Cybersecurity Operations Engineer

University of Texas at Austin; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 115,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition assistance

LinkedIn Learning access

Flexible work arrangements

Exclusive incentive pay program

Generous paid time off

Job summary

University of Texas at Austin's Information Security Office seeks a Cybersecurity Operations Engineer to design, build, and securely operate shared DevOps infrastructure across on‑prem and cloud environments. You’ll work with a collaborative team to implement CI/CD, IaC, containers, observability, secrets management, and AI tooling to secure services for Texas and beyond.

The role emphasizes creative problem solving, strong communication, and a passion for learning in a flexible, life‑balanced

Qualifications

• U.S. citizen/resident or eligible for work in the U.S.
• Minimum 2 years building/integrating systems with automation tooling (Python/Bash/Ansible).
• At least 4 years Linux system administration experience.
• Demonstrated fluency with modern AI tooling in operations or security contexts.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to collaborate across teams.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and securely operate shared DevOps infra including CI/CD, IaC, containers and orchestration.
• Use configuration management to harden systems with secure defaults.
• Scale for performance, resilience, and secure AI agent environments.
• Integrate AI tooling into development/operations workflows responsibly.
• Develop documentation, runbooks, and patterns for knowledge sharing.

Skills

DevOps collaboration

Strong communication

Python scripting

Bash scripting

Ansible

CI/CD pipelines

Linux administration

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related

Tools

Git

Ansible

Terraform

Kubernetes

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Job Posting Title:

Cybersecurity Operations Engineer

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Hiring Department:

Information Security Office

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Position Open To:

All Applicants

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Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

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FLSA Status:

Exempt from FLSA

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Earliest Start Date:

Immediately

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Position Duration:

Expected to Continue

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Location:

AUSTIN, TX

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Job Details:

General Notes

This position is a hybrid opportunity based in Austin, TX and provides life/work balance with typically a 40-hour work week. Flexible work arrangements are available for this position and in addition to competitive salary and benefits (and an amazing opportunity to make an impact and do good across the planet), an exclusive Incentive Pay Program is offered, as available, to qualifying UTISO employees.

You will help design, build, and securely operate CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, container and orchestration platforms, observability, secrets management, and the AI tooling that is rapidly becoming central to how we do our work. You will work closely with the UTISO and the UT Regional Security Operations Center (RSOC) to ensure the infrastructure is effectively and securely supporting our customer base which spans the state of Texas and beyond.

The threat landscape we operate in is diverse and requires a diverse team to respond appropriately; therefore, please apply even if you are unsure if your experience is relevant. The most important ingredients for success on this team are a strong ability to think creatively about problems, very strong communication skills, a passion to learn and share knowledge.

You will get to work with a very intelligent and dedicated team to address enterprise cybersecurity challenges through novel approaches in an office that highly values work-life balance, the freedom to explore out of the box ideas, and serving others.

Most importantly, you will help take our tools and ideas to the next level. What starts here changes the world!

Your skills will make a difference

You'll be working for a university that is internationally recognized for research and the work you do will make a difference in the lives of our students, faculty and staff. You’ll also be working for a team that is nationally respected by their peer community. If you’re the type of person that wants to know your work has meaning and impact, you’ll like working for our team.

The Information Security Office at The University of Texas at Austin provides an outstanding benefits package to our staff. Those benefits include:

• Competitive health benefits (employee premiums covered at 100%, family premiums at 50%)
• Voluntary Vision, Dental, Life, and Disability insurance options
• Generous paid vacation, sick time, and holidays
• Teachers Retirement System of Texas, a defined benefit retirement plan, with employer matching funds
• Additional Voluntary Retirement Programs: Tax Sheltered Annuity 403(b) and a Deferred Compensation program 457(b)
• Flexible spending account options for medical and childcare expenses
• Robust free training access through LinkedIn Learning plus professional conference opportunities
• An exclusive incentive pay program
• A great physical office space should you prefer to work from campus
• Tuition assistance
• Expansive employee discount program including athletic tickets
• Free access to UT Austin’s libraries and museums with staff ID card
• Free rides on all UT Shuttle and Austin CapMetro buses with staff ID card

For more details, please see: https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits and https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards.

This position requires you to maintain Internet service and a mobile phone with voice and data plans to be used when required for work. You must also be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis for any employer without sponsorship (e.g., US citizen, US resident, US asylee).

Purpose

The Cybersecurity Operations Engineer will join a newly established, collaborative DevOps function within the UT Austin Information Security Office (UTISO) helping build and operate the shared engineering infrastructure that enables the UTISO to develop, deploy, and secure their services at scale.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with a small team of engineers to design, build, and securely operate shared DevOps infrastructure including CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, container and orchestration platforms, observability, and secrets management across on-premise and cloud environments.

• Use configuration management tooling (e.g., Ansible) to configure, harden, and maintain systems with secure defaults.

• Tune systems for scale, performance, and resilience.

• Build and operate secured and sandboxed environments for AI agents and automated workflows.

• Integrate AI tooling into UTISO’s development and operations workflows to amplify the team’s leverage, while thinking critically about where and how AI should be applied.

• Advise on architectural and security reviews of infrastructure and services.

• Develop and manage comprehensive documentation, runbooks, and patterns to codify and share knowledge across the team.

Required Qualifications

• U.S. Citizen, resident, or officially recognized asylee - Applicant selected will be subject to government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information at the level appropriate to the project requirements of the position.

• A minimum of 2 years of experience building & integrating systems in environments utilizing enterprise source code management tools & automation tooling (using Python and/or Bash scripting, Ansible, etc.).

• At least 4 years of experience with Linux system administration or an advanced understanding of operating systems and common operating environments.

• Demonstrated fluency with modern AI tooling (e.g., coding agents, LLM-assisted development workflows, or hands-on experimentation with AI in operations or security contexts) and a habit of adopting new AI tools as they emerge.

• Excellent written and oral skills, ability to work closely with multiple groups, manage expectations and track engagement scope.

• General networking and security troubleshooting (firewalls, routing, NAT, etc.).

• Demonstrated affinity for or interest in information security.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building and operating CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code.

• Experience with containerization and orchestration platforms Experience with cloud security posture management and securing cloud environments at scale.

• Experience with secrets management and credential lifecycle in automated systems.

• Experience building and securing AI agent infrastructure.

• Knowledge of monitoring and observability systems.

• Experience with clustered / highly available systems and securing systems at scale.

Salary Range

$115,000 + depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

• May work around standard office conditions

• Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation

• Use of manual dexterity

• This is a remote-eligible opportunity offering flexible work arrangements

Required Materials

• Resume/CV

• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor

• Letter of interest

Employment Eligibility

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

Retirement Plan Eligibility

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

Background Checks

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer,complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

Pay Transparency

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

Employment Eligibility Verification

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form. You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States. Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment. Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

E-Verify

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

• E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

Compliance

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.