Cybersecurity Systems Engineer

Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location.

For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.

Penn State IT Information Security team is seeking a Cyber Security Systems Engineer who will be responsible for designing, implementing, securing, monitoring, and maintaining an organization's information systems and security infrastructure. This role works across networks, endpoints, servers, cloud environments, applications, and identity platforms to protect sensitive data and ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical systems.

This role will collaborate with infrastructure, networking, application development, cloud, and compliance teams to implement security controls, improve system resilience, support regulatory requirements, and strengthen the organization's overall security posture.

Success in this role requires a strong understanding of operating systems, networks, applications, databases, cloud services, virtualization, and automation, along with meticulous investigative, analytical, documentation, and problem-solving skills.

The ideal candidate will have hands‑on cybersecurity experience and be prepared to quickly step into the role, independently apply their technical knowledge, and contribute to ongoing security operations and initiatives.

Primary

Job Duties:

• Review, investigate, and respond to complex alerts and threat activity related to compromised devices as well as alerts escalated from Tier 1
• Correlate data across endpoints, networks, and logs to scope an attack
• Create dashboards, saved searches, and other SIEM content related to compromised device activity
• Design, evaluate, implement, and maintain detection and prevention methodologies in response to current threats and minimize false positives to improve alert fidelity
• Investigate received Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) from various agencies to ensure they are not present in the environment

Additional

Job Duties:

• Assist with the forensic preservation of digital evidence, including hard drives
• Maintain accurate security documentation and update it as needed
• Assess and monitor the effectiveness of security controls
• Keep up to date on cybersecurity trends and industry best practices
• Assist in developing and revising organizational security policies, standards, processes, and guidelines

• Degree in Information Security, Risk Management, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, or related field or discipline
• Experience evaluating, implementing, and maintaining cybersecurity detection and prevention methodologies to address evolving threats and reduce false positives
• Experience developing and maintaining SIEM content, including dashboards, saved searches, queries, and alerts related to compromised devices and suspicious activity
• Experience investigating Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) from internal and external sources to identify potential threats within an organization's environment
• Experience investigating and responding to complex security alerts and threat activity
• Experience with security monitoring, incident response, threat detection, and analysis using SIEM, EDR, or other cybersecurity tools

Bachelor's Degree1+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience accepted

Required

Certifications:

None

These certifications are preferred but not required:

• CISSP
• CISM
• CompTIA Sec+
• CompTIA CySA+

Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies. Penn State does…