Data Security Engineer

Overview As a Data Security Engineer at Leidos, you build, optimize, and sustain large-scale cybersecurity data pipelines that support 24x7 defensive operations. You will ingest, normalize, and enrich security telemetry across Elastic, Kafka, and related CI/CD tooling to empower threat detection and response. You’ll collaborate with cyber teams to ensure analysts have analytics-ready data and maintain high data quality in multi-cloud and on-prem environments. This hybrid role requires TS/SCI clearance and citizenship, located in Adelphi, MD. ResponsibilitiesDesign, maintain, and optimize scalable cybersecurity data ingestion and normalization pipelinesDevelop transformations and enrichments for diverse security log and telemetry sourcesConfigure and optimize Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, and Fleet for high-volume operationsMaintain index templates, mappings, schemas, and data models supporting analytics and detection logicImplement data validation, deduplication, and quality controls to ensure data integrityAutomate ingestion, transformation, and engineering workflows using Python, Bash, and related toolsMonitor pipeline and indexing performance, troubleshoot data-flow issues, and optimize throughput and query performanceMaintain traceability and troubleshoot dependencies across Kafka, Elastic, and CI/CD toolingPartner with Detection Engineering, Threat Analysis, Endpoint, and other cyber teams to support operational requirementsMaintain technical documentation, SOPs, and engineering artifacts Key requirementsBachelor's degree and 4–8 years of relevant experience, or additional experience may substitute in lieu of degree3+ years of data engineering, data analysis, cybersecurity data engineering, or related experienceExperience with data ingestion, transformation, normalization, or high-volume data-processing pipelinesExperience with Elastic Stack, Kafka, Python, Bash, and CI/CD toolingFamiliarity with Elastic Common Schema (ECS) or similar cybersecurity data modelsRequired DoD 8570/8140-aligned and CSSP Analyst certifications, as applicable to the positionU.S. Citizenship with an active TS/SCI clearanceStrong written and verbal communication skillsStrong communication skillsCross-team collaborationProblem-solving and troubleshootingElastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, Fleet)KafkaPython