Network Security Engineer

Job Summary

The University of Southern California (USC) seeks a Network Security Engineer to enhance the university's network security. This role involves designing, implementing, and maintaining security solutions to protect the university's infrastructure.

About the Role

Collaborate with security operations, governance, and systems teams to ensure the university's academic, research, and administrative missions are supported by robust security solutions.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain network security solutions to protect against 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, working with campus departments and Information Technology Services (ITS).
• 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.
• Maintain and upgrade 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.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent combination of education and experience in a relevant field such as computer science, computer engineering, etc.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience in information technology, network engineering, or network security.
• One of the following certifications: CCNA Security, CCNP Security, Fortinet NSE 4, OSCP, CISSP, CEH, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Experience with BGP, intrusion detection, proxies, firewalls, packet capture, and/or data loss prevention (DLP).
• Experience designing and implementing security measures within public cloud environments, such as AWS or Azure.
• Experience troubleshooting and deploying solutions involving certificates and public key infrastructures such as 802.1X or SSL decryption and offloading.
• Experience designing and deploying web proxy and content filtering solutions for DLP.
• Experience performing packet and flow analysis across a variety of toolsets such as in-line taps, firewall/IPS appliances, network routers, and hosts.
• Ability to contribute expertise to design discussions and support the development of network solutions.
• Experience writing shell scripts using Python or Bash.
• Experience using infrastructure monitoring tools.
• Experience working with network access control platforms.
• Experience designing and working with firewall and intrusion prevention systems.
• Ability to support the creation of presentation materials, generate reports, and assist in presenting to appropriate stakeholders.
• Experience working in project-based environments.
• Ability to collaborate across an organization and effectively communicate with others.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 4 years of relevant experience.

Skills

• Technical expertise in network security technologies.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, project-based environment.

Benefits

USC offers a comprehensive benefits package to support the well-being of its employees. This includes health, wealth, and future-oriented benefits designed to help employees thrive both personally and professionally.

Pay

The annual base salary range for this position is $135,360.01 – $144,758.48. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.