Cybersecurity Specialist

Dubai Careers - A Smart Dubai Initiative; Dubai Emirate; On-site; AED 279,000 - 670,000; Full time

Job summary

Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University is seeking a hands-on Cybersecurity Specialist to conduct penetration testing, security monitoring, and vulnerability management across Azure, AWS, and on-premises systems.

You'll work with AD/Entra ID, SIEM platforms, and enterprise infrastructure to strengthen security controls, investigate incidents, and drive governance, risk, and compliance activities.

Qualifications

• Hands-on cybersecurity experience in enterprise environments.
• Experience with penetration testing and vulnerability assessment.
• Strong understanding of web apps, APIs, networks, OS, and enterprise security.

Responsibilities

• Conduct pen testing and security assessments of web apps, APIs, networks, and servers.
• Identify vulnerabilities, assess risk, and provide remediation recommendations.
• Monitor security events via SIEM and security monitoring platforms.
• Support incident response and post-incident improvements.
• Review and strengthen Azure and AWS security configurations.

Skills

Penetration testing

SIEM concepts

Cloud security

Active Directory security

Networking security

Education

Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity/CS/IT

Tools

Burp Suite

Nmap

Metasploit

Wazuh

Microsoft Sentinel

Splunk

Job description

Job Description

Job Purpose

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.

Qualifications

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.
• Familiarity with development technologies such as Python, PHP, JavaScript, .NET, Java, Flask, Django, Node.js, or similar frameworks.
• 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.

Key Competencies

• 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.

Job Category

Information Security

Advertiser

Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University

Required Nationality

UAE Only

Monthly Salary

Unspecified

Schedule-Time

Full time

Job Posting

08/09/2026

Unposting Date

08/12/2026