1. What is a Security Engineer at American Family Insurance?

The Security Engineer role at American Family Insurance is a critical function dedicated to protecting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of enterprise data and systems. In this position, you are not merely a gatekeeper; you are an enabler of business velocity. You will be responsible for designing, developing, and integrating cybersecurity solutions that allow the company to innovate safely.

This role sits at the intersection of security operations, engineering, and risk management. Whether you are focusing on Privileged Access Management (PAM), automating threat response via XSOAR, or leading high-impact incident response efforts, your work directly protects the trust policyholders place in the organization. You will work in a hybrid environment (typically based out of Boston, MA or Madison, WI) and collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to weave security into the fabric of the company’s software and infrastructure.

Expect a culture that values "high velocity." This means American Family Insurance looks for engineers who can introduce technology and process improvements that mitigate risk without stifling operational speed. You will analyze competitive strategies, engineer defensive solutions, and utilize data analysis to drive security program optimization.

2. Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparation for this role requires a shift in mindset from purely technical execution to strategic problem-solving. You must demonstrate that you understand the "why" behind security controls, not just the "how."

Technical Versatility & Automation You will be evaluated on your ability to move beyond manual tasks. Interviewers look for proficiency in scripting (specifically Python) and experience with security orchestration tools like XSOAR. You should be prepared to discuss how you have engineered solutions to automate security needs and reduce operational toil.

Incident Response & Threat Analysis For roles focused on operations and defense, you must demonstrate a solid grasp of the incident lifecycle. You will be assessed on your ability to triage cyber defense incidents, determine scope and urgency, and lead remediation efforts. Expect questions on how you handle pressure during active security events.

Identity and Access Management (IAM/PAM) A significant portion of the engineering focus at American Family Insurance revolves around identity. You should be ready to discuss Directory Services, identity stores, and specifically Privileged Access Management (PAM) frameworks. You need to show how you manage access to enterprise data while maintaining a seamless user experience.

Communication & Stakeholder Management Security at American Family Insurance is customer-driven. You will face questions determining your ability to build relationships with peers and communicate complex risk concepts to non-technical stakeholders. Leadership capabilities are essential, especially for senior or lead positions where you may drive major incidents with executive-level participants.

3. Interview Process Overview

The interview process at American Family Insurance is thorough and structured to assess both your technical depth and your cultural alignment. It typically begins with a recruiter screening to verify your background, location eligibility, and interest in the role. This is followed by a hiring manager screen, which focuses on your specific experience with tools like Python, PAM, or incident response frameworks depending on the specific team's needs.

Successful candidates then move to a series of technical and behavioral panels. You should expect a rigorous assessment of your problem-solving abilities. Unlike some tech companies that focus heavily on abstract algorithmic coding, the technical rounds here are practical. You may be asked to walk through real-world security scenarios, discuss architecture you have designed, or explain how you would respond to a specific threat vector.

The final stages often involve meeting with cross-functional partners or leadership to assess your ability to collaborate in a hybrid, high-velocity environment. The team values transparency and "customer-driven" solutions, so expect inquiries about how you handle conflict and prioritize business requirements alongside security mandates.

This timeline illustrates the typical progression from your initial application to the final offer. Use this to plan your preparation; ensure you have your behavioral stories ready for the early stages and your technical architectural examples polished for the panel rounds. Note that the "Assessment" stage may vary, sometimes consisting of a technical discussion rather than a take-home test.

4. Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

To succeed, you must demonstrate competence across several core domains. The specific weight of each area may vary depending on whether you are interviewing for a general Cybersecurity Engineer, a Senior role, or a Lead position, but the foundation remains consistent.

Incident Response & Forensics

This is critical for Senior and Lead roles. You must show you can manage the full lifecycle of an incident.

• Incident Triage: methodology for determining the scope, urgency, and potential impact of a vulnerability or attack.
• Forensics: familiarity with tools and techniques to analyze what happened after a breach.
• Frameworks: deep knowledge of NIST 800-61, ISO 27035, or SANS methodologies.
• Example scenario: "You detect a lateral movement attempt from a privileged account. Walk us through your containment strategy."

Security Engineering & Automation

This area tests your ability to build rather than just monitor.

• Scripting: proficiency in Python is a recurring requirement. You should be comfortable writing scripts for audit, compliance, or automation tasks.
• Orchestration: experience with XSOAR or similar SOAR platforms to automate incident response workflows.
• System Integration: how you integrate security tools (EDR, SIEM) into the broader infrastructure.
• Example scenario: "How would you automate the revocation of access for a terminated employee across multiple disparate systems?"

Identity and Access Management (IAM)

A major focus for the engineering teams is securing identity.

• PAM Solutions: designing and maintaining Privileged Access Management systems.
• Directory Services: understanding Active Directory, LDAP, and cloud identity stores.
• Access Governance: analyzing access risk gaps and recommending compensating controls.
• Example scenario: "We need to implement a Just-in-Time (JIT) access model for our production servers. How would you design this?"

Risk, Compliance, and Governance

As an insurance company, regulatory compliance is paramount.

• Regulations: familiarity with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and SOX.
• Risk Assessment: ability to translate technical vulnerabilities into business risk.
• Audit Support: experience creating artifacts and documentation for internal controls.

5. Key Responsibilities

As a Security Engineer at American Family Insurance, your day-to-day work is a blend of proactive engineering and reactive operations. You will spend a significant amount of time designing and developing security solutions. This includes researching new technologies, integrating them into the existing stack, and testing cyber products to ensure they meet the company's rigorous standards.

Collaboration is a daily requirement. You will build strong relationships with peers across IT and business functions to ensure security is "baked in" to new initiatives. This often involves process engineering—analyzing how teams work and introducing technology or requirements that mitigate operational risk without slowing them down. For those in the PAM space, you will manage and analyze changing system access needs, ensuring that the principle of least privilege is maintained as the company evolves.

In operational capacities, you will perform cyber defense incident triage. This involves monitoring for threats, analyzing alerts, and determining the urgency of potential incidents. For senior leaders, this extends to directing high-impact incident response efforts and communicating with executives. You will also be expected to drive program optimization, constantly looking for gaps in the current security posture and designing automated solutions to close them.

6. Role Requirements & Qualifications

Candidates are evaluated against a mix of specialized technical skills and professional experience.

• Must-Have Technical Skills:

  • Python Programming: Essential for automation, audit, and compliance scripting.
  • IAM/PAM Experience: Solid understanding of directory services, identity stores, and privileged access management.
  • Incident Response: Proven experience in triage, threat analysis, and understanding the kill chain.
  • Security Architecture: Knowledge of software engineering architectures and system deployments.

• Experience Level:

  • Engineer: Typically 3–5 years of professional experience, with specific hands-on time in IAM/PAM.
  • Senior/Lead: Generally 7–10+ years of progressive cybersecurity experience, with at least 3 years in leadership or major incident response roles.

• Soft Skills:

  • Customer-Driven Mindset: Ability to provide solutions that support the business.
  • Communication: Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical info to executives and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Crisis Management: Exceptional composure during major security incidents.

• Nice-to-Have Skills:

  • Certifications: CISSP, CISM, GCIH, GCFA, or CompTIA Security+.
  • XSOAR Experience: specifically desired for automation roles.
  • Cloud Security: Experience managing security in hybrid cloud environments.

7. Common Interview Questions

The following questions reflect the types of inquiries candidates face at American Family Insurance. They are designed to test your technical depth, your problem-solving logic, and your alignment with the company's collaborative culture.

Incident Response & Scenarios

• "Describe a time you handled a security incident that involved a third-party vendor. How did you coordinate the response?"
• "You receive an alert from the SIEM indicating a potential ransomware infection on a critical server. What are your first three steps?"
• "How do you determine the difference between a false positive and a genuine threat during triage?"
• "Walk me through the NIST incident response lifecycle and how you have applied it in a previous role."

Engineering & Automation (Python/XSOAR)

• "How would you use Python to automate the collection of evidence for a compliance audit?"
• "Describe a security process you automated to reduce manual toil. What tools did you use?"
• "How do you approach integrating a new security tool into an existing legacy architecture?"
• "Explain how you would design a playbook in XSOAR for handling phishing reports."

Identity & Access Management (PAM)

• "What are the key components of a robust Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution?"
• "How do you handle a situation where a business unit claims that security controls are blocking their productivity?"
• "Explain the concept of 'Least Privilege' and how you have implemented it in a hybrid environment."
• "How do you secure identity stores against credential harvesting attacks?"

Behavioral & Culture

• "Tell me about a time you had to convince a stakeholder to prioritize a security fix over a feature release."
• "Describe a time you made a mistake during a deployment or incident. How did you handle it?"
• "How do you stay current with the latest cyber threats and technologies?"

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the hybrid work policy for this role? The role typically requires working a minimum of 10 days per month from one of the primary office locations (Boston, MA or Madison, WI). Candidates generally must reside within a 50-mile radius of the office (or 35 miles for Boston).

Q: Is there a coding test? Yes, you should expect to discuss or demonstrate coding proficiency, specifically in Python. This is usually practical, focusing on automation or scripting tasks relevant to security engineering rather than abstract algorithms.

Q: How technical is the "Lead" role compared to the "Senior" role? The Lead role is highly technical but shifts focus toward crisis management and executive communication. You are expected to be hands-on with tools but also capable of leading tabletop exercises and managing major incidents with high-level visibility.

Q: What industries do successful candidates typically come from? While insurance or financial services background is helpful due to the regulatory environment (PCI-DSS, HIPAA), it is not strictly required. Candidates from enterprise environments who have handled high-volume data and complex infrastructure are often successful.

Q: Does American Family Insurance sponsor visas for this position? Generally, sponsorship is not considered for these positions unless explicitly specified in the job posting. You should verify the specific requirements of the requisition you are applying for.

9. Other General Tips

Understand the "High-Velocity" Culture American Family Insurance emphasizes a "high-velocity culture." Be prepared to explain how you implement security that acts as guardrails rather than roadblocks. Avoid answers that suggest slowing down the business is the only way to be secure.

Know Your Frameworks Whether it is NIST for incident response or specific compliance standards like HIPAA or PCI-DSS, show that you understand the rigorous governance required in the insurance industry. Mentioning how you map technical controls to these frameworks will set you apart.

Highlight Cross-Functional Empathy You will work with IT, legal, and business teams. Demonstrate that you view these teams as partners. Share stories where you educated other departments on security risks rather than just enforcing policies.

10. Summary & Next Steps

The Security Engineer role at American Family Insurance is a dynamic opportunity for professionals who want to combine technical engineering with high-stakes operational defense. By joining this team, you are not just maintaining firewalls; you are building the automated systems and response capabilities that protect millions of policyholders. The blend of Python automation, IAM/PAM architecture, and Incident Response makes this a well-rounded and challenging position.

To prepare effectively, focus on your ability to script solutions, your knowledge of identity management, and your composure during security incidents. Review your Python skills, brush up on NIST frameworks, and prepare clear examples of how you have balanced risk with business speed.

The compensation for these roles varies significantly by seniority and location. A Cybersecurity Engineer can expect a range of $80k - $131k, while a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer ranges from $111k - $189k. The Lead Cybersecurity Engineer role commands the highest bracket, ranging from $128k - $218k. These figures reflect base salary and may be supplemented by annual incentives and comprehensive benefits including pension plans and student loan repayment.

Approach the process with confidence. American Family Insurance is looking for problem solvers who are ready to innovate. Deepen your research on Dataford to gain further insights, and go into your interview ready to show how you can contribute to their secure digital transformation.