Lead Information Security Engineer - Cyber Defense

Fifth Third Bank; Ohio; Hybrid; USD 82,000 - 173,000; Full time

Job summary

Fifth Third Bank is seeking a Lead Information Security Engineer to drive cloud-native security and AI-enabled engineering within an agile squad in Ohio. You will lead the design and implementation of detection, response, and threat intel capabilities, partnering with cloud, software, and security teams to deliver scalable safeguards.

This role emphasizes Infrastructure-as-Code, containerized workloads in AWS (EKS), and automated tooling.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Information Systems or equivalent
• 4+ years in hands-on Information Security Engineering, Software/SRE/DevOps roles
• Experience with Unix/Linux
• Strong AWS and Kubernetes (EKS) experience
• Experience with AI-enabled engineering and AI foundations

Responsibilities

• Contribute to and enhance detection, response, and intel-related platforms in cloud-native environments
• Provide lead-level engineering review of code changes across apps, IaC, containers, serverless and AI workloads
• Build and maintain AI engineering harnesses and AWS-based tooling and observability
• Engineer and support containerized workloads using Docker, Kubernetes, and EKS
• Apply secure development practices, CI/CD integration, testing, and audit readiness
• Support regulatory and internal audits with technical inputs
• Continue cross-skilling in security, cloud, software engineering, and AI technologies
• Mentor team members and promote modern software engineering practices

Skills

Python

Go

AI tooling

Cloud security

Kubernetes

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Information Systems

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Splunk

SIEM

Job description

Make banking a Fifth Third better® We connect great people to great opportunities. Discover a career in banking at Fifth Third Bank.

GENERAL FUNCTION:

The Lead Information Security Engineer (ISE) will help lead our software, platform, and site reliability engineering work with the detection, response, and threat intel analysts to build, deploy, and manage scalable infrastructure and applications that help us detect, track, and deter cybercriminals. The Lead ISE will help architect cloud-based workloads and automate integration and deployments including application code, infrastructure code, and security-focused tooling and configuration. This includes containerized workloads running in AWS, including Amazon EKS, and the engineering and operation of AI-enabled applications, agents, and engineering harnesses. The ISE will be a member of an Agile squad, working closely with squad members, the Product Owner and Agilist to complete work in two-week sprints. The ISE will also model modern software engineering practices, including effective and responsible use of AI-assisted software engineering.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING:

• Contribute to and enhance our detection, response, and intel-related applications and platforms, including cloud-native and AI-enabled capabilities.
• Provide lead-level engineering review and approval of code changes, including application, infrastructure-as-code, containerized, serverless, and AI-enabled workloads in a cloud environment.
• Build, integrate, and maintain AI engineering harnesses and supporting services in AWS, including the patterns, tooling, controls, observability, and integrations required to safely use AI across software and security engineering workflows.
• Engineer and support containerized workloads using Docker, Kubernetes, and Amazon EKS, including deployment, configuration, scaling, observability, reliability, networking, and security considerations.
• Use traditional and AI-assisted software engineering tools throughout the development lifecycle while applying appropriate engineering judgment, testing, code review, security controls, and validation of AI-generated artifacts.
• Support the Bank's operational information security responsibilities, including the development and maintenance of standards, procedures, and guidelines necessary to satisfy the Information Security department's technology and security operations.
• Provide technical support to regulatory agencies, external auditors, and internal auditors, as required, to respond to audits and examinations of the Bank's control environment.
• Seek and maintain knowledge through cross-skilling and up-skilling in current and emerging security, cloud, software engineering, and artificial intelligence technologies.
• Other duties as assigned.

WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE:

• Passion for finding creative and innovative ways to detect and deter cybercriminals.
• Proven track record of building production-quality software, tooling, automation, and/or services in one or multiple languages (e.g. Python, Go).
• Experience using AI-assisted software engineering techniques and tooling to improve engineering effectiveness.
• In-depth knowledge of how the Cloud works, with demonstrated experience effectively using a range of AWS services and understanding cloud networking, identity, security, compute, storage, and observability principles.
• Belief that infrastructure should be deployed as code, with experience applying Infrastructure-as-Code and automated delivery practices to repeatable, auditable cloud environments.
• Knowledge of tools commonly used for Information Security, such as Splunk, Elasticsearch, EDR, SIEM, SOAR, XDR, etc.
• Experience building and integrating solutions across on-prem, hybrid, and/or exclusively cloud environments.
• Experience building, securing, troubleshooting, and operating containerized applications using Docker or equivalent container technologies.
• Experience with Kubernetes and container orchestration is strongly preferred, with particular preference for hands‑on experience with Amazon EKS.
• Candidates should understand, or demonstrate the ability to quickly develop proficiency in, Kubernetes workload deployment, configuration, networking, scaling, observability, reliability, and security principles.
• Experience building or supporting applications that use foundation models, AI agents, or AI engineering frameworks is strongly preferred.
• Experience with AWS AI capabilities, including Amazon Bedrock, is particularly valuable.
• Understanding of engineering considerations for AI-enabled systems, including model access, tool integration, identity and permissions, data protection, observability, evaluation, testing, human oversight, and controls for AI-generated code and actions.
• An architect's mindset in that you understand how systems interconnect and can design, reason about, and troubleshoot distributed cloud‑native systems effectively.
• A mentor mindset and love to model modern software engineering practices, including unit tests, code review, design documentation, debugging, troubleshooting, automated testing, secure development, and effective use of AI-assisted engineering.
• Cloud certifications such as, but not limited to: AWS Solutions Architect Associate/Professional, CCSP, or equivalent cloud certifications are preferred.
• AWS- and Kubernetes-focused certifications are particularly relevant to the role.
• Must be able to communicate ideas both verbally and in writing to management, business and IT sponsors, and technical colleagues in language that is appropriate for each group.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Information Systems or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• At least 4 years of related experience, including at least 2 years in a hands‑on Information Security Engineering, Software Engineering, Site Reliability Engineering, DevOps, Platform Engineering, or Developer role.
• Experience engineering and troubleshooting systems running on Unix/Linux.
• Financial industry experience is a plus.
• Position not available for immigration sponsorship #LI-MB1

Lead Information Security Engineer - Cyber Defense Total Base Pay Range 82,100.00 - 172,500.00 USD Annual

Location -- Virtual, Ohio 00000

At Fifth Third, we understand the importance of recognizing our employees for the role they play in improving the lives of our customers, communities and each other. Our Total Rewards include comprehensive benefits and differentiated compensation offerings to give each employee the opportunity to be their best every day. The base salary for this position is reflective of the range of salary levels for all roles within this pay grade across the U.S. Individual salaries within this range will vary based on factors such as role, relevant skillset, relevant experience, education and geographic location. In addition to the base salary, this role is eligible to participate in an incentive compensation plan, with any such payment based upon company, line of business and/or individual performance. Our extensive benefits programs are designed to support the individual needs of our employees and their families, encompassing physical, financial, emotional and social well-being. You can learn more about those programs on our 53.com Careers page at: https://www.53.com/content/fifth-third/en/careers/benefits.html or by consulting with your talent acquisition partner.

Fifth Third Bank, National Association is proud to have an engaged and inclusive culture and to promote and ensure equal employment opportunity in all employment decisions regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, veteran status or any other legally protected status.

We look forward to finding the right place for you.

Fifth Third is a bank that’s as long on innovation as it is on history. Since 1858, we’ve been helping individuals, families, businesses and communities grow through smart financial services that improve lives. With a commitment to taking care of our customers, employees, communities and shareholders, our goal is not only to be the nation’s highest performing regional bank, but to be the bank people most value and trust.