Lead Cyber Security Engineer

AC3; Sydney; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

AC3 is seeking a deeply technical Cyber Security Engineering Lead to sit at the frontline of AC3's SOC and lead the engineering capability behind managed security services. This role is hands-on, with potential for formal people leadership through mentoring.

You bring strong hands-on security engineering capability, MSP/MSSP experience, and a proven track record of leading customer implementations and deployments as senior or lead engineer, in a security operations context.

Qualifications

• Extensive hands-on cyber security engineering experience.
• Experience leading security implementation and deployment projects.
• Track record of working with MSP/MSSP environments.
• Ability to mentor engineers and lead technical discussions.

Responsibilities

• Act as senior escalation point for complex engineering issues across the managed security platform estate.
• Design, deploy, configure and enhance security platforms for customers.
• Lead onboarding, migration, upgrade and deployment projects from discovery to handover.
• Troubleshoot security technologies across Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk, Defender, and cloud platforms.
• Produce high-level and low-level designs and runbooks for operations.
• Own technical quality and readiness for transition into managed operations.
• Drive patching, vulnerability management and lifecycle uplift.
• Onboard new security services and coordinate with SOC, analysts and engineers.

Skills

Level 3 cyber security engineering

MSP/MSSP experience

Customer implementation leadership

Technical leadership

Security engineering depth

Tools

Microsoft Sentinel

Splunk

Carbon Black

Zscaler

Rapid7

Microsoft Defender

Azure

AWS

Job description

At AC3, our purpose is simple: make technology real. We help Australian organisations turn complex technology into secure, reliable and practical outcomes across managed services, professional services, cloud, networking and cyber security.

We are practical, customer-focused and grounded in the AC3 Way: Work Wise, Work Humble and Work Honest.

The opportunity

We are looking for a deeply technical Cyber Security Engineering Lead to sit at the frontline of AC3's Cyber Security Operations Centre and lead the engineering capability behind our managed security services.

This is a technical leadership role first. You do not need to have held a formal people-leader title before. You may be an experienced Level 3 engineer or lead engineer who is already the person others turn to for difficult problems, implementation decisions, quality assurance and technical guidance.

AC3 can mentor the right person through the formal people-leadership component.

What cannot be taught quickly is the technical depth: you will need strong hands‑on security engineering capability, prior MSP or MSSP experience, and a track record of leading customer implementation and deployment projects as the senior or lead engineer.

What you will be doing

• Act as the senior Level 3 escalation point for complex engineering issues across AC3's managed security platform estate.
• Design, implement, deploy, configure and enhance security platforms for new and existing customers
• Lead technical delivery across customer onboarding, implementation, migration, upgrade and deployment projects from discovery through to operational handover
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex issues across security technologies such as Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk, Carbon Black, Zscaler, Rapid7, Microsoft Defender, Azure and AWS
• Produce high‑quality technical artefacts including high‑level and low‑level designs, as‑built documentation, configuration records, runbooks, procedures and support handover material.
• Own technical quality across engineering work, including peer review, implementation standards and readiness for transition into managed operations.
• Drive patching, vulnerability management and lifecycle uplift across managed security platforms in line with policy and customer SLAs.
• Lead the onboarding of new security services and work closely with customers, the SOC Manager, analysts, engineers and internal stakeholders to keep delivery moving.
• Create and maintain SOPs and runbooks used by analysts and engineers for operational support and incident response.
• Identify opportunities for automation, platform improvement and stronger repeatable engineering practices across the CSOC.
• Train, coach and technically mentor junior engineers, helping them build troubleshooting, implementation and customer‑facing capability.
• Support work planning, technical prioritisation and team leadership activities, with mentoring available as you grow into any formal people‑management responsibilities.

What you will bring

• Strong Level 3 cyber security engineering experience across enterprise or managed customer environments.
• Previous experience working for an MSP, MSSP, systems integrator or consultancy supporting multiple customers - this is essential.
• Demonstrated experience leading security implementation and deployment projects as the senior or lead engineer, including planning, design, build, testing, customer engagement and handover.
• Hands‑on experience implementing and supporting security products used by a SOC or managed security service.
• Broad technical capability across several technologies such as Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk, Carbon Black, Zscaler, Rapid7, Microsoft Defender, Azure and AWS.
• Strong understanding of systems, infrastructure, SaaS, networks, private cloud, public cloud and the dependencies that underpin modern security environments.
• The ability to investigate difficult technical issues, establish root cause, assess risk and drive practical resolution under pressure.
• Strong knowledge of vulnerability management, security platform patching and operational lifecycle management.
• Experience producing detailed high‑level and low‑level designs and implementation documentation for enterprise environments.
• A customer‑focused communication style and the confidence to lead technical discussions with engineers, project teams and customer stakeholders.
• The ability and willingness to train, coach and raise the technical capability of less experienced engineers.
• Australian citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain an Australian Government security clearance at Baseline level or above. People leadership experience is not the gate

Prior formal people‑management experience is welcome, but it is not essential. We are more interested in a credible technical leader who sets standards, supports others, handles escalations and can be developed into the broader people‑leadership responsibilities of the role.

You should, however, be comfortable giving technical direction, reviewing work, identifying capability gaps and coaching junior team members. This is not an individual‑contributor role with a lead title attached.

Highly regarded

• Recent cyber security operations experience across enterprise, corporate or government customers.
• Experience with security compliance frameworks such as ISO 27001, PCI DSS, the ACSC ISM or SOC 2.
• Automation or scripting capability using Python, PowerShell, Ruby or similar tools.
• Vendor certifications across Microsoft/Azure, Splunk, Rapid7, Palo Alto, Zscaler, AWS, Qualys, Tenable, F5 or related security platforms.
• Broader security certifications such as CISSP, OSCE or equivalent.
• Experience supporting presales, technical discovery, estimates, solution design or Statements of Work.

Why this role is worth a look

• The role remains genuinely hands‑on: you will lead engineering delivery, not just sit in meetings and forward escalations.
• You will shape the technical standards, deployment quality and operational maturity of AC3's managed security platforms.
• You can move into formal people leadership without needing to pretend you already know every part of it - AC3 will mentor the right technical leader.
• You will work across multiple customers, environments and technologies, with meaningful variety and technically complex problems.

The AC3 Way

We would love for you to experience the AC3 Way:

Work Wise

as one AC3, we put our combined skills to work to ensure we do more good, for much less. All in service of our customers and each other.

Work Humble

as a team, we bring our authentic selves to the world of tech. It is our down‑to‑earth, humble nature that makes us unique and easy to work with.

Work Honest

we are here to do an honest day's work, individually and as a team. We are constantly looking for opportunities to take the initiative and implement practical solutions.

Ready to make technology real?

Australian citizenship, Sydney location, prior MSP/MSSP experience and eligibility to obtain an Australian Government security clearance at Baseline level or above are mandatory for this position.