Lead Security Automation Engineer (CHARLOTTE)

Why USAA?

At USAA, our mission is to empower our members to achieve financial security through highly competitive products, exceptional service and trusted advice. We seek to be the #1 choice for the military community and their families.

Embrace a fulfilling career at USAA, where our core values – honesty, integrity, loyalty and service – define how we treat each other and our members. Be part of what truly makes us special and impactful.

The Opportunity

We are seeking a Sr. ELK Stack Engineer. This role offers a truly exciting opportunity to make a significant impact on USAAs cybersecurity posture. The right candidate will be at the forefront of maturing USAAs security logging platform, transforming it into a resilient and robust foundation that directly enables the Cyber Threat Operations Center to effectively protect USAAs members, data, and resources. By building and implementing advanced automation solutions, you'll streamline processes and enhance USAAs defensive capabilities. Furthermore, this position provides a unique chance to help lead and mentor a team of talented engineers, contributing to their growth and the overall success of USAAs cybersecurity engineering efforts. This is a chance to shape the future of security infrastructure and build a more secure environment for everyone at USAA.

We offer a flexible work environment that requires an individual to be in the office 4 days per week. This position can be based in one of the following locations: San Antonio, TX, Plano, TX, Phoenix, AZ, Colorado Springs, CO, Charlotte, NC, or Tampa, FL. Relocation assistance is not available for this position.

What you'll do:

• Responsible for ensuring that security requirements are adequately addressed in all aspects of a solution/application enablement and sustainment lifecycle.
• Design, develop, code, integrate, and test complex cross functional technical solutions with a focus on security, often collaborating with Engineers or Architects outside of team/department.
• Leads the team in code/design reviews and engineering efficiencies to ensure effective operations and accurate planning.
• Supports the resolution of complex production issues and troubleshooting of end-to-end solutions that span multiple applications and systems.
• Works with architecture to help define directions for cross functional or highly complex key technologies within a specific security domain.
• Drives community impact through active participation in internal and external training outlets, conferences, blog post, and participating in professional societies, advisory boards, and consortiums.
• Leverages Site Reliability Engineering practices in their domain.
• Ensures risks associated within their domain activities are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.
• Supports cross-functional efforts across the Enterprise as a subject matter expert in their domain.
• Monitors and troubleshoots highly complex systems, tools, and vendor integrations.
• Supports continuous research, analysis, and troubleshooting to identify, resolve, and report on highly complex security issues.
• Collaborates with Security Analysts, IT and Business Partners to tune, harden, and enhance Security solutions and technologies to keep up with the latest trends and threats.
• Provides mentorship and guidance to junior engineers, fosters a culture of continuous learning and professional growth, and ensures the team stays current with the latest security trends and technologies.
• Ensures risks associated with business activities are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.

What you have:

• Bachelor’s degree; OR 4 years of related experience (in addition to the minimum years of experience required) may be substituted in lieu of degree.
• 6 years of related experience in Security Engineering and/or Information Technology with a security focus to include experience leading driving enterprise technology projects or initiatives.
• 4 years of experience delivering technology solutions in all phases of a solution development lifecycle.
• Demonstrated experience guiding security strategies, solutions, and/or initiatives, with proven ability to drive these efforts to successful completion.
• Working experience with modern programming/scripting languages and frameworks.
• Experience designing, implementing, and leading security engineering activities utilizing modern DevSecOps practices.
• Demonstrated hands-on success with agile delivery methods and deep desire to be flexible while delivering value early and often.
• Demonstrated ability to address complex production issues by troubleshooting applications and systems.
• Experience working with platform engineering concepts on security best practices in infrastructure/policy as code, security architecture design patterns, security vendor integrations, and CI/CD pipelines with built in application security controls.
• Experience implementing event driven security architecture, methods, and controls.
• Experience with advising on security architecture, methods, and controls required to meet security, compliance, and audit requirements.
• Familiarity with cloud and emergent technologies such as: Public Cloud, Containerization, Security Data Lakes, ML/LLMs, GenAI, etc.

What sets you apart:

• Extensive experience managing and optimizing the ELK stack: Demonstrated expertise in Elasticsearch architecture, cluster management, infrastructure optimization, schema design, shard strategy, indexing, query writing, ingest pipelines, and data streams.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex ELK stack issues: Track record of identifying root causes, implementing effective solutions, and improving platform stability and health.
• Demonstrated experience in identifying and implementing observability and control mechanisms: Proven ability to assess system needs, design, and implement solutions for detecting, preventing, and alerting on platform issues to ensure stability and health.
• Experience with infrastructure automation and scripting: Proficiency in using Ansible for automation, with knowledge of Python and/or Node.js.
• Certified Elasticsearch Engineer: Possession of a relevant certification (e.g., Elastic Certified Engineer).

Compensation range: The salary range for this position is: $ 127,310.00 - $243,340.00 .

USAA does not provide visa sponsorship for this role. Please do not apply for this role if at any time (now or in the future) you will need immigration support (i.e., H-1B, TN, STEM OPT Training Plans, etc.).

Compensation: USAA has an effective process for assessing market data and establishing ranges to ensure we remain competitive. You are paid within the salary range based on your experience and market data of the position. The actual salary for this role may vary by location.

Employees may be eligible for pay incentives based on overall corporate and individual performance and at the discretion of the USAA Board of Directors.

The above description reflects the details considered necessary to describe the principal functions of the job and should not be construed as a detailed description of all the work requirements that may be performed in the job.

Benefits: At USAA our employees enjoy best-in-class benefits to support their physical, financial, and emotional wellness. These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans, 401(k), pension, life insurance, parental benefits, adoption assistance, paid time off program with paid holidays plus 16 paid volunteer hours, and various wellness programs. Additionally, our career path planning and continuing education assists employees with their professional goals.

For more details on our outstanding benefits, visit our benefits page on USAAjobs.com.

Applications for this position are accepted on an ongoing basis, this posting will remain open until the position is filled. Thus, interested candidates are encouraged to apply the same day they view this posting.

USAA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.