Network Security Engineer

4w1 month ago

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, US · Full-time · $135,360 – $144,758

About this role

The University of Southern California (USC) is seeking a Network Security Engineer to help safeguard one of the nation’s most dynamic academic environments. In this role, you’ll play a critical part in strengthening the university’s network security posture—protecting systems, data, and users across a complex and evolving infrastructure.

Your day-to-day involves designing, implementing, and maintaining network security solutions, including evaluating and managing firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, web proxies, and data loss prevention technologies. You’ll also troubleshoot complex issues, perform packet and flow analysis, and support public cloud security architectures in AWS and Azure.

You’ll work within a collaborative environment alongside security operations, governance, and systems teams. USC’s academic, research, and administrative missions depend on robust network security, and you will contribute to incident response, risk assessments, and operational improvements. This role offers the chance to apply deep technical expertise while contributing to work that truly matters.

You will have the opportunity to work with leading-edge security practices and tools, monitoring and patching network security systems. This position provides exposure to a complex infrastructure spanning on-premises and hybrid cloud environments, supporting both academic and research missions. Your contributions directly impact the security of thousands of users and critical data.

Requirements

Experience with Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and network security technologies including intrusion detection and prevention systems, proxies, firewalls, packet capture, and data loss prevention (DLP) solutions.
Experience designing and implementing security controls within public cloud environments, such as AWS and/or Azure, including support for hybrid architectures.
Experience deploying and troubleshooting certificate-based security solutions and public key infrastructure (PKI), including 802.1X authentication, SSL decryption/offloading, and related technologies.
Experience designing, deploying, and supporting web proxy and content filtering solutions to enforce security policies and support data loss prevention initiatives.
Demonstrated experience performing packet and flow analysis using a variety of tools, including in-line taps, firewall and IPS appliances, network routers, and host-based tools.
Experience working with network access control (NAC) platforms, writing shell scripts using Python and/or Bash, and leveraging infrastructure monitoring and alerting tools.
Experience designing, implementing, and supporting firewall and intrusion prevention system (IPS) architectures in enterprise environments.
Proven ability to work effectively in project-based environments, collaborating and communicating with individuals and teams across diverse technical and non-technical organizations.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and maintain network security solutions that protect infrastructure from internal and external threats.
Evaluate, deploy, and manage firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, web proxies, and data loss prevention technologies.
Troubleshoot and resolve complex network security issues, partnering with campus departments and ITS stakeholders.
Perform packet and flow analysis using industry-standard tools to identify risks and improve visibility.
Support public cloud security architectures (AWS, Azure) and hybrid environments.
Monitor, upgrade, and patch network security systems using leading-edge practices and tools.
Contribute to incident response efforts, risk assessments, and operational improvements.
Develop and maintain clear technical documentation and present findings and recommendations to stakeholders.