Level 3 Field Service Operations Engineer, Network and Fortinet

Role : Level 3 Field Service Operations Engineer, Network and Fortinet
Location: Burlington City , NJ

JOB DESCRIPTION
Level 3 Field Service Operations Engineer, Network and Fortinet
1. Position Summary
The Level 3 Field Service Operations Engineer is responsible for advanced technical support of Burlington s network infrastructure, with a primary focus on Fortinet FortiGate firewalls, SD-WAN and associated network devices.
The engineer will act as the senior technical escalation point for complex incidents, onsite troubleshooting, hardware replacement, configuration recovery and post-change validation. The role requires close coordination with Field Services, Network Operations, Network Security, NOC, service providers, carriers and Fortinet technical support.
Burlington s documented environment includes FortiGate devices at retail stores and FortiGate devices operating as SD-WAN hubs. FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer provide centralized Fortinet management and orchestration.
2. Key Roles and Responsibilities
2.1 FortiGate and Fortinet Device Management

• Provide Level 3 operational support for Fortinet FortiGate firewalls and SD-WAN devices.
• Troubleshoot FortiGate hardware, interfaces, routing, policies, NAT, IPsec VPN and SD-WAN issues.
• Monitor and validate device health, interface status, routing tables, VPN tunnels, CPU, memory and connectivity.
• Support FortiGate device onboarding, replacement, recovery and RMA activities.
• Perform pre-change and post-change device-health validation.
• Support approved FortiOS firmware upgrades and device-lifecycle activities.
• Troubleshoot FortiGate communication and synchronization with FortiManager.
• Use FortiAnalyzer for approved log analysis and incident troubleshooting.
• Coordinate complex product issues with Fortinet TAC.

2.2 Incident and Problem Management

• Own complex network incidents escalated by L1, L2, NOC or Field Services.
• Perform end-to-end fault isolation across FortiGate, WAN, LAN, SD-WAN, LTE, routing and IPsec connectivity.
• Lead technical troubleshooting during critical network incidents.
• Analyze logs, configurations and network behavior to identify probable root causes.
• Provide technical findings for Root Cause Analysis and Problem Management.
• Identify recurring issues and recommend permanent corrective actions.
• Maintain complete troubleshooting and resolution details in ServiceNow.

2.3 Field Engineer and Smart-Hands Support

• Provide real-time technical instructions to onsite field engineers.
• Guide onsite resources through:
  • Device and port identification
  • Power and status checks
  • Cabling and interface validation
  • Console connectivity
  • WAN and LAN cable replacement
  • FortiGate installation and replacement
  • Device boot and recovery checks
• Coordinate the deployment and use of approved spare equipment.
• Complete required remote configuration after onsite replacement.
• Validate device reachability, network connectivity and service restoration.
• Remain engaged until repair and post-restoration testing are completed.

2.4 Firewall and Security Operations

• Troubleshoot firewall policies, NAT, traffic flows and deny/permit behavior.
• Support approved firewall-rule implementation and validation.
• Maintain compliance with security, access-control and change-management requirements.
• Support syslog-forwarding and security-monitoring investigations.
• Escalate suspected security incidents or unauthorized access to the appropriate security team.
• Ensure that production changes are made only through approved tickets and change records.

2.5 Change, Deployment and Maintenance

• Participate in planned network changes and maintenance windows.
• Review implementation, validation and rollback plans.
• Perform pre-change health checks and readiness validation.
• Support FortiGate deployment, replacement, migration and firmware activities.
• Execute approved configuration changes through authorized tools.
• Complete post-change connectivity and service validation.
• Support network activities for new stores, relocations, refreshes and closures.
• Update change records with results, evidence, exceptions and final status.

2.6 Documentation and Knowledge Management

• Maintain network runbooks, troubleshooting guides, SOPs and knowledge articles.
• Record detailed technical actions and evidence in ServiceNow.
• Update asset, serial-number and configuration-item information.
• Document known errors, recurring issues and field observations.
• Provide knowledge transfer to L1, L2 and Field Service teams.
• Recommend opportunities for automation and operational improvement.

3. Required Technical Skills

• Strong hands-on experience with Fortinet FortiGate NGFW and FortiOS.
• Experience with FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer.
• Strong understanding of:
  • Fortinet SD-WAN
  • Firewall policies and NAT
  • IPsec VPN
  • BGP and static routing
  • VLANs and trunking
  • TCP/IP, DNS and DHCP
  • DIA, broadband and LTE connectivity
  • High-availability concepts
• Experience troubleshooting LAN, WAN and network-security issues.
• Ability to diagnose issues using FortiGate CLI, logs and centralized management tools.
• Experience with hardware replacement, RMA and remote field support.
• Working knowledge of ServiceNow Incident, Problem and Change Management.
• Familiarity with Cisco switching and Cradlepoint or equivalent LTE devices.

4. Required Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor s degree, diploma or equivalent qualification in Information Technology, Telecommunications, Electronics or a related field.
• Recommended six to ten years of network or network-security experience.
• Recommended four or more years of hands-on Fortinet/FortiGate experience.
• Experience supporting large, distributed or multi-site network environments.
• Demonstrated Level 3 troubleshooting experience involving firewalls, routing, VPN and SD-WAN.
• Experience coordinating remote field engineers, carriers and OEM support teams.
• Ability to work during approved maintenance windows, including nights and weekends.
• Ability to travel to customer sites when required.

5. Preferred Certifications

• Fortinet Certified Professional, FCP, or equivalent Fortinet certification
• Fortinet Certified Solution Specialist, FCSS
• Cisco Certified Network Associate, CCNA
• Cisco Certified Network Professional, CCNP Enterprise
• ITIL 4 Foundation
• CompTIA Network or Security

6. Key Competencies

• Advanced network fault isolation
• Fortinet firewall and SD-WAN troubleshooting
• Critical-incident ownership
• Clear technical communication
• Field-engineer coordination
• Customer and service orientation
• Accurate technical documentation
• Change and security discipline
• Root-cause analysis
• Vendor and carrier coordination
• Ability to work effectively under pressure

7. Key Performance Measures

• Incident response and service-restoration performance
• Mean time to restore service
• First-time-fix rate
• Repeat-incident reduction
• Successful FortiGate replacement and recovery
• Change success rate
• ServiceNow documentation quality
• Asset and CMDB accuracy
• Compliance with security and change procedures
• Knowledge transfer to L1, L2 and Field Service teams