Splunk/SIEM Engineer (5522) (TS/SCI) (Ft. Meade, MD)

• SIEM Platform Migration (Splunk to Elastic)
• Lead the end-to-end migration of the enterprise Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) capability from Splunk to the Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana), including planning, stakeholder coordination, execution, and post-migration validation to ensure zero degradation in security monitoring and detection coverage.
• Develop and manage the migration roadmap and program schedule, defining phased cutover milestones, resource requirements, and risk mitigation strategies while ensuring parallel operation of both platforms during transition to maintain continuous threat detection and incident response readiness.
• Splunk Implementation and Maintenance:
• Set up and configure Splunk instances, including forwarders, indexers, and search heads.
• Onboard new data sources into Splunk while ensuring proper parsing, field extraction, and indexing.
• Manage Splunk licenses, user access controls, and configurations to maintain stability and security.
• Data Analysis and Visualization:
• Build and optimize dashboards, alerts, and reports for security monitoring, IT operations, and business use cases.
• Develop and enhance Splunk Search Processing Language (SPL) queries to facilitate advanced analytics.
• Collaborate with teams to ensure that data sources meet the requirements for analysis and visualization.
• Troubleshooting and Performance Tuning:
• Monitor the health of the Splunk system, identify issues, and implement solutions to maintain high availability and performance.
• Optimize queries, alerts, and settings to lower resource use and improve efficiency.
• Resolve data ingestion and indexing issues.
• Service Level Agreement (SLA) Management and Monitoring: *
• Maintain and monitor the Service Level Agreement (SLA) of the Splunk system, ensuring that the system meets the required uptime, performance, and data ingestion targets.
• Monitor the ingest of data sources, particularly high-value or high-impact systems, and alert stakeholders when these systems stop sending events or experience disruptions.
• Develop and implement monitoring dashboards and alerts to quickly identify and respond to SLA breaches or data ingest issues.
• Disaster Recovery and High Availability:
• Design and implement disaster recovery and high availability solutions for the Splunk system, ensuring minimal downtime and data loss in the event of a disaster or system failure.
• Develop and maintain disaster recovery plans, including backup and restore procedures, to ensure business continuity.
• Configure and manage Splunk clustering, replication, and indexing to ensure high availability and redundancy.
• Compliance and Security:
• Maintain RMF (Risk Management Framework) ATO (Authority to Operate) compliance for the Splunk system, ensuring that all security controls and configurations are in place and up-to-date.
• Ensure STIG (Security Technical Implementation Guide) compliance for the Splunk system, including configuration and vulnerability management.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date documentation, including:
• Data flow diagrams to illustrate data ingestion and processing.
• Architecture diagrams to depict the Splunk system architecture.
• System inventories to track hardware and software components.
• Collaborate with the security team to ensure that the Splunk system meets all relevant security requirements and standards.
• SIEM Management:
• Manage the onboarding process for new systems and log types, including:
• Maintaining onboarding documents for each system/log type.
• Developing and maintaining a detailed list of event codes per operating system and application type.
• Ensure that all data sources are properly configured and sending events to the Splunk system.
• Collaborate with analysts and architects to develop and implement use cases for security monitoring and incident response.
• Collaboration and Support:
• Collaborate with architects and analysts to create and implement solutions that align with the organization’s objectives.
• Provide technical support and assist end users with Splunk-related issues, ensuring timely resolution and minimal downtime.
• Documentation and Continuous Improvement:
• Document the configurations, workflows, and troubleshooting procedures to enhance team knowledge sharing.
• Research and suggest enhancements to Splunk infrastructure and analytics capabilities.

• Active Top Secret (TS) security clearance with eligibility for SCI and NATO read-on before starting work (and willingness for SAP and CI Poly).
• Certifications:
• Splunk Enterprise Certified Architect
• Security+ (or above)
• Education
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a similar field OR Minimum of 5 years of experience working with Splunk, including installation, configuration, and management.
• Technical Skills
• 2-3 years of experience an Elastic SIEM environment
• Proficiency in managing Splunk components including forwarders, indexers, and search heads.
• Strong understanding of SPL and the capacity to create custom dashboards and reports.
• Experience in data parsing, field extraction, and indexing.

Desired Skills/Experience

• Experience transitioning a SIEM environment from Splunk to Elastic
• Experience supporting Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) or IT Service Intelligence (ITSI).
• Familiarity with scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash) for automation.
• Knowledge of security operations, including SIEM best practices.

The SMX salary determination process takes into account a number of factors, including but not limited to, geographic location, Federal Government contract labor categories, relevant prior work experience, specific skills, education and certifications. At SMX, one of our Core Values is to Invest in Our People so we offer a competitive mix of compensation, learning & development opportunities, and benefits. Some key components of our robust benefits include health insurance, paid leave, and retirement.

The proposed salary for this position is:

$160,000-$190,000 USD

At SMX®, we are a team of technical and domain experts dedicated to enabling your mission. From priority national security initiatives for the DoD to highly assured and compliant solutions for healthcare, we understand that digital transformation is key to your future success.

We share your vision for the future and strive to accelerate your impact on the world. We bring both cutting edge technology and an expansive view of what’s possible to every engagement. Our delivery model and unique approaches harness our deep technical and domain knowledge, providing forward-looking insights and practical solutions to power secure mission acceleration.

SMX is an Equal Opportunity employer including disabilities and veterans.

Selected applicant may be subject to a background investigation and/or education verification.

SMX does not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization or immigration related support for this position (i.e. H1B, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, F-1 CPT, J-1, TN, E-2, E-3, L-1 and O-1, or any EADs or other forms of work authorization that require immigration support from an employer).