Junior Security Engineer

Description

Sargent & Lundy is a leading consulting engineering firm specializing in the power and energy sectors. Since 1891, we have provided comprehensive engineering, design, and consulting services for both traditional and renewable power generation, grid modernization, nuclear power, and beyond. Our mission is to help clients achieve their energy goals effectively by leveraging advanced technologies and adopting sustainable practices.

Role Overview

Sargent & Lundy is seeking a Junior Security Engineer with a strong data and analytics mindset to help operate and mature our security platforms, data protection capabilities, and Zero Trust architecture.

In this role, you will work hands-on with tools such as Azure, Crowd Strike, Mimecast, Zscaler, DLP platforms, Secret Server, and cloud security services to support day-to-day operations, configuration management, incident response, and security analytics. You will also contribute to our evolving AI security guardrails, helping the organization adopt AI responsibly while protecting our data and clients.

This position is ideal for someone early in their security career who:

• Passionate about building secure cloud infrastructure
• Enjoys working with data and building repeatable reports and dashboards
• Is curious about AI security, data protection, and modern cloud security models
• Wants to grow into a broader engineering and architecture role over time

Key Responsibilities

Platform Configuration & Operations

• Assist with Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) configuration, policy tuning, and device control management, including exception handling and reporting.
• Support Mail Security configuration management (email security policies, spam/phishing controls, DLP rules) and maintain accurate documentation of changes.
• Help manage Internet Security configurations and policies (web filtering, SSL inspection, access controls, and user/device policy alignment).
• Contribute to DLP management, including rule tuning, incident review, false-positive reduction, and user outreach.

Data Protection & Inventory

• Maintain and update data repository inventories (file servers, cloud storage, SaaS apps) to support DLP, access reviews, and risk assessments.
• Analyze data flows, access patterns, and DLP/endpoint events to identify trends and drive remediation.
• Assist in defining and monitoring data classification and protection controls across on-prem and cloud environments.

Identity, Access, and Secrets Management

• Support IAM governance activities including user access reviews, role analysis, and exception tracking.
• Help manage and monitor Privilege Access Management usage, including access requests, vault hygiene, and reporting.
• Participate in efforts to align IAM controls with Zero Trust principles (least privilege, continuous verification, just-in-time access).

Cloud & Zero Trust Security

• Assist in maintaining cloud security posture (Azure, AWS, or other cloud environments) by reviewing configuration baselines and security findings.
• Help document and track decisions from the Architecture and Design Review Board for cloud services and custom applications.
• Support Zero Trust governance by helping document policies, control mappings, and implementation status across identity, endpoint, network, and data.

Threat Intelligence & Incident Response

• Help operationalize threat intelligence by correlating threat feeds with internal telemetry (Crowd Strike, Zscaler, Mimecast, logs) and assisting in enrichment of alerts.
• Participate in incident response activities as a junior analyst/engineer: data collection, initial triage, impact analysis, documentation, and lessons-learned tracking.
• Assist in building reusable playbooks, including data queries, Excel/Power BI templates, and checklists.

AI Security & Guardrails

• Contribute to AI enablement by inventorying AI tools, helping define and document guardrails, and supporting monitoring and reporting on AI-related data access.
• Partner with security leadership and data teams to ensure AI solutions enable innovation while protecting sensitive data.

Continuous Improvement & Documentation

• Maintain up-to-date SOPs, configuration standards, and runbooks for supported tools and processes.
• Participate in efforts to automate recurring tasks (reporting, reviews, alert triage) using scripts, queries, or low-code tooling where appropriate.
• Provide clear, concise summaries of findings, risks, and recommended actions for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

This position offers the flexibility of a hybrid schedule with the expectation of 3 days per week in our downtown Chicago office, and 2 days remote from home.

Deep Knowledge, Skills & Tooling Exposure

You are not expected to be an expert in all of these areas on day one, but familiarity or hands-on exposure in several of the following is strongly preferred:

Security Platforms & Technologies

• Endpoint security and EDR tools (e.g., Crowd Strike, Palo Alto).
• Email security and secure email gateways (e.g., Mimecast, Microsoft).
• Secure…