Akamai WAF/CDN Security Architect

Select Minds LLC

47d•Remote

About The Position

We are seeking a highly experienced and hands-on Akamai WAF/CDN Security Architect to support enterprise-scale application onboarding, edge security implementation, and CDN operations. This role requires a strong technical leader who can independently drive discussions with Akamai vendors, application teams, and security stakeholders from day one. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in Akamai WAF/CDN technologies, application delivery, internet-facing architectures, and production troubleshooting.

Requirements

10+ years of overall IT infrastructure/network/security experience.
5+ years of hands-on experience with Akamai CDN and WAF technologies in enterprise environments.
Strong expertise with: Akamai Kona Site Defender (KSD), Akamai CDN, Edge DNS, Property Manager, Bot Manager, TLS/Certificate Management
Strong understanding of: HTTP/HTTPS, TLS/SSL, DNS, TCP/IP, CDN caching, Load balancing, Web application security
Experience with OWASP Top 10 mitigation and WAF tuning.
Experience supporting cloud-native applications in AWS, Azure, or GCP.
Familiarity with enterprise ADC/load balancer technologies such as F5, AVI, Citrix ADC, A10, or Cloudflare.
Strong troubleshooting, analytical, and communication skills.
Experience working directly with vendors and driving technical discussions independently.

Nice To Haves

Akamai certifications preferred.
Experience with automation/scripting using Python, Shell, Terraform, or APIs.
Experience with SIEM integrations, DevSecOps, and Infrastructure-as-Code.
Prior experience supporting large-scale internet-facing enterprise applications.

Responsibilities

Lead onboarding and migration of applications onto Akamai CDN and WAF platforms.
Configure, maintain, and support Akamai edge security and content delivery services.
Implement and tune WAF policies, security controls, caching rules, and traffic management configurations.
Work closely with application, network, cloud, and security teams to ensure secure and optimized application delivery.
Troubleshoot complex Layer 1–7 issues involving DNS, TLS/SSL, HTTP/HTTPS, CDN behavior, caching, and origin connectivity.
Support production incidents, root cause analysis, and operational escalations.
Participate in on-call rotation and support maintenance activities during off-hour change windows.
Develop technical documentation, runbooks, operational procedures, and audit artifacts.
Collaborate with vendors and internal stakeholders on application onboarding and security initiatives.
Support security assessments, audits, remediation activities, and compliance requirements.
Provide technical guidance and mentoring to engineering teams.