Principle Security Engineer, enterprise Akamai WAF SME- Tampa (hybrid)

Principle Security Engineer, enterprise Akamai WAF SME- Tampa (hybrid)
FT Select is a niche technology search and selection company, specialising in recruiting elite Sales Executives and high-end Technology Specialists for high-growth tech businesses.

We are recruiting for a Principal Security Engineer: Network & WAF in the CISO team, you will serve as the hands on technical lead and SME (subject matter expert) for Akamai edge security. You will own the architecture, deployment, tuning, and ongoing optimisation of Akamai WAF solutions protecting internet facing applications.
You will play a critical role in strengthening Zero Trust Network Security posture, reducing application layer risk, improving signal quality, and ensuring secure, scalable delivery of web services in a highly regulated environment.
This role is ideal for a senior level engineer who thrives in deep technical ownership, complex problem solving, and cross functional collaboration.

Your Primary Responsibilities:
• Lead the architecture, deployment, lifecycle management, and advanced tuning of Akamai WAF solutions to protect web applications across on-prem and cloud environments.
• Serve as the enterprise Akamai WAF subject matter expert, providing strategic and hands-on leadership for Kona Site Defender, Adaptive Security Engine, Bot Manager, API Security, and Client Reputation capabilities.
• Act as the Akamai WAF technical lead and escalation point, owning end-to-end policy design, staging validation, production rollout, exception handling, and continuous optimization.
• Design and maintain custom Akamai WAF rules, rate controls, bot mitigation strategies, and API protection policies to address evolving threat patterns while minimizing false positives.
• Drive secure onboarding of applications into Akamai, including traffic profiling, baseline creation, phased enforcement, and post-deployment tuning.
• Lead WAF observability and metrics, including alerting strategy, log analysis, SIEM integration, and executive-level reporting on risk reduction and control effectiveness.
• Partner closely with Security Architecture and the Cyber Threat Fusion Center to:
- Identify application and perimeter security gaps
- Improve existing Akamai and network security controls
- Design, implement, and operate Zero Trust-aligned perimeter and edge security capabilities
• Develop and maintain security standards, reference architectures, policies, procedures, and technical documentation related to Akamai WAF, IDS/IPS, and network perimeter security.
• Analyze security alerts and events, perform deep root cause analysis, and recommend effective mitigation and remediation strategies across Akamai and network controls.
• Identify and drive automation opportunities (Akamai APIs, CI/CD integrations, IaC, policy templates) to improve operational efficiency, reduce manual effort, and enhance detection and response.
• Provide mentorship and technical leadership to security engineers, setting best practices for Akamai WAF operations and incident response.
Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent experience
• Minimum 8 years of Cybersecurity related experience with a strong focus on network and perimeter security
Talents Needed for Success:
• 10+ years of hands on cybersecurity engineering experience, with deep expertise in Network Security and Zero Trust architectures.
• Strong, hands on experience with Akamai, including:
• WAF policy design and tuning
• CDN and edge security concepts
• Managing false positives and rule customization
• Solid understanding of cloud and SaaS security controls, including Azure AD and Azure environments.
• Strong knowledge of network protocols and web architectures, including DNS, TCP/IP, HTTP/S, and firewall technologies.
• Experience working with SIEM tools, packet analysis, and security event investigation.
• Proven ability to work independently as a senior technical lead while collaborating effectively with cross functional stakeholders.
• Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem solving skills.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex security concepts clearly.
• Industry certifications such as CISSP or other relevant cybersecurity certifications are preferred.

• Flexible/hybrid model of 3 days onsite and 2 days remote (onsite Tuesdays, Wednesdays and a third day unique to each team or employee).