services.
This Senior IT Professional position is crucial to helping the City of Houston to develop and maintain a robust, resilient, and secure network infrastructure.
- Serves as the senior technical lead for the organization’s firewall security infrastructure, overseeing design, configuration, and lifecycle management of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC), Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) appliances, and cloud-native firewall solutions.
- Designs and implements advanced firewall policies—including Access Control, Intrusion Prevention (IPS), Security Intelligence, URL filtering, and SSL/TLS decryption—to ensure secure, reliable access to critical business systems while maintaining least-privilege network segmentation.
- Administers and maintains FMC/FTD platforms, including upgrades, patches, HA configurations, failover testing, health monitoring, performance tuning, and compliance with operational standards.
- Engineers and manages cloud-based firewall controls across Azure, AWS, and similar platforms, ensuring policy consistency, secure connectivity, and alignment with organizational cloud security frameworks.
- Leads threat-prevention tuning, log analysis, and event correlation, integrating firewall telemetry with SIEM/SOAR platforms and supporting incident response through expert troubleshooting and containment actions.
- Designs, deploys, and supports site-to-site and remote-access VPN solutions, coordinating with network teams to ensure successful routing, NAT, and high-availability connectivity.
- Conducts firewall rule audits, cleanup initiatives, risk assessments, and change control reviews to maintain compliance with regulatory and internal security standards.
- Develops automation tools and scripts using APIs, Python, or PowerShell to streamline firewall operations, reduce manual effort, and enforce configuration consistency across on-prem and cloud environments.
- Works closely with networking, security, cloud, and application teams to support new project deployments, provide subject matter expertise, and ensure secure architecture decisions.
- Creates and maintains documentation, runbooks, topology diagrams, and operational processes, while mentoring junior staff and delivering knowledge-sharing sessions across the IT organization.
The position requires familiarity with the following:
- Hands-on experience administering Cisco Secure Firewall technologies, including Firepower Threat Defense (FTD), Firepower Management Center (FMC), and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) integrations.
- Strong background in designing, implementing, and maintaining enterprise firewall policies, IPS/IDS tuning, URL filtering, threat-prevention controls, and secure segmentation strategies.
- Experience managing and engineering cloud-based firewall solutions within Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), or other public cloud environments.
- Demonstrated proficiency in high-availability firewall deployments, failover testing, clustering, and performance optimization in mission-critical environments.
- Experience with site-to-site and remote-access VPN architecture, routing technologies (such as BGP), and NAT design across complex hybrid networks.
- Knowledge of SIEM/SOAR integration, log analysis, traffic inspection, and network threat-hunting practices.
- Proficiency with automation or scripting (Python, PowerShell, API-based tools) for policy management, configuration standardization, and operational efficiency.
- Experience supporting large technology environments within government, public safety, utilities, transportation, or similarly complex organizations.
- Strong documentation skills, including the development of standard operating procedures, diagrams, and technical standards.
WORKING CONDITIONS
This position is physically comfortable; the individual has discretion about walking, standing, etc. There are no major sources of discomfort in a normal office environment.
May include planned after-hours changes and on-call rotation for critical incidents.
Coordination across multiple teams and vendors; occasional travel for data center or cloud projects as required.
Requirements
EDUCATION REQUIREMENTSRequires a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Management and Information Systems (MIS) or a closely related field.
Information systems-specific technical certifications may be substituted for 1 year of either the education or the experience requirement, as applicable. Related professional Information Systems experience may be substituted for the education requirement on a year-for-year basis.
EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
At least six (6) years of technology experience supporting IT infrastructure.
System-specific technical certifications required.
Advanced certifications and applicable work experience beyond six (6) years may be substituted for up to two (2) years of the education requirement.
System-specific technical certifications may be considered for substitution for 1 year of experience.
A Master’s degree in Computer Science, Management and Information Systems (MIS) or a closely related field may be substituted for two years of the experience requirement.
LICENSE REQUIREMENTS
None
Qualifications
**Preference shall be given to eligible veteran applicants provided such persons possess the qualifications necessary for competent discharge of the duties involved in the position applied for, such persons are among the most qualified candidates for the position, and all other factors in accordance with Executive Order 1-6.
**
Preferences shall be given to those with the following:
- Preferred Certifications:
- Cisco CCNP Security
- Cisco Certified Specialist – Firepower (FTD/FMC)
- Cisco CCIE Security (highly preferred)
- Microsoft Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500)
- AWS Security Specialty Certification
- GIAC Firewall Analyst (GCFW) or similar security-focused certifications
- CompTIA Security+ or CySA+ (baseline security knowledge)
Additional Information
SELECTION / SKILLS TESTS REQUIRED
Department may administer skills assessment test
SAFETY IMPACT POSITION– YES
If yes, this position is subject to random drug testing and if a promotional position, candidate must pass an assignment drug test.
SALARY INFORMATION Factors used in determining the salary offered include the candidate’s qualifications as well as the pay rates of other employees in this classification.
PAY GRADE: 28 APPLICATION PROCEDURESOnly online applications will be accepted for this City of Houston job and must be received by the Human Resources Department during active posting period.
Applications must be submitted online at: www.houstontx.gov.
To view your detailed application status, please log-in to your online profile by visiting: http://agency.governmentjobs.com/houston/default.cfmor call (832) 393-0450.
If you need special services or accommodations, call (832) 393-0450. (7-1-1).
If you need login assistance or technical support call 855-524-5627.
Due to the high volume of applications received, the Hiring Department will contact you directly, should you be selected to advance in our recruitment process.
All new and rehires must pass a pre-employment drug test and are subject to a physical examination and verification of information provided.
EOE Equal Opportunity EmployerThe City of Houston is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.
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