Associate Director DDIT ISC Detection & Response

Novartis; Sabadell; Hybrid; EUR 58,000 - 108,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible and hybrid working options

14 weeks paid parental leave

Insurance plans

Retirement plans

Wellbeing resources

Global recognition programs

Job summary

Novartis in Barcelona, Spain, seeks an Associate Director for the Cyber Security Operations Center to lead strategic threat detection, incident response, and advanced analytics efforts.

The role blends hands-on expertise with leadership, driving AI-enabled automation, security monitoring improvements, and cross-functional collaboration with global stakeholders to strengthen cyber resilience across the enterprise.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of cybersecurity experience, including 5+ years in Security Operations, Threat Detection, Incident Response, and Threat Hunting.

Responsibilities

• Shape and influence global TDR strategy, driving operational excellence, innovation, and advanced cyber defense capabilities.
• Drive AI adoption, intelligent automation, and emerging technologies to transform detection and response capabilities.
• Lead strategic initiatives in collaboration with global cybersecurity leadership, engineering teams, and key stakeholders.
• Oversee and enhance security monitoring, threat detection, and triage capabilities across the Novartis IT ecosystem.
• Leverage SIEM, advanced analytics, and threat intelligence to identify sophisticated threats and improve detection coverage.
• Drive improvements in detection engineering, security controls, and capabilities against evolving TTPs.
• Serve as a senior escalation point for complex security incidents involving sophisticated threat actors.
• Lead critical investigations and response activities, including forensic analysis, containment, stakeholder communication, and remediation.
• Translate incident findings into actionable recommendations to strengthen organizational cyber resilience.
• Drive continuous improvement of TDR processes, investigation methodologies, and response playbooks.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to advance security orchestration, automation, and technology integration.
• Provide technical mentorship, promote investigation quality, and influence best practices across global TDR teams.

Skills

Cybersecurity

Security Operations

Threat Detection

Incident Response

Threat Hunting

Mentoring

MITRE ATT&CK

AI & Automation

Scripting (KQL SPL Python)

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Microsoft Sentinel

Microsoft Defender

Splunk

EDR/XDR

Job description

Salary Range:

€57,900.00 - €107,500.00

Job Description Summary

The Detection and Response Associate Director will play a strategic role within the Novartis Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC), a globally integrated security organization dedicated to protecting Novartis against sophisticated and evolving cyber threats.

This position combines deep technical expertise, strategic influence, and AI-driven innovation to advance global threat detection, investigation, and incident response capabilities. The role will drive operational excellence, champion emerging technologies and intelligent automation, and contribute to the continuous evolution of cyber defense at Novartis.

Working closely with global cybersecurity leadership, engineering teams, and key business stakeholders, the Associate Director will lead strategic initiatives, strengthen cyber resilience, and drive meaningful improvements across security operations. The position is designed for an experienced cybersecurity professional passionate about solving complex challenges, advancing innovation, and delivering measurable security impact.

Job Description

#LI-Hybrid

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Key Responsibilities:

• Shape and influence global TDR strategy, driving operational excellence, innovation, and advanced cyber defense capabilities. Serve as a senior technical authority, providing strategic guidance on complex security challenges and critical incident response activities.
• Drive AI adoption, intelligent automation, and emerging technologies to transform detection and response capabilities.
• Lead strategic initiatives in collaboration with global cybersecurity leadership, engineering teams, and key stakeholders.
• Oversee and enhance security monitoring, threat detection, and triage capabilities across the Novartis IT ecosystem. Leverage SIEM, advanced analytics, and threat intelligence to identify sophisticated threats and improve detection coverage.
• Drive improvements in detection engineering, security controls, and capabilities against evolving TTPs.
• Serve as a senior escalation point for complex security incidents involving sophisticated threat actors.
• Lead critical investigations and response activities, including forensic analysis, containment, stakeholder communication, and remediation.
• Translate incident findings into actionable recommendations to strengthen organizational cyber resilience.
• Drive continuous improvement of TDR processes, investigation methodologies, and response playbooks. Collaborate with engineering teams to advance security orchestration, automation, and technology integration.
• Provide technical mentorship, promote investigation quality, and influence best practices across global TDR teams.

Essential Requirement:

• 8+ years of cybersecurity experience, including 5+ years in Security Operations, Threat Detection, Incident Response, and Threat Hunting.
• Proven experience leading complex security investigations and driving cross-functional initiatives in large enterprise environments.
• Strong track record of enhancing detection capabilities, incident response processes, operational efficiency, and investigation quality.
• Experience mentoring security analysts and influencing stakeholders across teams without direct people management responsibility.
• Hands-on expertise with SIEM, EDR/XDR, Detection Engineering, Security Telemetry, and Incident Response tools such as Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Defender, and Splunk.
• Solid knowledge of cloud security investigations across Azure and/or AWS, including identity, endpoint, and cloud telemetry analysis.
• Skilled in leveraging MITRE ATT&CK, threat intelligence, and attacker behavior analysis to improve detection and response strategies.
• Proficiency in security automation, SOAR, KQL/SPL/Python scripting, AI-enabled SOC use cases, with a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience).

Desirable Requirement:

Certifications such as CISSP, GCIH, GCFA, or cloud security certifications preferred.

Benefits & Rewards

At Novartis, we're committed to reimagining medicine together - and rewarding the people who make it happen.

Expected Annual Base Salary Range for role: 57,900.00 - 107,500.00 EUR

The base salary offered is determined based on gender-neutral objectives, such as relevant skills, competencies and experience in accordance with the Novartis pay setting policy and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically.

In addition to your base salary, you may be eligible for a performance-based bonus depending on certain performance parameters.

The rewards of being part of our team go far beyond base pay and incentives. We also offer a variety of competitive benefits in kind to help you thrive personally and professionally, such as insurance plans, retirement plans, wellbeing resources and global recognition programs. In addition, we provide flexible and hybrid working options, where possible, and minimum 14 weeks paid parental leave.

Pay equity is a fundamental principle of our emp