IT Security Engineer

Cisco Systems, Inc; Maynard (MA); On-site; USD 117,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Acacia (part of Cisco) seeks a Security Engineer for the IT Operations team. You will drive day-to-day security operations, focusing on identity security, vulnerability management, and endpoint protection to maintain a resilient posture across global sites.

You will collaborate with Infrastructure and Network teams to enhance PAM processes, develop and refine security runbooks, and ensure consistent security standards. A Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years in security are expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field plus at least 5 years in security operations or identity management.
• Experience managing the end-to-end vulnerability lifecycle, including scanning and remediation.
• Administration of Active Directory with policy and access hygiene.
• Proven ability to triage security incidents using SIEM/EDR platforms.
• Ability to create and maintain security runbooks and procedures.

Responsibilities

• Drive day-to-day security operations focusing on identity security and endpoint protection.
• Collaborate with Infrastructure and Network teams to improve PAM processes.
• Develop and refine security runbooks to ensure repeatable standards across sites.
• Manage vulnerability lifecycle and triage alerts to mitigate threats in real time.

Skills

Security operations

Identity management

Vulnerability management

Active Directory admin

SIEM/EDR

Runbooks

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

CrowdStrike

SentinelOne

Tenable

Rapid7

Cisco Umbrella

Zscaler

Splunk

Job description

Meet the Team

Acacia (part of Cisco) is a market leader in high-speed coherent optical transceivers, pioneering technology that powers the world’s hyperscale data centers. The internal Acacia IT team is focused on the exciting challenge of architecting, building, and maintaining the infrastructure that allows our engineers to connect people and systems across the globe. We are a collaborative, high-energy group that thrives on innovation, and as the demands of our business grow, so does our need for proactive security leadership. We value technical curiosity and a \"security-first\" approach that balances robust protection with the agility required in a fast-paced technology environment.

Your Impact

As a Security Engineer on the Acacia IT Operations team, you will drive day-to-day security operations (focusing on identity security, vulnerability management, and endpoint protection) to ensure a resilient security posture for our global operations. You will manage the vulnerability lifecycle and triage security alerts to mitigate threats in real-time. By partnering with Infrastructure and Network teams, you will enhance Privileged Access Management (PAM) processes to protect our sensitive data. You will also develop and refine security runbooks and operational procedures to ensure consistent, repeatable security standards across all sites. This role is critical in safeguarding our the technology at the forefront of our business, ensuring that our security measures evolve alongside our rapid business growth.

Minimum Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelors degree and 5 years of professional experience in security operations, infrastructure security, or identity management.
• Management of the end-to-end vulnerability lifecycle, including scanning, tracking, and verifying remediation.
• Administration of Active Directory environments, including the management of group policies and access control hygiene.
• Triage and response to security incidents using SIEM, EDR, or similar monitoring platforms.
• Creation and maintenance of technical security runbooks or operational procedures.

Preferred Qualifications & Experience

• Use endpoint security platforms (e.g., CrowdStrike, SentinelOne) to monitor, harden, and maintain the security health of servers and workstations.
• Implement vulnerability management campaigns using tools like Tenable or Rapid7 to track, report, and drive remediation progress across cross-functional teams.
• Implement and manage DNS security strategies using platforms like Cisco Umbrella or Zscaler to mitigate network-level threats.
• Analyze logs and security events within platforms like Splunk to identify, triage, and elevate potential security incidents effectively.
• Apply data classification and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) strategies to identify and protect critical information across enterprise environments.

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $116,600.00 to $147,900.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees

• 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco

• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees

• Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)

• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours ofunused sick timecarried forwardfrom one calendar yearto the next

• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members

• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and

• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

$130,600.00 - $191,200.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$116,600.00 - $170,100.00

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.