Robert Pratt
Matthews
Summary
Dynamic Senior Cloud Network Security Engineer with extensive experience at Coca Cola, adept at architecting Zero Trust networks in Azure and optimizing Palo Alto firewalls. Proven track record in enhancing security compliance and achieving 99.98% uptime through strategic troubleshooting and cross-functional collaboration. Skilled in network design and committed to operational excellence.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Cloud Network Security Engineer
Coca Cola
01.2019 - Current
- Architected and maintained a Zero Trust network model within Microsoft Azure, supporting scalable, secure, and resilient cloud infrastructure aligned with business growth and compliance needs.
- Administered and optimized three Palo Alto firewalls in Azure, ensuring high availability and secure configurations through proactive updates, patch management, and rule-based compliance audits. Utilized Panorama for centralized policy management and traffic monitoring.
- Collaborated cross-functionally with DevOps and Cybersecurity teams to embed security throughout the CI/CD pipeline, conduct network vulnerability assessments, and remediate findings in alignment with enterprise security goals.
- Lead change management processes for firewall rule modifications and software upgrades, ensuring minimal service disruption through thorough planning, testing, and deployment procedures.
- Deployed and managed Barracuda Web Application Firewall (WAF) VM Scale Sets in Azure, ensuring protection against OWASP Top 10 threats and maintaining continuous compliance with web application security standards.
- Developed and enforced security policies and procedures to meet regulatory frameworks, including PCI DSS and HIPAA, ensuring audit readiness and minimizing compliance risk.
- Enhanced application and network security by implementing robust access control, encryption strategies, and vulnerability management tools in coordination with DevSecOps practices.
- Designed and validated network security policies, ensuring consistent enforcement of organizational and regulatory security requirements.
- Troubleshot and resolved complex network issues, maintaining over 99.9% service uptime and leading rapid incident response for critical systems.
- Designed scalable cloud network architectures, including Azure Virtual Networks, VPN Gateways, Load Balancers, VM deployments, and Application Gateways to support enterprise workloads.
- Utilized Azure Network Watcher for diagnostics and performance monitoring of NSGs, security rules, and connection issues, streamlining root cause analysis and resolution times.
- Provisioned Azure Virtual Machines to support vendor builds and specialized application workloads, maintaining performance and availability of business-critical services.
- Participated in the design and implementation of backup and disaster recovery (DR) strategies in Azure, aligning with defined RTO/RPO objectives to ensure business continuity.
- Managed and optimized Microsoft Sentinel SIEM platforms, to monitor security events across on-premises and cloud environments, ensuring rapid detection and response to potential threats.
- Assisted in gap analyses across IT systems, networks, and cloud environments, identifying security, compliance, and operational risks with potential business impact.
- Collaborated with architects in weekly meetings to review network infrastructure designs, assess new technology implementations, and ensure alignment with organizational goals and security standards.
Network Engineer
City Of Charlotte
01.2017 - 01.2019
- Configured and maintained Palo Alto firewalls to enforce security policies and protect against cyber threats.
- Implemented and managed Global Protect VPN for remote users, ensuring secure connections and data integrity.
- Architected and led efforts to deploy HRSP redundancy using Cisco IE3k,2k, and 4k switches to over 200 locations through the city traffic network.
- Configuring, maintaining and deploying Cisco 3500,4500,2900, and 9300 series switches across the city’s enterprise network ensuring optimal performance and reliability.
- Proactively troubleshooting Layer 2 and Layer 3 network issues by analyzing symptoms, conducting research, and implementing effective solutions to minimize downtime and optimize performance.
- Diagnosed and resolved BGP routing issues.
- Implemented access control lists (ACLs) and micro segmentation policies aligned with zero trust principles.
- Utilized network monitoring tools such as SolarWinds and Wireshark to troubleshoot, analyze traffic flows, and ensure the smooth operation of OSPF routing and data center services.
- Led troubleshooting efforts for complex OSPF issues, including route flapping, LSDB discrepancies, and adjacency formation, ensuring minimal disruption to critical data center operations.
Network Engineer II
BAE Systems
12.2014 - 01.2017
- Resolved high-impact network incidents under SLA, achieving 99.98% uptime.
- Configured and maintained Cisco ISR routers and Catalyst switches, optimizing OSPF and BGP routing protocols to over 120 remote locations.
- Deployed and maintained A10 Thunder Series ADCs to manage high-volume application traffic, enabling SSL offloading, DDoS protection, and global server load balancing (GSLB).
- Designed and implemented scalable Layer 2/3 solutions using Cisco Catalyst 9000 and Nexus 7000 platforms across multi-site enterprise environments.
- Managed full lifecycle deployment of Cisco switch infrastructure, improving network performance and segmentation across data centers and remote sites.
- Led the deployment of Cisco ISE across a multi-site enterprise, enabling 802.1X authentication and network access control for over 5,000 endpoints.
- Managed full lifecycle deployment of Cisco switch infrastructure, improving network performance and segmentation across data centers and remote sites.
Skills
- Cloud Networking
- Azure Networking
- Load balancers
- Traffic manager
- Network Security
- Palo Alto NGFW
- Panorama
- Barracuda WAF
- VPN’s
- Networking and Switching
- Meraki
- Cisco
- Network Design and Architect
- Troubleshooting and Problem Resolution
- Routing Protocols (BGP,OSPF)
- IT Infrastructure Solutions
- Network Diagrams
- Auditing and compliance
- 0 Trust network
- Azure monitoring
- Microsoft Sentinel (Siem)
Certification
- Azure-500, current
- PCNSE, current
- CISSP, current
Personal Information
Title: Lead Network Engineer
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Senior Cloud Network Security Engineer
Coca Cola
01.2019 - Current
Network Engineer
City Of Charlotte
01.2017 - 01.2019
Network Engineer II
BAE Systems
12.2014 - 01.2017
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