Sr Cybersecurity Engineer

As a Sr Cybersecurity Engineer on Southwest Airlines’ Cybersecurity Engineering Operations Team, you’ll deliver solutions that protect our enterprise and keep our systems resilient. In this role, you’ll support, monitor, and maintain critical technologies like PingOne, PingID, PingFederate, F5 APM, custom security integrations, and AWS services—acting as the first line of defense when issues arise. You’ll provide security guidance to application teams, remediate vulnerabilities, and mentor others while driving improvements that align with the latest cybersecurity standards. Working in an Agile environment, you’ll help design and refresh solutions, integrate enterprise platforms, and ensure our security systems remain strong and reliable—keeping Southwest safe and ready for the future.

Additional details

• This role is offered as a remote workplace position, which may require travel for training, meetings, conferences, etc. Outside of those required visits, the majority of your working time may be spent in a remote location, away from our Corporate Campus. Please note, while this is a remote position, there is a limited group of states or localities ineligible for Employees to regularly perform their work. Those ineligible locations are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Washington, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.

• U.S. citizenship or current authorization to work in the U.S. required and no current or future work authorization sponsorship available.

We’re committed to fair hiring practices and to making employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected characteristics. 

• Provide security guidance to application and Partner Teams to remediate security vulnerabilities, risk items, and policy exceptions
• Deliver training for clients in use of the key Cybersecurity systems and automated environments
• Identify Cybersecurity problems, plan solutions, recommend software and systems, and coordinate developments in an orderly manner to meet business requirements
• Act as an agent for change to reflect the latest Cybersecurity standards and practices
• Serve as an enterprise subject matter expert (SME) and advocate of IT Security standards and reference architectures
• Act as a Mentor to both Co-Hearts in Cybersecurity and Partner Teams
• Remain abreast of industry trends and develop business cases for changes
• Lead team to find best solution and offering thought leadership while ideating and challenging group think
• Oversee immediate response and maintenance to production program issues
• Partner with production testers to identify defects and complete testing
• May perform other job duties as directed by Employee's Leaders

• Skilled in Agile best practices and continuous improvement
• Skilled in at least one or more cloud computing technology and its concepts such as AWS
• Skilled in infrastructure-as-code (IaC) development (Terraform, CloudFormation or similar) and automated configuration management using configuration-as-code (CaC) development (Chef, Puppet, Ansible or similar)
• Skilled in implementing Cybersecurity specific Integration Tests providing Identity, Security Policy, and Cryptography
• Skilled in at least one or more performance, logging and monitoring tools such as Prometheus, ELK Stack, AppD and their integration into platform tools such as AWS CloudWatch
• Skilled in at least one or more credential management tools and solutions like AWS Secrets Manager, CyberArk or Hashicorp Vault
• Skilled in creating parameterized build jobs for Continuous Integration of Security and environmental variables
• Knowledge of at least one or more existing elements in value pipeline, such as PingFederate, eDirectory, Active Directory, CyberArk, or Micro Focus IDM
• Skilled in at least one or more scripting and development language such as Python, Go, or Javascript
• Skilled in excellent communication, collaboration, organization, problem solving, and prioritization skills

• Required: High School Diploma or GED
• Required: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information systems or similar fields of study or equivalent advanced level experience

• Required: Advanced-level experience, seasoned and specialized knowledge in developing, implementing, or integrating technologies for Enterprise security
• Preferred: Experience with Ping Identity, SAML, and OIDC
• Preferred: AWS security knowledge and understanding of cloud-based platform architecture versus on-prem solutions
• Preferred: Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines using GitHub and secure SDLC practices
• Preferred: Knowledge of cybersecurity and computer/network security principles, plus OWASP standards
• Preferred: Experience with Agile and ITIL frameworks

• N/A

• Ability to perform work duties from [limited space work station/desk/office area] for extended periods of time
• Ability to communicate and interact with others in the English language to meet the demands of the job
• Ability to use a computer and other office productivity tools with sufficient speed and accuracy to meet the demands of the job

• Must maintain a well-groomed appearance per Company appearance standards as described in established guidelines
• Must be a U.S. citizen or have authorization to work in the United States as defined by the Immigration Reform Act of 1986
• Must be at least 18 years of age
• Must be able to comply with Company attendance standards as described in established guidelines
• Must be able to travel and /or attend Company and non-Company facilities and remote locations such as remote-based offices as necessary

Pay & Benefits

Competitive market salary from $145,600 - $161,800 per year* depending on qualifications and experience, with opportunity for future pay increases based on performance and market movement. For eligible leadership and individual contributor roles, additional bonus opportunities are available and awarded at the discretion of the company.

Benefits you’ll love:

• Fly for free, as a privilege, on any open seat on all Southwest flights (your eligible dependents too) 

• Southwest will help fund your Retirement Savings Plan with Company contributions up to 9.3% of your eligible earnings** 

• Potential for annual ProfitSharing contribution in the Southwest Retirement Savings Plan- when Southwest profits, you profit*** 

• Competitive health insurance for you and your eligible dependents (including pets) 

• Southwest offers health plan coverage options that start from the very first day of employment. You will have 30 days to select and enroll in your health plan with coverage retroactively available to your first day of employment. 

• Explore more Benefits you’ll love: https://careers.southwestair.com/benefits

*Pay amount doesn’t guarantee employment for any particular period of time

**401(k) match contributions are subject to the plan’s vesting schedule and applicable IRS limits

***ProfitSharing contributions are subject to plan’s vesting schedule and are made at the discretion of the Company