Cyber Security Specialist

Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University; Dubai; On-site; AED 180,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University in Dubai seeks a hands-on Cybersecurity Specialist with expertise in penetration testing, security monitoring, vulnerability management, and governance. The role involves enterprise infra, SIEM platforms, cloud environments, and AD.

You will test web apps, APIs, networks, servers; craft remediation guidance; develop SIEM rules; and support incident response and security reviews across Azure and AWS. UAE-higher ed experience is a plus.

Qualifications

• Hands-on security controls implementation in enterprise environments.
• Penetration testing and vulnerability assessment experience.
• Strong security understanding of apps, APIs, networks, and OS.

Responsibilities

• Conduct penetration testing and security assessments of web apps, APIs, networks, servers, and AD environments.
• Identify vulnerabilities, assess risk, and provide remediation recommendations.
• Perform manual pentests including OWASP Top 10 risks.
• Monitor security events via SIEM and security monitoring platforms.
• Support incident response, containment, remediation, and post-incident improvement.
• Develop and tune SIEM alerts, rules, dashboards, and use cases.
• Coordinate vulnerability remediation with infra and development teams.
• Review security of Azure and AWS environments and implement controls.
• Strengthen AD and Entra ID security, including privileged access and GPO.
• Participate in security reviews for new apps and projects.
• Support governance, risk assessments, policies, and audits.

Skills

Penetration testing

Vulnerability assessment

SIEM monitoring

Cloud security

Azure/AWS security

Active Directory security

OWASP knowledge

Burp Suite/Nmap/Metasploit

Incident response

Identity security

Education

Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, IT, or related field

OSCP/OSWE/OSEP (preferred)

Cloud security certifications (beneficial)

Tools

Burp Suite

Nmap

Metasploit

Wazuh/Splunk/Microsoft Sentinel

Job description

We are seeking a hands-on Cybersecurity Specialist with strong experience in penetration testing, security monitoring, vulnerability management, and cybersecurity governance. The ideal candidate should have a strong security background while also being comfortable working with enterprise infrastructure, SIEM platforms, cloud environments, servers, Active Directory, and web applications.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct penetration testing and security assessments of web applications, APIs, networks, servers, Active Directory environments, and other enterprise systems.
• Identify vulnerabilities, assess their risk and exploitability, and provide practical remediation recommendations.
• Perform manual penetration testing, including assessments against OWASP Top 10 and OWASP API Security Top 10 risks.
• Monitor and investigate security events and alerts through SIEM and security monitoring platforms.
• Support security incident investigation, response, containment, remediation, and post-incident improvement activities.
• Develop and tune SIEM alerts, detection rules, dashboards, and monitoring use cases.
• Support vulnerability management and coordinate remediation activities with infrastructure and development teams.
• Review the security of Microsoft Azure and AWS environments.
• Review Microsoft Azure and AWS environments and support the implementation of appropriate identity, network, logging, workload, and configuration security controls.
• Review and strengthen Microsoft Active Directory and Entra ID security, including privileged access, service accounts, authentication controls, Group Policy, and identity-related risks.
• Support the implementation and operation of protective technologies such as endpoint security, web application firewalls, SIEM, vulnerability management, and identity security controls.
• Participate in security reviews of new applications, systems, infrastructure, and technology projects.
• Support cybersecurity governance, risk assessments, policies, standards, compliance activities, and security audits.
• Work closely with infrastructure, software development, networking, and other IT teams to improve the organization's overall security posture.

Required / Preferred Experience

• Hands-on cybersecurity experience involving the implementation, administration, or improvement of technical security controls in enterprise environments.
• Professional hands-on experience in penetration testing and vulnerability assessment.
• Strong understanding of web application, API, network, operating system, and enterprise security.
• Experience with penetration testing tools such as Burp Suite, Nmap, Metasploit, or equivalent tools.
• Experience working with SIEM and security monitoring platforms. Wazuh, Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk, or similar platforms.
• Experience investigating cybersecurity alerts and security incidents.
• Experience working with Microsoft Azure and/or AWS, including an understanding of cloud identity, network, workload, and logging security.
• Strong understanding of Windows, Linux, TCP/IP, networking, authentication, and enterprise infrastructure.
• Good understanding of cybersecurity governance, risk management, policies, standards, and compliance requirements.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Active Directory and identity security concepts, including authentication, privileged accounts, Group Policy, Kerberos, NTLM, LDAP, and service accounts.
• Previous cybersecurity experience within a UAE government, semi-government, higher education, or regulated organization is highly desirable.

Strong Advantages

• Web development experience, particularly an understanding of how modern web applications, APIs, databases, authentication, sessions, and backend services operate.
• Server administration experience across Windows and/or Linux environments, including web servers, services, permissions, hardening, logging, and troubleshooting.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Active Directory, including users and groups, Group Policy, Kerberos, NTLM, LDAP, privileged accounts, service accounts, and common Active Directory security risks.
• Active Directory penetration testing or security assessment experience.
• Experience with Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management, Defender, Sentinel, and Intune.
• Cloud security assessment and cloud configuration review experience.
• Strong web application and API penetration testing experience.
• Scripting or automation experience using PowerShell, Python, Bash, or similar technologies.

Qualifications & Certifications

• Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• OSCP/OSWE/OSEP is strongly preferred.
• Hack The Box certifications such as CPTS/CWES/CBBH/CDSA/CWEE/CAPE/COAE are considered a strong advantage.
• Additional certifications in cloud security, Microsoft security, incident response, penetration testing, infrastructure security, or cybersecurity governance are beneficial.
• Strong technical and analytical problem-solving skills.
• Ability to think from both an attacker and defender perspective.
• Strong understanding of how applications, servers, networks, identities, and security controls interact.
• Ability to investigate technical issues independently.
• Clear technical documentation and reporting skills.
• Ability to communicate cybersecurity risks to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong professional ethics, confidentiality, and attention to detail.