Sr. Network Security Engineer – WAAP (Onsite) :: Houston, TX (Local Only)

DMS Vision•Houston, TX

22h•Onsite

About The Position

The Sr. Network Security Engineer – WAAP role focuses on designing, deploying, and operating enterprise-grade Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) and network security solutions. The engineer translates business and application security requirements into architectures aligned with HPE's application security and defense-in-depth strategy, and leads WAAP architecture, design, deployment, and lifecycle management across global environments. The role also develops a multi-year roadmap covering WAF, API security, bot protection, and DDoS mitigation. The primary focus is architecting and managing WAAP platforms, including web application firewalls, API discovery and protection, bot management, and Layer 3–7 DDoS protection. Responsibilities include creating and tuning WAF policies and rules, enabling API discovery and schema enforcement, integrating WAAP with SIEM/SOAR, identity providers, and threat intelligence, and partnering with application teams to onboard and assess applications while limiting performance impact. The engineer leads application-layer incident response and root-cause analysis, tracks security metrics, and supports compliance with CIS, NIST, Zero Trust, and data-protection standards. The position also covers network security architecture and operations across data center, campus, hybrid, and cloud environments. It includes security design reviews, risk and control reporting, audit support, SIEM management, policy and procedure maintenance, collaboration with global cybersecurity, infrastructure, and application teams, and operational work under ITIL incident, problem, and change-management frameworks.

Requirements

At least 10 years of experience in network security architecture, engineering, and operations; the posting also specifies at least 10 years in enterprise network security and application security.
Strong experience with WAAP platforms; Akamai is preferred, with cloud WAF or equivalent platforms accepted.
Deep understanding of OWASP Top 10 for web and API security, application-layer threats, and mitigation techniques.
Hands-on experience creating and tuning WAF policies, implementing API security controls such as schema validation and authentication enforcement, developing bot-mitigation strategies, and designing Layer 3–7 DDoS protection.
Experience with HTTP/HTTPS and TLS traffic analysis, TLS inspection, and behavior-based threat detection.
Strong understanding of secure application architectures, including monoliths, microservices, and APIs.
Strong hands-on experience with firewalls such as Fortinet, Palo Alto, or Juniper; IDS/IPS, VPN, and SIEM.
Expertise in firewall policy design, NAT, routing, inspection, and threat prevention.
Experience designing secure hybrid environments spanning on-premises, cloud, and internet-facing systems.
Experience with forward and reverse proxy architectures and secure internet gateways.
Strong knowledge of TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP/HTTPS, TLS/SSL, and routing protocols including BGP, OSPF, and MPLS.
Experience with QoS, NetFlow, ACLs, NAT, IP traffic management, and network monitoring and analysis tools.
Experience securing applications in AWS, Azure, and GCP; familiarity with cloud-native WAF and API-security tools.
Integration experience with SIEM, EDR/XDR, and IAM platforms.
Experience managing enterprise environments with Aruba, Arista, and Juniper switches, as well as firewalls, load balancers, and WAN-optimization tools.
Understanding of high availability and application-traffic performance optimization.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience integrating DevSecOps practices and CI/CD security controls.
CCNP, CCIE, or JNCIE certification.
Security certification such as CISSP or CISM.
Vendor certification such as Akamai, AWS Security, or Azure Security.

Responsibilities

Translate business and application security requirements into enterprise-grade WAAP and network security architectures.
Develop and support solutions aligned with HPE's application security and defense-in-depth strategy.
Lead the architecture, design, and deployment of WAAP solutions across global environments.
Develop and drive a multi-year application-layer security roadmap covering WAF, API security, bot protection, and DDoS mitigation.
Architect, implement, and manage WAF, API security, bot-management, and Layer 3–7 DDoS-protection platforms.
Develop and maintain custom WAF rules, security policies, and signatures; tune false positives, optimize policies, and manage rule lifecycles.
Enable API discovery and schema enforcement, and protect against OWASP API Top 10 threats.
Integrate WAAP with SIEM/SOAR platforms, identity providers, and threat-intelligence feeds.
Collaborate with application teams to onboard applications into WAAP, perform security assessments and risk reviews, and minimize performance impact while enforcing security controls.
Implement protection against OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, including SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and remote code execution.
Lead WAAP incident response and root-cause analysis for application-layer attacks.
Define and track application-security metrics and KPIs, including attack trends and mitigation effectiveness.
Ensure compliance with security frameworks and standards, including CIS, NIST, Zero Trust, and data-protection standards.
Architect and maintain secure network infrastructure across data center, campus, and cloud environments.
Conduct security design reviews for compliance with enterprise security standards.
Provide risk reporting, control-effectiveness reporting, and security-posture visibility; support internal and external security audits.
Manage and optimize SIEM systems and maintain network-security policies and procedures.
Collaborate with cybersecurity, infrastructure, and application teams globally.
Lead application onboarding and lifecycle management in WAAP platforms, including security tuning, upgrades, and optimization.
Support application-layer incident response and threat mitigation.
Work within ITIL incident, problem, and change-management frameworks.