Associate Cybersecurity Engineer - Direct College Hire

Department:

Technology

Our Company Promise

We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.

Job Description:

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Our Technology Direct College Hire Program is a pathway for early-career technology professionals with up to two years of professional experience, including recent college graduates ready to begin the next chapter of their careers. Through this program you’ll receive hands-on experience, mentorship, professional development, and networking opportunities, you'll build meaningful connections, strengthen your technical skills, and gain the experience needed for long-term success. We're currently hiring for cohorts beginning in January, June, and August 2027.

As an Associate Cybersecurity Engineer joining our Direct College Hire program, you'll develop and enhance security solutions that help protect Southwest's cloud environment and emerging technologies. Working alongside experienced engineers, you'll contribute to initiatives focused on cloud security, secure infrastructure, automation, monitoring, and risk reduction while helping enable the safe and secure delivery of technology across the Company. This role offers opportunities to build technical expertise, contribute to strategic security initiatives, and help strengthen Southwest's cybersecurity capabilities. The Candidate selected for this role will support the Cloud Cybersecurity Team.

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. Applicants must reside in an eligible state by their first day of employment. Relocation assistance is not provided for this position.
• 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. 

Responsibilities

• 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
• Responsible for immediate response to production program issues
• Partner with production testers to identify defects and complete testing
• Test and implement system enhancements using techniques that preserve system integrity
• Assist in maintaining systems and regular functionality
• Triage, research potential defects, and partner to prioritize repairs. Transition features to Business support
• Follow established procedures and standards to ensure high quality and quantity of work
• Analyze and resolve multiple complex problems with minimal direction
• Respond to problems, perform root cause analysis, investigate information, perform impact analysis; formulate and execute plans to develop solutions with guidance
• May perform other job duties as directed by Employee's Leaders

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of existing elements in value pipeline, including: PingFederate, eDirectory, Active Directory, CyberArk, and Micro Focus IDM
• Knowledge of Agile best practices
• Knowledge of software development methodologies, practices, concepts, and technologies obtained through formal training and/or work experience
• Ability to apply knowledge and skills of software development and testing to solve a range of problems
• Intermediate knowledge of at least one required programming language
• Skilled in strong communication and negotiation in working with various Technology or partner Teams
• Ability to analyze large, complex, and vague Business or technical problems, articulating the problem or root cause, and translating the analysis into viable solution recommendations
• Ability to take on multiple assignments, whether administrative or project related, while maintaining a successful level of completion in all responsible work
• Ability to develop, present and effectively communicate ideas and strategies to a variety of audiences

Education

• Required: High School Diploma or GED
• Required: Bachelor's Degree in Business, Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Cybersecurity, or related field; or equivalent formal training

Experience

• Required: Entry-level experience; developing skills and knowledge in developing, implementing, or integrating technologies for Enterprise security
• Preferred: Intermediate level experience, fully functioning broad knowledge in:
  • Cybersecurity fundamentals, privacy principles, and risk management concepts, including network security, identity and access management (IAM), vulnerability management, and threat detection.
  • Identity and access management (IAM) technologies and directory services, including PingFederate, eDirectory, Active Directory, CyberArk, and Micro Focus Identity Manager (IDM)
  • Authentication and authorization concepts, including single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and privileged access management (PAM)
  • Programming languages such as Node.js, Java, JavaScript, C#, or Python
  • AWS cloud services and concepts, including Lambda, S3, Fargate, DynamoDB, EventBridge, ECS, Kinesis, and SQS
  • Agile or Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) methodologies
  • Solving ambiguous and complex problems through a systems thinking approach
  • Building relationships and trust across functional organizations

Licensing/Certification

• N/A

Physical Abilities

• 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

Other Qualifications

• 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 $89,450 per year to $99,400 per year* depending on qualifications and experience. 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 401(k) retirement savings 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 does not guarantee employment for any particular period of time. 

**401(k) match contributions are subject to Retirement Savings Plan vesting schedule and applicable IRS limits. 

***ProfitSharing contributions are subject to Retirement Savings Plan vesting schedule and are made at the discretion of the Company. 

Southwest Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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