L3 - Web Application Firewall (WAF) Specialist

Role Overview

L3 Web Application Firewall (WAF) Specialist

You will act as the subject matter expert (SME) for WAF in client-facing and internal security engagements, guiding application protection strategies, overseeing advanced threat prevention, and mentoring L1/L2 engineers.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead WAF Design & Deployment

  : Architect, configure, and deploy enterprise-grade WAF solutions across multi-tenant, multi-region environments using technologies like F5 ASM, Citrix, or Imperva.

• Incident Management & Escalation (L3 Level)

  : Handle high-priority WAF incidents, perform root cause analysis (RCA), implement custom mitigations, and ensure resolution within defined SLAs.

• Policy Tuning & Custom Rules

  : Develop and optimize custom WAF rules (iRules, regex, JSON filters) based on traffic analysis, threat signatures, and business use cases to minimize false positives and ensure maximum protection.

• Threat Intelligence Integration

  : Analyze logs and correlate WAF events with threat intelligence feeds and SIEM tools to proactively detect and respond to Layer 7 attacks (e.g., SQLi, XSS, RFI, LFI, bot traffic).

• Pre-Production Application Review

  : Collaborate with DevSecOps and App teams to assess applications prior to production rollout, ensuring adequate WAF protection is in place through rigorous policy simulations and tuning.

• Patch & Upgrade Planning

  : Plan and execute firmware upgrades, policy migrations, and security patching aligned with vendor lifecycle and enterprise security policies.

• Compliance & Audit Support

  : Align WAF posture with OWASP Top 10, PCI-DSS, GDPR, and internal compliance frameworks; prepare documentation and reports for audits and security assessments.

• Mentoring & Process Improvement

  : Mentor L1/L2 WAF engineers, define SOPs, standardize response playbooks, and drive automation initiatives where possible.

Required Skills & Experience

• Minimum

  7 years of hands-on experience

  managing

  Web Application Firewalls

  in enterprise or service provider environments.
• Deep expertise in WAF platforms such as

  F5 BIG-IP ASM

  ,

  Citrix AppFirewall

  ,

  Imperva

  , or Fortinet WAF.
• Strong knowledge of

  Layer 7 protocols

  ,

  HTTP/HTTPS traffic analysis

  ,

  TLS/SSL decryption

  , and

  web server architectures

  .
• Familiarity with protocols and technologies such as BGP, OSPF, VXLAN, or MP-BGP EVPN is a plus.
• Advanced understanding of

  application-layer threats

  ,

  bot mitigation

  ,

  credential stuffing

  ,

  zero-day exploit patterns

  , and

  custom rule writing

  .
• Proven ability to manage

  complex security incidents independently

  and interface with customers, stakeholders, and internal security teams.
• Experience with

  configuration backup/recovery

  ,

  version control

  , and

  multi-tenant policy management

  .
• Excellent documentation, troubleshooting, and stakeholder communication skills.
  

Certifications (Mandatory)

• F5-301/F5-303/Other Industry leading OEM Professional level Certification

Nice to Have

• Exposure to

  cloud-native WAFs

  (e.g., AWS WAF, Azure WAF, Cloudflare).
• Experience in

  ACI (Application Centric Infrastructure)

  and

  Software Defined Networking (SDN)

  for securing microservices or hybrid apps.
• Scripting or automation knowledge (Python, Bash, Ansible) to streamline monitoring and deployment tasks.