Network Security Engineer

This position is based in Mexico City, Mexico & will require work from the office at least the minimum number of days per week as agreed by the business leader.

Purpose and Scope:
As a Network Security Engineer, you will play a critical role in protecting Astellas' global network infrastructure and ensuring the security, availability, and resilience of networked systems. This position has arisen due to Astellas insourcing the responsibility for managing network security operations, enhancing visibility across hybrid environments, and advancing towards a 'best in industry' security posture.

The successful candidate will work collaboratively with the Security Operations Center (SOC), Network Engineering, and other Value Teams to proactively identify, mitigate, and respond to network-based threats and vulnerabilities across the enterprise.

Responsibilities:

Firewall and Perimeter Defense

• Administer and maintain enterprise firewall platforms
• Review firewall rules and policies following best practices
• Conduct periodic firewall audits and ensure compliance with internal security standards.

Network Threat Detection & Automation

• Develop and implement automated detection and response playbooks for network anomalies and suspicious traffic.
• Integrate network telemetry into SIEM/SOAR platforms (e.g., Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk, or QRadar).
• Work closely with SOC analysts to tune alerts and reduce false positives.
• Utilize scripting (Python, PowerShell, or similar) to streamline repetitive network security tasks.

Incident Response & Forensics

• Lead or support network-focused incident response activities, such as DDoS mitigation, lateral movement analysis, or command-and-control detection.
• Conduct network packet capture (PCAP) analysis and assist in forensic investigations.
• Provide root cause analysis for network security incidents and drive remediation efforts.

Proactive Threat Hunting

• Conduct proactive network threat hunting using flow data, DNS logs, and IDS signatures.
• Work with Red, Blue, and Purple teams to identify gaps in network defenses and enhance detection capabilities.

Reporting & Governance

• Develop dashboards and reports for network security metrics and executive visibility.
• Support governance of network security across hybrid and cloud environments (Azure, AWS).
• Contribute to continuous improvement of security operations through knowledge sharing and documentation.

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cyber Security, or a related field.
• Proven experience in a Network Security role.
• Experience with cloud-based virtual Palo Alto firewall management, upgrades, and configuration.
• Experience with Algosec firewall auditing platform.
• Develop dashboards and reports for network security metrics and executive visibility.
• Support governance of network security across hybrid and cloud environments (Azure, AWS).
• Contribute to continuous improvement of security operations through knowledge sharing and documentation.
• Strong knowledge of security frameworks, threat modelling, and incident response methodologies.
• Awareness of infrastructure and network security features like firewall rules, event IDs, logging/detection, and managing assets in manufacturing / OT environments.
• Experience of working with cloud security and insourced capabilities, as well as MSPs.

Preferred:

• Security certification is an advantage.
• Experience in using Microsoft Sentinel & Defender / Crowdstrike EDR / Wizz Cloud Security. 
• Demonstrate knowledge of change management principles. Relevant certifications (e.g., Certified Information Systems Security Professional CISSP, Certified Ethical Hacker CEH or CompTIA Security+, etc.)
  Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a small team environment where we share capacity and effort.
• International/global experience is an advantage.