Data Protection & Security Engineer – Cloud & On‑Prem

FIRST GROUP AMERICA INC; Kentucky; Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

First Student seeks a Data Protection & Security Engineer to own the data protection capability while delivering hands-on security engineering across cloud, on-premises, and application security. You will partner with IT, I&O, and Legal to design, implement, and validate controls protecting student, employee, and operational data across environments.

You will replace a departing senior engineer, ramp quickly into an active program, and work across teams to ensure secure, compliant operations

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent.
• 7+ years of cybersecurity experience with at least 4 years in data protection, cloud security, or cybersecurity engineering.
• Industry certifications such as SANS/GIAC (e.g., GDSA, GDAT), CISSP, CISM.
• Hands-on experience configuring and operating DLP platforms (M365 Purview strongly preferred).
• Experience with data classification frameworks in regulated environments (FERPA, COPPA, CCPA).
• Strong knowledge of AWS security services and cloud-native data protection controls (S3, KMS, Macie).
• Experience with SIEM, endpoint security (CrowdStrike), and vulnerability management tooling.

Responsibilities

• Own enterprise data protection risk assessments, classification standards, and control evaluations.
• Define data protection requirements and standards for DLP, encryption, key management, and data governance.
• Monitor for data misuse, exfiltration, and policy violations; integrate DLP with SOC workflows.
• Lead incident response for data exposure, containment, remediation, and lessons learned.
• Develop and maintain data protection policies aligned with FERPA, CCPA and other laws; drive data classification framework.
• Provide technical oversight of cybersecurity analysts and act as escalation point for data protection questions.

Skills

Data protection

Cloud security

Security engineering

Automation scripting

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Information Systems

SANS/GIAC

CISSP

CISM

Tools

DLP platforms (M365 Purview)

AWS security services (S3, KMS, Macie)

CrowdStrike Falcon

SIEM

KMS

Job description

First Student seeks a Data Protection & Security Engineer to own the data protection capability while delivering hands-on security engineering across cloud, on-premises, and application security. You will partner with IT, I&O, and Legal to design, implement, and validate controls protecting student, employee, and operational data across environments.

You will replace a departing senior engineer, ramp quickly into an active program, and work across teams to ensure secure, compliant operations