Kirkland, Washington, US (On-site)1 open job
Public university in Bellingham, Washington, offering 200+ undergraduate and 40+ graduate programs across seven colleges.
Western Washington University is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, and the third largest public university in the state. It runs on a straightforward mandate: rigorous academics, hands-on learning, and community engagement in service of the people of Washington. For security and IT practitioners, that translates to the environment most higher-ed security work actually happens in - a large, distributed campus network serving students, faculty, staff, and neighbors, with the identity sprawl, legacy systems, and open-research posture that come with it.
The academic footprint is wide: more than 200 undergraduate programs and over 40 graduate programs spread across seven colleges. That scale defines the threat model as much as any external actor does. The attack surface is broad and heterogeneous by design - classrooms, labs, administrative systems, and research environments that can't be locked down the way a bank's can. U.S. News & World Report ranks it No. 1 for best value among regional universities in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, which is a signal about cost discipline as much as quality.
The stated culture is hands-on and collaborative, with commitments to inclusion, sustainability, and academic excellence, and a campus situated on the ancestral homelands of the Coast Salish Peoples. Operationally, the university frames its work around discovery, innovation, and regional and global impact. More detail on specific security domains, tooling, and team structure is not published on the university's public materials; candidates should expect to ask directly.
