Cybersecurity Engineer II

About Kirkland & Ellis


At Kirkland & Ellis, we don't just meet the standard for legal excellence - we set it. Our culture is built on teamwork, ingenuity and an unwavering commitment to continuous growth. We tackle the most sophisticated legal challenges with bold ideas and innovative solutions, powered by the exceptional experience and ambition of our 7,000+ people, including 4,000+ attorneys, across 24 offices worldwide. Our dedicated professionals share our lawyers' commitment to excellence and show up each day to do meaningful work that helps drive global business, investment and innovation forward.


What You'll Do


Are you a cybersecurity professional who thrives on solving complex security challenges, strengthening enterprise defenses, and driving security innovation?

As a Cybersecurity Engineer II, you'll play a critical role in protecting the organization's systems, data, and users through the design, implementation, and optimization of security technologies and controls. This position combines hands-on engineering, operational ownership, and cross-functional collaboration, giving you the opportunity to influence security strategy while delivering practical solutions that reduce risk and improve resilience.

You'll work across a broad range of cybersecurity domains-including Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), certificate lifecycle management, endpoint security, cloud security, identity protection, and security operations-while partnering with teams across Information Technology (IT), architecture, and business functions to ensure secure and scalable technology solutions.

• Certificate & PKI Management: Manage the full lifecycle of digital certificates, including discovery, issuance, renewal, monitoring, revocation, and automation, while administering Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Microsoft Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) environments.
• Encryption & Key Security: Administer enterprise encryption key management platforms and Hardware Security Modules (HSMs), ensuring secure generation, storage, rotation, archival, and destruction of cryptographic keys.
• Security Engineering: Design, implement, maintain, and continuously improve network, endpoint, cloud, and identity security controls through monitoring, tuning, and automation.
• Threat Detection & Response: Optimize Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), and related security platforms to improve visibility, detection accuracy, and response effectiveness.
• Risk Reduction: Identify security gaps, control weaknesses, and misconfigurations, then lead remediation initiatives and implement long-term solutions that strengthen the security posture.
• Technical Leadership: Serve as a lead contributor on security initiatives, partnering with Information Technology (IT), architecture, product, and project teams to support secure onboarding and integration of applications and platforms.
• Identity & Access Security: Advance secure endpoint and identity practices by collaborating with infrastructure and business teams to improve protection of critical systems and data.
• Standards & Governance: Develop and maintain security standards, engineering patterns, and baselines aligned with industry frameworks such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Center for Internet Security (CIS).
• Automation & Operational Excellence: Enhance security operations through scripting, workflow automation, telemetry optimization, and continuous process improvement.
• Mentorship & Knowledge Sharing: Support team growth through mentoring, documentation, reusable solutions, and technical guidance for less experienced engineers.
• Incident & Escalation Support: Act as an escalation point for complex security issues, contributing to incident response readiness, runbooks, and on-call support processes.
• Innovation & Technology Evaluation: Research emerging security technologies and recommend solutions that improve operational efficiency and reduce organizational risk.

What You'll Bring


• Education & Certifications: Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience required. Industry certifications such as CompTIA Security+, Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP), SC-200, or AZ-500 are preferred.
• Relevant Experience: 5-8+ years of Information Technology (IT) experience, including 3-5+ years in cybersecurity engineering or a closely related security-focused role.
• PKI & Cryptography Expertise: Advanced experience with digital certificate lifecycle management, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Microsoft Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS), encryption key management platforms, and Hardware Security Modules (HSMs).
• Security Operations Expertise: Strong knowledge of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), threat detection, threat hunting, and incident response processes.
• Security Platform Experience: Hands-on experience with technologies such as CrowdStrike, Microsoft Sentinel, Google SecOps, Netskope, Cisco Umbrella, BeyondTrust, Cribl, DigiCert, CyberArk Certificate Management (formerly Venafi), and Microsoft Entra.
• Identity & Access Management: Deep understanding of authentication, federation, conditional access, privileged access management, and modern identity platforms.
• Cloud & Enterprise Security: Experience implementing and supporting cloud security controls, particularly within Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Entra environments, with knowledge of Zero Trust principles and secure architecture practices.
• Automation & Scripting: Ability to improve security operations through automation using tools and languages such as PowerShell, Python, and Kusto Query Language (KQL).
• Problem Solving: Proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex technical and security issues across multiple systems, platforms, and teams.
• Communication & Collaboration: Strong ability to translate technical concepts into actionable insights, influence stakeholders, and work effectively across technical and non-technical teams.
• Business Mindset: Customer-focused approach with the ability to balance security, risk management, and business objectives while managing multiple priorities.

If you're passionate about advancing cybersecurity, leveraging modern security technologies, and making a measurable impact as a Cybersecurity Engineer II, we'd love to hear from you!

How to Apply


Thank you for your interest in Kirkland & Ellis LLP. To complete an application and submit your resume, please click "Apply Now."

Don't meet every job requirement? That's okay! If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't perfectly fit every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right person for this role or others at Kirkland.


Equal Employment Opportunity


All employment decisions, including the recruiting, hiring, placement, training availability, promotion, compensation, evaluation, disciplinary actions, and termination of employment (if necessary) are made without regard to the employee's race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy or childbirth, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, political affiliation, source of income, place of residence, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military veteran status, unfavorable discharge from military service, physical or mental disability, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law. #LI-Hybrid #-LI-LB1