Associate Director IT Security Engineering (Akamai WAF SME)

Principal Security Engineer – Network & Waf

Are you ready to make an impact at DTCC? Do you want to work on innovative projects, collaborate with a dynamic and supportive team, and receive investment in your professional development? At DTCC, we are at the forefront of innovation in the financial markets. We are committed to helping our employees grow and succeed. We believe that you have the skills and drive to make a real impact. We foster a thriving internal community and are committed to creating a workplace that looks like the world that we serve. The Information Technology group delivers secure, reliable technology solutions that enable DTCC to be the trusted infrastructure of the global capital markets. The team delivers high-quality information through activities that include development of essential, building infrastructure capabilities to meet client needs and implementing data standards and governance.

Pay and Benefits:

• Competitive compensation, including base pay and annual incentive
• Comprehensive health and life insurance and well-being benefits, based on location
• Pension / Retirement benefits
• Paid Time Off and Personal/Family Care, and other leaves of absence when needed to support your physical, financial, and emotional well-being.
• DTCC offers a flexible/hybrid model of 3 days onsite and 2 days remote (onsite Tuesdays, Wednesdays and a third day unique to each team or employee).

The Impact you will have in this role:

Being a member of CISO team, as a Principal Security Engineer – Network & Waf, you will serve as the hands‑on technical lead and subject‑matter expert for Akamai edge security at DTCC. You will own the architecture, deployment, tuning, and ongoing optimization of Akamai WAF solutions protecting DTCC's internet‑facing applications.

You will play a critical role in strengthening DTCC's Zero Trust Network Security posture, reducing application‑layer risk, improving signal quality, and ensuring secure, scalable delivery of web services in a highly regulated environment.

This role is ideal for a senior‑level engineer who thrives in deep technical ownership, complex problem‑solving, and cross‑functional collaboration.

Your Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead the architecture, deployment, lifecycle management, and advanced tuning of Akamai WAF solutions to protect DTCC web applications across on-prem and cloud environments.
• Serve as the enterprise Akamai WAF subject matter expert, providing strategic and hands-on leadership for Kona Site Defender, Adaptive Security Engine, Bot Manager, API Security, and Client Reputation capabilities.
• Act as the Akamai WAF technical lead and escalation point, owning end-to-end policy design, staging validation, production rollout, exception handling, and continuous optimization.
• Design and maintain custom Akamai WAF rules, rate controls, bot mitigation strategies, and API protection policies to address evolving threat patterns while minimizing false positives.
• Drive secure onboarding of applications into Akamai, including traffic profiling, baseline creation, phased enforcement, and post deployment tuning.
• Lead WAF observability and metrics, including alerting strategy, log analysis, SIEM integration, and executive level reporting on risk reduction and control effectiveness.
• Partner closely with Security Architecture and the Cyber Threat Fusion Center to: - Identify application and perimeter security gaps - Improve existing Akamai and network security controls - Design, implement, and operate Zero Trust aligned perimeter and edge security capabilities
• Develop and maintain security standards, reference architectures, policies, procedures, and technical documentation related to Akamai WAF, IDS/IPS, and network perimeter security.
• Analyze security alerts and events, perform deep root cause analysis, and recommend effective mitigation and remediation strategies across Akamai and network controls.
• Identify and drive automation opportunities (Akamai APIs, CI/CD integrations, IaC, policy templates) to improve operational efficiency, reduce manual effort, and enhance detection and response.
• Provide mentorship and technical leadership to security engineers, setting best practices for Akamai WAF operations and incident response.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent experience
• Minimum 8 years of Cybersecurity related experience with a strong focus on network and perimeter security

Talents Needed for Success:

• 10+ years of hands‑on cybersecurity engineering experience, with deep expertise in Network Security and Zero Trust architectures.
• Strong, hands‑on experience with Akamai, including:
• WAF policy design and tuning
• CDN and edge security concepts
• Managing false positives and rule customization
• Solid understanding of cloud and SaaS security controls, including Azure AD and Azure environments.
• Strong knowledge of network protocols and web architectures, including DNS, TCP/IP, and firewall technologies.
• Experience working with SIEM tools, packet analysis, and security event investigation.
• Proven ability to work independently as a senior technical lead while collaborating effectively with cross‑functional stakeholders.
• Strong analytical, critical‑thinking, and problem‑solving skills.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex security concepts clearly.
• Industry certifications such as CISSP or other relevant cybersecurity certifications are preferred.

The salary range is indicative for roles at the same level within DTCC across all US locations. Actual salary is determined based on the role, location, individual experience, skills, and other considerations. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.