Job Description

POSITION: Cybersecurity Engineer

REPORTS TO: Director of Infrastructure

POSITION TYPE: 12-month

START DATE: Immediate

COMPENSATION: $74,604 - $89,525, Home Office Grade 7

At YES Prep, work for a mission that impacts the life trajectory of students and their families. YES Prep creates pathways to extraordinary opportunity through best-in-class development, competitive compensation and benefits, and recognition for your impact. Grow as an authentic leader and be part of a high-performing, team-oriented culture. 

Some quick stats about us:

• 21,000 Students
• 2,400 Team Members
• 16 Secondary Campuses
• 11 Elementary Campuses
• 92% Students Who Qualify for Free/Reduced-Price Lunch
• 96% Hispanic & African-American Students
• 90% Students Who Are Accepted to a 4-Year University
• 88% First-Generation College Students
• Ranked in the Top 100 High Schools in the Nation, U.S. News & World Report

We serve the students of Houston, Texas, the 4th largest city across the United States. There are over 20 public-school districts and other great public charter school options  within Houston’s city limits serving our increasing population.

THE OPPORTUNITY

YES Prep needs a dynamic Cybersecurity Engineer with a robust set of experiences, to make our mission a reality. As a YES Prep employee, you will achieve jaw-dropping results, create pathways to opportunity for our students, and build transformative relationships.

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To put it simply, you will play an integral role in leading the change to improve the cybersecurity posture, training staff with safe and secure behaviors, and implementing best practices to reduce risk and mitigate threat vectors.

THE ROLE

When you join the YES Prep team, some of the exciting work and responsibilities will include:

• Effectively implementing, managing, and maintaining information security infrastructure used to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the organization's information assets.
• Developing innovative technical and procedural solutions to secure information systems with minimal operational impact.
• Contributing to architectural design and review of new product implementations.

• Providing information security guidance for new projects and offering recommendations to ensure the selected business solutions are implemented using security industry best practices and in support of the organization's information security policies and standards.
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams, including System Administrators, application developers, and Field Service Tech teams, to ensure seamless integration of Cybersecurity solutions.

• Troubleshooting and researching security issues, providing effective solutions.
• Recommending mitigation strategies to reduce identified risks.
• Establishing and enforcing security best practices and controls across teams and customers.
• Supporting security incident response and documentation efforts.
• Assessing system vulnerabilities and threats to determine overall security risk.
• Analyzing software installations and infrastructure changes to minimize downtime during security remediation.
• Mentoring junior team members on security operations processes.
• Advising teams on security features and procedures for their systems and products.
• Conducting regular security reviews of technology, operations, and personnel.
• Participating in annual reviews of policies, procedures, and controls to support security framework assessments.
• Keeping abreast of best practices in cybersecurity
• Identifying and communicating certification/security question trends

• Staying up-to-date about Cyber/IT security and compliance topics

• Analyzing current systems for vulnerabilities, and maintaining up-to-date software/firmware technologies
• Reducing MITRE vulnerabilities and eliminating any known active attacks
• Additional duties as assigned

THE PERSON

We seek staff with a multitude of backgrounds, talents, interests, and ideas. Certain traits consistently shine through our most successful employees: passion for the mission, drive for results, care for students, and resilience. Other traits needed and desired for this role are:

THE MUST HAVES

• High School Diploma
• At least 3 years of Information Security Experience
• At least 3 years of experience in IT systems, LAN/WAN administration, telecommunications, and security protection technologies (e.g., MFA, SSO).
• At least 3 years of IT experience
• Security+ Certification or equivalent at minimum
• Email Security (Spam Filter/Encryption)
• Effective communication and technical writing skills
• Web Content Filtering
• Experience with EntraID, MFA, Cisco, and Microsoft AD infrastructure integration.
• Security Architecture Design
• Risk Assessments and Risk Management
• Technical Security Assessments (Vulnerability/Penetration Testing)
• Malware/Threat Management
• Incident Response
• Information Security Investigations
• Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Management
• Network Security and Packet Analysis
• Endpoint Security and Encryption Enterprise Password Management
• Digital Forensics
• Remote Access Management
• Facilitating and driving cross-functional projects
• Adaptable and flexible; ability to excel in a lean, fast-paced, and dynamic environment
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

THE MUST HAVE BELIEFS 

• Belief in and commitment to the mission and core values of YES Prep Public Schools 
• Desire to disrupt systemic status quos in education 
• Willingness to go above and beyond to disrupt said status quos 
• Passion to develop resiliency through a relentless pursuit of jaw-dropping results 
• Conviction that high expectations + high accountability = high performance and high growth 

THE NICE TO HAVES

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited four-year educational institution or equivalent experience.
• Experience with the K-12 data domain and implementing software solutions in an educational environment.
• 1-3 years’ hands-on experience in implementing security improvements to systems, adding policies, writing controls
• Firewall Management
• SIEM (Security Information and Event Management)
• Data Leakage Prevention (DLP)
• Familiarity with creating and implementing Security Incident and Response governance plans.
• Familiarity aligning to the NIST 800-171 and/or NIST 800-53 frameworks
• Preferred Experience:  Any combination of CISSP, CISA, CISM, CRISC, C|EH, GCIH, GPEN, GSEC, CCNA certifications a plus
• Intrusion Prevention System Management
• Desired experience with providing cloud-based application solutions; Azure experience is a plus.

THE PERKS

• Compensation – This position is an exempt, salaried position; offers commensurate with experience.

• Health and Supplemental Insurance – A $0 monthly medical option or a $24 monthly option that includes $50 YES Prep Paid Health Savings Account contribution, in addition to a variety of supplemental benefits including Dental, Vision, Disability, Life, etc. Employees must work 20+ hours a week to be eligible for a full spectrum of benefits, and 10 hours a week minimum for medical benefits.

• Retirement Plans – Participation in Teacher Retirement System of Texas and an optional 457b Retirement Plan.

• Paid Time Off – Employees working 20+ hours a week receive 15 days of Paid Time Off in addition to the system closures during the Academic Calendar.

• Paid Leave Programming – In the event you need to be out due to medical needs (including maternity and paternity leave), YES Prep offers paid leave, paid out at 100%, based on eligibility and tenure.

• Professional Development - YES Prep values longevity and performance over time. We invest in developing leaders through high-quality programs, effective coaching, and ongoing professional development.

• Award Winning Culture – The strong cultures of our campuses and Home Office are just one of many reasons we were named Houston’s Best Place To Work in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2025. We won the  2012 Broad Prize for Excellence in Urban Education    and were a 2016 finalist as well.

YES Prep is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood.