WAF & Application Security SME

Role Title: WAF & Application Security SME

Duration: contract to run until 15/09/2026

Location: Birmingham , Hybrid 3 days in the office is mandatory

Rate: up to £496.80 p/d Umbrella inside IR35

Role purpose / summary

This role will play a critical role in enhancing our Web Application Firewall (WAF) across multiple solutions and applications and will be pivotal in crafting, testing, and implementing advanced WAF uplifts. This role involves a strong focus on WAF Efficacy and security posture uplift by crafting efficacy testing custom rules and configurations; additionally, the role will cover WAF tuning via detailed log analysis, false positive detection and mitigation, and making tuning and configuration recommendations. The ideal candidate will have experience in SOC or CSIRT and AppSec or Ethical Hacking for in-depth log analysis and have previously worked with at least three major WAF vendors such as Akamai, F5, AWS, GCP, etc. The successful candidate will help defend the organization and its customers from web-based attacks that could cause substantial harm to the company's operations, reputation, and customers and monitor and review tuning request, proactively assist with identifying false positives and provide expert recommendations and stay updated with the latest web security threats and trends to ensure optimal protection and performance.

Candidate Profile Summary:

The primary role is to tune WAF accurately and safely – avoiding outage and bypass. We are not looking for Engineers that only list WAF as a past experience We are looking for people with: SOC / Threat / Forensics or CSIRT backgrounds – very experienced with analysing security logs to quickly ascertain TP/FP conviction and the techniques to except Ideally some AppSec / DevSecOps or Ethical Hacking experience – with a good understanding of Web Application attacks and security; they must be familiar with the OWASP Top 10 If they have Security Engineering skills too, this a bonus

Key Skills/ requirements

• Identification and crafting of complex custom WAF rules & features to mitigate MVP and security posture gaps.
• Crafting efficacy testing for baseline & custom rules and features and integrating testing in the automation pipelines.
• Providing SME support for other security testing such as WAF PoCs, new features and solutions – with a potential cost saving if we use in-house resource instead of 3rd party vendors.
• Providing WAF focused SME support and advice on Web & API based attack methodologies, evasions and mitigation techniques.
• Providing DevSecOps SME & pipeline build support for the automation works
• Monitor and review all tuning requests.
• Conduct detailed log analysis to identify false positives and optimize WAF rules for improved accuracy and performance.
• Create and maintain comprehensive documentation for WAF tuning, tuning procedures, policies, and configurations.
• Develop, test, and recommend WAF policies and rules tailored to specific applications and environments.
• Proactively assist with identifying false positives.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of WAF solutions into existing security infrastructure.
• Provide recommendations for WAF configuration based on best practices and security requirements.
• Perform regular assessments and audits of WAF configurations to ensure optimal security posture and compliance with industry standards.
• Stay updated with the latest web security threats, vulnerabilities, and trends to continually enhance WAF effectiveness.

Key Accountabilities:

• Help defend the organization and its customers from web-based attacks that could cause substantial harm to the company's operations, reputation, and customers.
• Conduct detailed analyses and technical evaluations of various Web Application Firewall (WAF) solution rulesets and functionalities to confirm adherence to agreed baselines and to maximize detection of web, API, and other traffic-based security threats.
• Create custom rules and features where needed to augment WAF solutions to be able to meet the agree baseline.
• Identify and mitigate technical circumventions and evasions of WAF solutions.
• Develop and implement testing packages to assess the efficacy of various initiatives, including WAF Proofs of Concept, managed and custom rules, new features, and solutions.
• Facilitate the automation of efficacy testing procedures and their integration into Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines.
• Contribute to DevSecOps and pipeline construction projects.
• When needed, reverse-engineer attackers’ exploits and payloads to devise mitigation rules.
• Ensuring timely and accurate review and action on all WAF tuning requests.
• Conducting thorough log analyses to effectively identify and mitigate false positives, ensuring optimized WAF rules.
• Maintaining comprehensive and up-to-date documentation for all WAF tuning procedures, policies, and configurations.
• Developing and recommending tailored WAF policies and rules for various applications and environments.
• Proactively identifying and addressing false positives to enhance overall WAF accuracy.
• Collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams to integrate WAF solutions seamlessly into existing security infrastructure.
• Providing expert recommendations for WAF configurations based on best practices and current security requirements.
• Performing regular assessments and audits of WAF configurations to maintain optimal security posture and compliance with industry standards.
• Staying informed about the latest web security threats, vulnerabilities, and trends to ensure continuous enhancement of WAF effectiveness.

Ideal Candidate Profile:

• Extensive experience in WAF management, tuning, and engineering, with a strong understanding of web application security principles.
• Proven track record of proactively identifying and mitigating false positives to optimize WAF performance.
• Background in SOC or CSIRT and AppSec or Ethical Hacking, demonstrating hands-on experience for the key responsibilities.
• Proficiency in log analysis tools and techniques, with the ability to identify patterns and anomalies in web traffic.
• Experience with tools such as Splunk, Wireshark, or custom scripts to process and analyze logs.
• Experience with at least three major WAF solutions (e.g., Akamai, F5, AWS, GCP) and an understanding of their unique configurations and capabilities.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a keen attention to detail.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of articulating complex security concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to develop, test, and recommend WAF policies and rules tailored to specific applications and environments.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams to integrate WAF solutions into existing security infrastructure.
• Competence in maintaining comprehensive documentation for WAF tuning procedures, policies, and configurations.
• Extensive experience in configuring WAF solutions to align with best practices and security requirements.
• A proactive, detail-oriented individual who thrives in a dynamic, fast-paced environment and stays updated with the latest web security threats and trends.

All profiles will be reviewed against the required skills and experience. Due to the high number of applications we will only be able to respond to successful applicants in the first instance. We thank you for your interest and the time taken to apply!