
Firewall Experts in Essen
in minutes from over 15,000 CVs with the power of AIWork with specialists who design zero-trust perimeter architectures, configure next-generation firewalls, and audit industrial security policies, matched quickly to your project needs.
Meet FRATCH Experts in Essen, who have recently used Firewall
Rudolf E.
Last position:
Datacenter Engineer, Network & Security Administrator at International insurance group
Operation and further development of the network and security infrastructure.
Monitoring, analysis and resolution of network and security incidents.
Cross-department collaboration with other specialist teams for operations, further development and reporting.
Firewall vulnerability analysis.
Firewall rule approvals.
Troubleshooting IP communication issues in the network and firewall infrastructure.
Security-critical IT infrastructure, processing of personal data, compliance with legal regulations.
Products: Palo Alto Networks Firewalls, Cisco ACI, Checkpoint Firewalls, F5
Technologies: SDN, SDWAN, Cisco EPIC, Cisco ACI
Timo T.
Last position:
Gronic Ident & Sign at Gronic Systems GmbH
Gronic Ident & Sign
Core technologies: Android, Jetpack Compose, Retrofit, Regula Document Reader, Adobe Sign
Android app on dedicated devices for identifications and electronic signatures at the PoS
Michael L.
Last position:
Head of IT at Ruthmann Holdings GmbH
- Management of IT with 10 employees, including budget and personnel responsibility.
- Harmonization of the Navision systems in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
- Connection of the ERP systems in Switzerland, Austria and Italy to the central Microsoft Power BI systems in Germany.
- Rollout of a new firewall at 10 locations in D, CH and A.
- Evaluation of a new DMS.
- Migration to Windows 10 / 11.
- Transformation of 9 countries into ONE Europe.
- Start of NIS2 implementation in 5 European countries.
Pascal F.
Last position:
Senior Network Security Consultant at IT-Systemhaus
- Provided expert level consulting for lifecycle, upgrades and refresh activities
- Used Remedy for effort recording and billing to customers
- Used ServiceNow for service management and workflow
- Used Jira for project management with agile/Scrum methods
- Used Confluence for documentation
- Worked with customer-specific software tools
- Worked with customer-provided and secured hardware suitable for IT security operations infrastructure setup for customers
- Built firewall rule sets and handed over to service owner and delivery teams
- Environment: Cisco ASA, Cisco Firepower, CSM, Cisco AnyConnect, Cisco ISE, Check Point VSX and gateways
Aladdin A.
Last position:
Technical Consultant at NFON
- Presentations and workshops regarding different VOIP products and technologies
- Design of VOIP and network solutions from core to premium solutions and necessary non-standard solutions
- Processing of tenders
- Development of VOIP and network technical implementation of customer requirements
- Implement and configure different UC products on cloud
Mohamad A.
Last position:
Systems Engineer for Network Security at Bechtle AG
- SD-WAN solution by Aruba – Swiss energy company (330 sites): design and implementation of an SD-WAN branch solution with Aruba 9004 gateways, encrypted overlay, policy-based routing, WAN load balancing, and centralized management via Aruba Central.
- LAN/WLAN & security – schools in Germany (9 sites): deployment of Aruba switches & AP-505, FortiGate 80F firewalls; setup of Checkmk monitoring, incident and change management, and secure admin access (BeyondTrust).
- Multi-site security – energy billing company (20 sites): deployment of a complete Fortinet solution (FortiGate HA cluster, FortiSwitch PoE, FortiAP), IPsec remote-access VPN via FortiClient, centralized management via FortiCloud, IntraID authentication, operations and incident management.
- Data center migration – German client: migration of data center switches (Mellanox), firewall cluster, and OfficeConnect switches to a new data center; securing configurations, implementing HA designs, testing, monitoring, and coordinated change and incident processes. Setup of two new 6300 M VSX clustered switches.
- Data center security – university hospital: implementation of a high-availability FortiGate 400F firewall cluster across three data centers; security policy design, operational support, and change/incident management.
- Enterprise campus & network access control – manufacturing company in Germany: introduction of Aruba ClearPass NAC, setup of a VSX-based switching architecture, secure WLAN access with MPSK, and integration into existing networks.
- EU client (Germany & Poland) – Sophos firewalls: operations, incident and change management of Sophos firewalls including IPsec VPN; troubleshooting and ongoing optimization of security configurations.
- Network modernization – pharmacy client in Germany: design and rollout of core and access switching (Mellanox, Aruba Instant On), migration from Sophos to Fortinet firewalls, network segmentation, and security hardening.
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Statistics of experts using Firewall
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
20 years (Germany: 22 years)

Position duration
2 years (Germany: 2.2 years)

Positions per freelancer
22 (Germany: 15)

Top business areas
Information Technology, Customer Service, Product Development

Top industries
Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Retail

Certification focus areas
Information Technology, Project Management, Quality Assurance
Bachelor's degree or higher
50% (Germany: 74%)
Master's degree or higher
50% (Germany: 43%)

Certifications per freelancer
5

Most common languages
German, English, Arabic

Speak two or more languages
100% (Germany: 98%)
Based on our profile pool as of 21 Oct 2026.
Daily rate distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of experts in this technology in Essen are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows the share of experts charging within that range.
Average rates of experts in Essen using Firewall
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 21 Oct 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Firewall experts industry focus
See which industries our matched freelancers work in most often — every figure is calculated live from the freelancers on FRATCH.
- Information Technology (100%)
- Banking and Finance (67%)
- Retail (67%)
- Chemical (50%)
- Manufacturing (50%)
- Professional Services (50%)
- Telecommunication (50%)
- Automotive (33%)
Please note that freelancers can work across multiple industries, so percentages overlap.
About the technology
Core Perimeter and Network Defense
A modern firewall acts as the critical barrier between trusted internal subnets and untrusted external traffic. It inspects packets, enforces granular communication policies, and stops unauthorized lateral movement. In multi-layered infrastructures, specialists deploy stateful inspection, deep packet inspection, and zero-trust segmentation to isolate sensitive workloads and protect operational systems.
Next-Generation Firewall Capabilities
- Application awareness and layer 7 traffic inspection
- Integrated intrusion prevention systems and threat intelligence
- Automated TLS and SSL decryption for inbound and outbound traffic
- User-identity mapping tied directly to access management
Leading Ecosystem Platforms
Specialists work with industry-standard hardware appliances and virtual instances across major enterprise vendors. Key platforms include Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS, Fortinet FortiGate, Check Point Quantum, and Cisco Secure Firewall. In open-source and routing environments, professionals implement solutions on pfSense, OPNsense, and Linux-native iptables or nftables frameworks.
Industrial and Hybrid Infrastructure in Essen
Organizations across Essen and the greater Ruhr area combine heavy industry, energy utilities, and corporate services. These environments require specialized perimeter defense bridging operational technology (OT) with standard IT infrastructure. Professionals isolate supervisory control networks from enterprise systems and safeguard hybrid setups spanning on-premise hardware and sovereign cloud deployments.
When Organizations Hire External Specialists
- Migrating legacy rulebases to modern next-generation firewall platforms
- Implementing microsegmentation across distributed data centers
- Conducting critical rule audits to eliminate configuration drift
- Hardening network boundaries against advanced persistent threats
Hallmarks of Seasoned Network Defense Specialists
Top specialists combine deep understanding of TCP/IP networking with structured policy engineering. They avoid bloat in access control lists, automate policy validation, and construct resilient high-availability clusters. Strong professionals write precise documentation, maintain audit-ready configurations, and minimize latency impact on business-critical systems without compromising security.
Frequently asked questions
The facts hiring teams ask for most often when it comes to Firewall.
A modern firewall regulates bidirectional network traffic based on granular security rules, protocol compliance, and application signatures. Beyond basic port blocking, it performs deep packet inspection, decrypts encrypted streams to detect hidden threats, and stops malicious payloads before they enter the internal network.
A legacy stateful firewall analyzes traffic up to layer 4, looking strictly at source and destination IP addresses, ports, and connection states. A next-generation firewall (NGFW) inspects layer 7 application data, providing application identification, integrated intrusion prevention, and user-aware access enforcement regardless of port usage.
Most large-scale enterprise deployments rely on market leaders such as Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet FortiGate, and Check Point. Organizations evaluating a specialized firewall implementation also utilize Cisco Secure Firewall, Juniper SRX, or open-source solutions like OPNsense for branch offices and edge locations.
An effective firewall specialist must understand core routing and switching, dynamic protocols like BGP and OSPF, and virtual private network setups. Knowledge of public cloud networking, automation tools like Ansible or Terraform, and directory services is equally crucial for modern implementations.
Leading a complete firewall migration requires extensive hands-on expertise with both source and target operating systems. Senior specialists bring proven experience in translating thousands of legacy rules into optimized policies without causing unplanned production outages.
Most policy architecture, rule optimization, and virtual appliance configurations can be executed remotely. However, deployments in Essen that involve physical rack installations, cabling, or industrial plant integration often benefit from specialists available for occasional on-site visits.
Technical documentation, command-line interfaces, and vendor certifications for any enterprise firewall platform are in English. However, many infrastructure teams in Essen value professionals who can also communicate fluently in German during architectural reviews and cross-departmental coordination.
High-quality firewall engineering is recognized by clean, well-documented rulebases that eliminate shadow rules and redundant policies. Indicators of success include strict adherence to least privilege, automated configuration backups, and clear separation between distinct operational security zones.
The average hourly rate of freelancers in Essen, Germany who have used Firewall in their recent projects is 103 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 824 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers in Essen, Germany who have used Firewall in their recent projects, 50% hold at least a Bachelor's degree and 50% hold at least a Master's degree.
On average, freelancers in Essen, Germany who have used Firewall in their recent projects have 20 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 2 years.
The most common languages among freelancers in Essen, Germany who have used Firewall in their recent projects are German (100%), English (100%), and Arabic (17%).
The most common industries among freelancers in Essen, Germany who have used Firewall in their recent projects are Information Technology (100%), Banking and Finance (67%), and Retail (67%).
The most common business areas among freelancers in Essen, Germany who have used Firewall in their recent projects are Information Technology (100%), Customer Service (83%), and Product Development (83%).
Main locations of FRATCH Experts, who have recently used Firewall
Our freelancers and interim experts are at home across the DACH region — available on-site in the major business hubs or fully remote. Choose a location to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
Request a free demo
Get in touch with the FRATCH team and we will get back to you within 4 hours.
Would you rather directly get in touch?
We always have the time for a call or email!

Berlin
Hamburg
Munich
Cologne
Frankfurt
Stuttgart
Dusseldorf
Dortmund
Nuremberg