Security Specialist - Akamai

Position Overview

At PNC, our people are our greatest differentiator and competitive advantage in the markets we serve. We are all united in delivering the best experience for our customers. We work together each day to foster an inclusive workplace culture where all of our employees feel respected, valued and have an opportunity to contribute to the company's success. As an Security Specialist - Akamai within PNC's Enterprise Information Security organization, you will be based in Pittsburgh, PA.

PNC is an in-office company that fosters a supportive culture where employees can thrive and achieve balance. We encourage candidates to connect with their recruiter and hiring manager to understand workplace expectations and ensure the role aligns with their goals.

PNC will not provide sponsorship for employment visas or participate in STEM OPT for this position.

Job Description

Due to the nature of the role, willingness to participate in on-call/weekend/evening support is preferred.

The Akamai Security Specialist is responsible for protecting PNC's external application footprint through the design, implementation, and management of Akamai security controls. This role focuses on defending against advanced threats including automated attacks, bot activity, and API abuse, while ensuring optimal performance and customer experience across digital platforms.

Core Responsibilities:

• Design, implement, and maintain Akamai security controls, including Web Application Firewall (WAF) and Bot Manager policies
• Monitor and analyze traffic patterns to identify anomalous behavior, malicious automation, and emerging threats
• Tune and enforce security policies to proactively block unauthorized access, data harvesting, and application abuse
• Partner with Security Operations and incident response teams to investigate, escalate, and remediate security events
• Develop and maintain detection logic, playbooks, and standardized procedures for incident response and policy management
• Support onboarding new applications by defining and validating security configurations, API protections, and endpoint coverage
• Continuously optimize Akamai configurations to align with evolving threat intelligence and attack techniques
• Validate protections on high-risk business functions such as authentication flows, account management, and transactional APIs
• Ensure visibility, monitoring, and reporting capabilities support operational, audit, and regulatory requirements
• Contribute to documentation, knowledge transfer, and process standardization across the Akamai Security team

Preferred Technical Skills:

• Akamai Security Suite (e.g., Kona Site Defender / WAF, Bot Manager, API Protection)
• SIEM and monitoring platforms
• Web protocols (HTTP/S), networking fundamentals, and application architecture
• Security tooling supports traffic inspection, rule tuning, and incident response
• Ticketing and workflow systems (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira) for operational tracking and onboarding activities

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• 3+ years in cybersecurity (application, network, or perimeter security)
• Direct experience with Akamai Security Suite products and policy management (e.g., Kona Site Defender / WAF, Bot Manager, API Protection)
• Experience working in Security Operations, Attack Surface Management, or application protection environment
• Strong knowledge of web security (OWASP Top 10), HTTP/S, and application architecture
• Strong understanding of web application security and common attack vectors (e.g., OWASP Top 10)
• Experience analyzing network traffic, logs, and security events to identify threats
• Ability to interpret and apply threat intelligence to security controls and detection strategies
• Knowledge of API security and protection against automated and high-speed attack techniques
• Familiarity with cloud and web-based application architectures
• Experience defending against automated threats, bots, or scraping activity
• Familiarity with financial services or highly regulated environments
• Knowledge of Zero Trust concepts and modern application security frameworks
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to balance security enforcement and customer experience
• Effective communication skills with the ability to collaborate across security, infrastructure, and application teams

PNC Employees take pride in our reputation and to continue building upon that we expect our employees to be:

• Customer Focused - Knowledgeable of the values and practices that align customer needs and satisfaction as primary considerations in all business decisions and able to leverage that information in creating customized customer solutions.
• Managing Risk - Assessing and effectively managing all of the risks associated with their business objectives and activities to ensure they adhere to and support PNC's Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

Qualifications

Successful candidates must demonstrate appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities for a role. Listed below are skills, competencies, work experience, education, and required certifications/licensures needed to be successful in this position.

Preferred Skills
Access Control (AC), Application Programming Interface (API) Security, Building Architecture, Customer Solutions, Disaster Recovery Planning, Information Security, Network Security, Physical Security, Risk Assessments, Security Technologies, ServiceNow Platform, SIEM Tools, Web Security

Competencies
Analytical Thinking, Effective Communications, Information Assurance, Information Security Management, Information Security Technologies, IT Environment, IT Standards, Procedures & Policies, IT Systems Management, Problem Solving, Software Security Assurance

Work Experience
Roles at this level typically require a university / college degree, with 5+ years of industry-relevant experience. Specific certifications are often required. In lieu of a degree, a comparable combination of education, job specific certification(s), and experience (including military service) may be considered.

Education
Bachelors

Certifications
No Required Certification(s)

Licenses
No Required License(s)

Benefits

PNC offers a comprehensive range of benefits to help meet your needs now and in the future. Depending on your eligibility, options for full-time employees include: medical/prescription drug coverage (with a Health Savings Account feature), dental and vision options; employee and spouse/child life insurance; short and long-term disability protection; 401(k) with PNC match, pension and stock purchase plans; dependent care reimbursement account; back-up child/elder care; adoption, surrogacy, and doula reimbursement; educational assistance, including select programs fully paid; a robust wellness program with financial incentives.

In addition, PNC generally provides the following paid time off, depending on your eligibility: maternity and/or parental leave; up to 11 paid holidays each year; 9 occasional absence days each year, unless otherwise required by law; between 15 to 25 vacation days each year, depending on career level; and years of service.

To learn more about these and other programs, including benefits for full time and part-time employees, visit pncthrive.com.

Disability Accommodations Statement

If an accommodation is required to participate in the application process, please contact us via email at AccommodationRequest@pnc.com. Please include "accommodation request" in the subject line title and be sure to include your name, the job ID, and your preferred method of contact in the body of the email. Emails not related to accommodation requests will not receive responses. Applicants may also call 877-968-7762 and say "Workday" for accommodation assistance. All information provided will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

At PNC we foster an inclusive and accessible workplace. We provide reasonable accommodations to employment applicants and qualified individuals with a disability who need an accommodation to perform the essential functions of their positions.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

PNC provides equal employment opportunity to qualified persons regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or other categories protected by law.

This position is subject to the requirements of Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) and, for any registered role, the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act) and/or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which prohibit the hiring of individuals with certain criminal history.

California Residents

Refer to the California Consumer Privacy Act Privacy Notice to gain understanding of how PNC may use or disclose your personal information in our hiring practices.