Akshaya Kothla

Senior System Engineer @Novo Nordisk

Clayton, NC, US

Operated, maintained, and supported IT infrastructure services across global manufacturing environments, ensuring high availability, security, and compliance.Configured, monitored, and administered Palo Alto and Cisco firewalls, including centralized policy management via Panorama and rule optimization to strengthen security posture.Managed incidents, service requests, and changes using ServiceNow, adhering to ITIL standards and established SLAs for timely resolution.Performed risk assessments, compliance checks, and firewall audits using Algosec Firewall Analyzer and FireFlow, reducing vulnerabilities and maintaining regulatory adherence.Administered Cisco ASA firewalls and integrated Cisco ISE for identity-based access control, enhancing endpoint visibility and secure access.Troubleshot and resolved network connectivity issues, including firewall-related and general network disruptions, using packet analysis (e.g, TCP three-way handshake) to isolate root causes.Supported and managed Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) and Internet Access (ZIA) solutions, enabling secure remote connectivity and policy enforcement for distributed users.Supported and managed Zscaler Private Access, enabling secure remote connectivity and policy enforcement for distributed users.Monitored and responded to IDS/IPS alerts on Palo Alto and ExtraHop, proactively mitigating security threats and supporting Cloudflare DDoS management.Utilized SolarWinds Orion for proactive network monitoring, root-cause analysis, and performance reporting to prevent service disruptions.Provided technical leadership during major incident resolution, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity.Supported automation and process optimization initiatives, streamlining operations through tools such as Ansible, Python scripts, and CI/CD pipelines for network and firewall management.Collaborated with stakeholders and cross-functional teams through SharePoint, Agile ceremonies, and global coordination,

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad

Bachelor's degree, Electrical and Electronics Engineering

George Mason University

Master's degree, Computer Engineering