Bhanav Walia
Harrison
Summary
Accomplished Senior Network Security Engineer with 8 years of experience in enterprise networking and secure infrastructure design. Expertise in Next-Generation Firewall administration, SD-WAN deployments, and advanced threat detection. Proven success in leading complex migrations and enhancing network security postures, ensuring compliance with regulations while supporting mission-critical operations. Skilled in communicating technical information effectively to diverse audiences.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
3
3
Certifications
Work History
Senior Network Security Engineer
Patelco Credit Union
06.2024 - Current
- Provide technical leadership for NGFW operations supporting critical banking workloads.
- Lead firewall migration initiatives with HA validation and policy redesign.
- Oversaw GlobalProtect secure access operations, ensuring MFA enforcement.
- Align network segmentation with PCI compliance requirements.
- Administered Skyhigh and Zscaler web security policies, optimizing SSL inspection tuning.
- Execute structured IOS/NX-OS upgrade cycles addressing high-risk vulnerabilities.
- Drove Catalyst Center automation strategy, enhancing compliance monitoring.
- Support Nexus modernization and campus refresh initiatives.
- Perform advanced packet-level troubleshooting for Sev1 incidents.
- Mentor junior engineers during migration and outage resolution activities.
- Maintain 99.9% uptime across core banking infrastructure.
Network Security Engineer
Granite Telecommunications
06.2021 - 05.2024
- Deployed Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls across 120+ locations.
- Implemented Cisco SD-WAN overlays replacing legacy MPLS circuits.
- Optimized WAN performance using application-aware SD-WAN policies.
- Configured advanced BGP routing policies, optimizing traffic flow and improving WAN edge performance.
- Executed multi-site Catalyst hardware refresh programs, enhancing network reliability across distributed campuses.
- Developed migration runbooks and rollback strategies to ensure seamless switch replacement and minimize downtime.
- Performed Nexus switch configuration validation during modernization efforts.
- Led enterprise firmware governance and lifecycle management.
- Participated in vulnerability remediation initiatives aligned with advisories.
- Provided L2/L3 escalation support ensuring SLA compliance.
Network Engineer
Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts
07.2019 - 05.2021
- Managed enterprise routing domains across geographically distributed locations.
- Configured site-to-site VPN tunnels to enhance secure regional connectivity.
- Validated WAN circuit failover and redundancy configurations.
- Optimized STP topology to minimize convergence delays and improve network stability.
- Coordinated MPLS and broadband provisioning with carriers to ensure seamless service integration.
- Contributed to data center segmentation initiatives to enhance workload isolation.
- Administered secure web gateway policies enforcing browsing compliance.
- Documented network architecture diagrams for audit readiness.
- Enhanced syslog and monitoring integrations.
Network Engineer
TIAA – Comtek Global Inc
05.2018 - 06.2019
- Configured BGP and OSPF routing across enterprise core infrastructure.
- Validated VPN encryption domains and ensured tunnel resiliency for secure connectivity.
- Optimized firewall rules and restructured NAT to enhance security posture.
- Validated HA protocols including HSRP and EtherChannel redundancy.
- Supported WAN optimization improving circuit utilization.
- Participated in Nexus migration planning and VPC validation exercises.
- Executed IOS upgrade planning aligned with vendor advisories.
- Documented root causes post-incident to inform future prevention strategies.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams during integration initiatives.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Information Technology
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, New Jersey, NJSkills
- Hardware refresh initiatives
- Data center upgrades
- Firewall migration strategies
- iOS and NX-OS enhancements
- Vulnerability management
- Cisco Catalyst deployment
- Remote access security
- Proxy management
- Web gateway solutions
- Cloud governance policies
- SD-WAN implementation
- Routing expertise
- Hybrid cloud integration
Personal Information
- Citizenship: US Citizen
- Title: Senior Network Security Engineer
Platforms
- Cisco Catalyst 2960/3560/3750 (Legacy), Catalyst 9300/9500
- Cisco Nexus 5000 (Legacy), Nexus 9000 Series
- Cisco ISR 4000, ASR 1000, Cisco 8500 Series Routers
- Cisco Firepower 4100 (FTD)
- Palo Alto PA-3200/3400/5400 Series
- Fortinet FortiGate Enterprise Series
- Skyhigh Secure Web Gateway
- Bluecoat ProxySG
- Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA)
- Cisco SD-WAN (VManage, VSmart, VBond)
- Cisco Catalyst Center
- Strata Cloud Manager
Projects
- Campus Hardware Refresh, Migrated 200+ legacy Catalyst switches to Catalyst 9300/9500 platforms with structured cutover planning and zero major downtime.
- Data Center Nexus Migration, Executed Nexus 5K to 9K migration with VPC redesign, port-channel validation, and scalability improvements.
- Firewall Migration, Transitioned Cisco Firepower to Palo Alto NGFW including rule conversion, NAT validation, HA clustering, and performance benchmarking.
- GlobalProtect Deployment, Architected secure remote access solution for 2,000+ users with MFA and capacity planning.
- Strata Cloud Manager Rollout, Centralized firewall governance improving policy consistency and audit readiness.
- Catalyst Center Implementation (Ongoing), Leading automation deployment including PnP onboarding, golden image management, template provisioning, and telemetry-based assurance.
- Enterprise IOS/NX-OS Upgrade Program, Remediated critical CVEs across switching and routing infrastructure achieving audit compliance.
- Secure Web Gateway Optimization, Managed Skyhigh, Bluecoat, and Zscaler policies including SSL inspection, URL filtering, and DLP controls.
Certification
PCNSE
Timeline
Senior Network Security Engineer
Patelco Credit Union
06.2024 - Current
Network Security Engineer
Granite Telecommunications
06.2021 - 05.2024
Network Engineer
Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts
07.2019 - 05.2021
Network Engineer
TIAA – Comtek Global Inc
05.2018 - 06.2019
Bachelor of Science - Information Technology
New Jersey Institute of Technology