Cisco Identity Services Engineer (ISE) Lead

Design, create, test, implement, document, and sustain ISE authentication and authorization policies, authorization profiles, identity source sequences, endpoint groups, profiling rules, posture policies, and exception workflows.

• Implement enterprise access-control methods Engineer and support 802.1X, EAP-TLS, MAB, RADIUS, TACACS+, guest access, contractor access, certificate-based authentication, and network-device administration.

• Develop C2C enforcement and remediation workflows Implement policy actions using dynamic VLAN assignment, downloadable ACLs, Security Group Tags, Change of Authorization, reauthentication, restricted-access controls, quarantine actions, and endpoint-remediation workflows.

• Lead ISE integrations Integrate and sustain ISE connections with Active Directory, PKI and certificate authorities, endpoint-management tools, endpoint-security platforms, vulnerability-management tools, SIEMs, pxGrid clients, switches, VPN infrastructure, and other approved security services.

• Provide Tier 3 troubleshooting and incident support Resolve complex authentication, authorization, certificate, profiling, posture, endpoint, CoA, RADIUS, TACACS+, and network-device issues. Analyze ISE Live Logs, session traces, alarms, packet captures, switch logs, support bundles, and endpoint data to determine root cause and corrective actions.

• Maintain ISE platform health and resiliency Administer and troubleshoot the distributed ISE deployment, including PAN, secondary Administration node, PSNs, MnT, pxGrid, node groups, replication, backups, restores, certificates, performance, capacity, and disaster-recovery procedures.

• Plan and execute lifecycle activities Support ISE upgrades, patches, certificate renewals, policy migrations, technology refresh, node recovery, backup validation, and approved maintenance activities. Develop implementation, test, validation, rollback, and post-change review plans.

• Establish technical standards and change controls Develop and maintain policy naming standards, configuration baselines, test procedures, implementation checklists, rollback procedures, SOPs, and knowledge articles. Review proposed policy changes for operational impact, dependencies, and access risk.

• Lead C2C onboarding and operational improvement Support pilot efforts, site onboarding, phased rollout, transition to operations, recurring-incident reduction, and continuous improvement of C2C policy and service delivery.

• Provide technical leadership and escalation management Mentor teammates; provide technical guidance to engineering and operations teams; coordinate Cisco TAC cases; and produce complete escalation packages, root-cause analyses, and after-action reports.

• Active TS/SCI clearance with ability to obtain CI Polygraph prior to start
• Current DoW 8140/8570-aligned IAT Level II certification, such as CompTIA Security+, or ability to obtain prior to start.
• Current Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification.
• Current Cisco Certified Specialist - Security Identity Management Implementation credential.
• 5+ years of hands-on Cisco ISE engineering or administration experience in an enterprise or mission environment.
• Demonstrated experience designing, creating, testing, and sustaining Cisco ISE authentication and authorization policies.
• Demonstrated experience with 802.1X, EAP-TLS, MAB, RADIUS, TACACS+, CoA, dynamic VLAN assignment, dACLs, SGTs, and enterprise network-access-control concepts.
• Demonstrated experience integrating Cisco ISE with Active Directory, PKI/certificate services, switches, and endpoint-management or endpoint-security platforms.
• Experience troubleshooting complex wired access-control issues across Cisco ISE, switches, endpoints, identity services, and certificate infrastructure.
• Experience with Cisco ISE distributed deployments, including PAN, secondary Administration node, PSN, Monitoring, pxGrid, node registration, replication, backup/restore, and operational health monitoring.
• Familiarity with ticketing systems, change-management processes, incident management, problem management, and customer-facing operational support.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with network, security, endpoint, identity, and service-management teams.

Desired:

• Cisco Certified Network Professional Security (CCNP Security) or current equivalent Cisco security professional certification.
• Cisco certified Network Professional Enterprise (CCNP Enterprise) certification.
• Cisco Implementing and Configuring Cisco Identity Services Engine (SISE) training or equivalent demonstrated ISE engineering experience.
• Cisco DoD Comply-to-Connect (C2C) training or demonstrated experience implementing C2C-aligned ISE capabilities.
• CompTIA Network+, CySA+, CASP+, or other relevant network/security certifications.
• Experience with Cisco Catalyst Center, Cisco SD-Access, TrustSec, pxGrid, Cisco Secure Client, Cisco Secure Firewall, and/or network segmentation technologies.
• Experience with scripting and automation using Python, REST APIs, Ansible, PowerShell, or similar tools.
• Experience supporting large-scale DoW, federal, intelligence-community, or other regulated enterprise environments.

Minimum Education & Experience (One of the following):

• High School/GED + 9 Yrs,
• Associates + 7 Yrs
• Bachelors +5 Yrs
• Masters + 3 Yrs
• PhD +1 Yrs

The Bison Group offers benefit options including medical, dental, vision, life, disability insurance, and accrued PTO including vacation, sick leave and holidays.

The listed pay range serves as a general guideline rather than a guaranteed salary. Final compensation is determined by a variety of factors including, but not limited to, role-specific responsibilities; candidate qualifications such as education, skills, and mission-aligned experience; market data, business considerations, internal equity, and any applicable legal or bargaining agreements (if any).