Principal Cyber Defense Engineer

Sony Corporation of America, located in New York, NY, is the U.S. headquarters of Sony Group Corporation, based in Tokyo, Japan. Sony's principal U.S. businesses include Sony Electronics Inc., Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Publishing and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. With some 900 million Sony devices in hands and homes worldwide today, a vast array of Sony movies, television shows and music, and the PlayStation Network, Sony creates and delivers more entertainment experiences to more people than anyone else on earth. To learn more: .
 

POSITION SUMMARY  

Sony Corporation of America is seeking a Principal Engineer, Cyber Defense, to join the CISD, GSIRT located in Reston, VA.  

 

This position will report to the Cyber Defense Team Senior Manager, Cyber Defense, US1, supporting Sony companies headquartered in the United States. The incumbent will lead the team that provides designs, engineering support, data source on-boarding, implementations and support of the technology infrastructure that supports a global incident response team. The Cyber Defense team is a pivotal part of Sony’s program to secure its information assets, services, and the products that depend on them, building trust with customers and stakeholders and protecting the privacy of Sony’s customers.  

 

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES  

  • Lead engagements with Sony Group Companies (SGCs) to identify cyber security requirements, understand Sony’s corporate structure and IT environments, gather IT asset inventories, and facilitate implementation of GSIRT projects  

  • Implement and manage Microsoft Azure security services, including Azure Security Center, Azure Active Directory, and Defender for Cloud (policies and frameworks  

  • Plan the deployment of hardware and software based cyber security tools to locations on-prem and in cloud environments (Azure/AWS/GCP preferred)  

  • Ensure data on-boarding goals as met from on-prem, cloud (IaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS) systems into GSIRT’s Security Incident Event Management (SIEM) system  

  • Prioritize the review of vulnerabilities for potential impact to SGCs and work with SGCs to prioritize remediation or deployment of mitigating controls  

  • Work closely with engineering, DevOps, compliance, and executive teams to drive cloud security initiatives and maintain a robust security posture.  

  • Act as a subject matter expert in cloud security, providing recommendations and insights to stakeholders.  

  • Monitor SIEM solutions for cyber security incident data and provide engineering support to incident response activities  

  • Role requires flexible work hours and on-call duties during non-standard business hours to support the needs of a global corporation  

  • Other duties related to cyber defense as assigned  

  • Ingest and transform data from diverse sources (e.g., logs, databases, APIs) into Splunk, ensuring proper indexing, field extraction, and sourcetypes (including implementing Splunk apps, inputs, etc. as necessary)  

  • Honesty, trustworthiness, and ethical conduct are essential for this role.

 

QUALIFICATIONS FOR POSITION 

Your qualifications and experience should include:  

  • Broad understanding of information technology, cyber security concepts, and cyber security tools  

  • Understanding of processes and procedures for the aggregation, transport, and on-boarding of data into SIEM solutions (Splunk preferred)  

  • Experience with one or more programming languages, such as Python  

  • Working knowledge of networking technologies and protocols; including TCP/IP and standard Internet related protocols  

  • Competency in one or more data query languages, such as SPL  

  • Strong ability to design and implement customized Splunk dashboards, reports, and alerts.  

  • Comfort working from the command line interface and leveraging shell scripts to automate repetitive tasks  

  • Proven expertise in Microsoft Azure services, including Azure Security Center, Azure Active Directory, and Defender for Cloud.  

  • Deep understanding of cloud security best practices, threat management, and compliance frameworks (e.g., NIST, CIS, ISO 27001).  

  • Experience leading or managing a technical team, preferably a team in a cyber defense related discipline preferred, but this role will primarily be an individual contributor position  

  • Basic understanding and awareness of privacy laws and regulations  

  • A degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Cyber Security, Information Technology or related subject matter is preferred  

  • Experience with IaaS cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure, certifications preferred. (Azure strongly preferred)  

  • Experience with CI/CD pipelines and tools, GitLab preferred.  

  • Experience with project management, preferable Agile management approaches and tools  

 

In addition to competitive pay and benefits, we offer an environment and culture that promotes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We are committed to creating an inclusive employee experience for you to thrive as part of Sony’s purpose to “fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology. 

 

Benefits:  

SCA offers benefits-eligible employees (generally regular employees scheduled to work 20 or more hours a week) a comprehensive benefits program that offers coverage and support for employees and their family’s physical, emotional, and financial well-being.  

 

What we offer you: 

  • Comprehensive medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage with coverage for spouses/domestic partners and child dependents, including access to a Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA)  

  • Employee assistance plan and comprehensive behavioral health benefits 

  • Fertility benefits, including surrogacy, and adoption assistance programs  

  • Basic and supplemental life insurance for employees as well as supplemental life insurance coverage for their spouses/domestic partners and children  

  • Voluntary benefits such as group legal, identity theft protection, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance  

  • Short-term & long-term disability plans  

  • Paid parental and caregiver leave  

  • 401(k) Plan with pre-tax, Roth, and after-tax options and company match with immediate vesting 

  • Education assistance and student loan programs  

 

Other Programs:  

  • Flexible Work Arrangements, including remote and hybrid work schedules

  • Time off to include vacation, paid holidays, sick leave, Summer Fridays (early release), and a winter break between Christmas and New Year’s Day (based on business needs) 

  • Referral bonuses (subject to eligibility)  

  • Matching gift program  

  • A wide variety of employee business resource groups (EBRGs)  

  • Special discounts on Sony products, offered exclusively to Sony employees 

  • Employee stock purchase plan (Sony covers commissions and fees for your Sony stock purchases made through after-tax payroll deductions)  

  • Annual incentive bonus 

 

The anticipated annual base salary for this position is $180,000 to $195,000. This range does not include any other compensation components or other benefits that an individual may be eligible for. The actual base salary offered depends on a variety of factors, which may include as applicable, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, specific and unique skills, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job.  

 

 #LI-SC1

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex (including pregnancy), gender, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, military status, status as a veteran or disabled veteran, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or family status, genetic information, medical condition, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation.

Disability Accommodation for Applicants to Sony Corporation of America

Sony Corporation of America provides reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in job application procedures. For reasonable accommodation requests, please contact us by email at careers@sonyusa.com or by mail to: Sony Corporation of America, Human Resources Department, 25 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Please indicate the position you are applying for.

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While SCA does not require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, there are certain Sony offices that require employees to be vaccinated in order to enter.  If you will be located at or travel to those offices, you will be required to be fully vaccinated to enter.  The Company will consider requests for reasonable accommodations for documented medical reasons and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law.  Please do not include proof of vaccination status or any indication of a possible request for a vaccination accommodation when submitting your application materials.  If applicable, the Company will follow up with you directly to request proof of vaccination and to discuss any potential accommodations. 

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