Cyber Security Junior Analyst - Detect & Respond - Shift

Nationwide; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading mutual financial institution in the UK seeks a Cyber Security Analyst to handle security alerts and contribute to the incident response team. This role involves working in a 3-on, 3-off shift pattern and includes opportunities for developing security strategies within a hybrid working environment. Candidates should have experience in Cyber Security or IT, strong analytical skills, and the ability to collaborate effectively with technical and non-technical teams. The role offers comprehensive benefits including medical insurance and flexible work arrangements.

Benefits

25 days holiday

Private medical insurance

Competitive pension

Annual performance-related bonus

Training and development opportunities

Salary sacrifice scheme benefits

Life assurance

Health and wellness options

Paid volunteering days

Qualifications

• Experience working within Cyber Security or IT roles.
• Demonstrable knowledge of IT concepts and Cyber Security tooling.
• Ability to learn new technologies quickly.

Responsibilities

• Handle cyber security alerts from triage through to closure.
• Support Incident Response activities to identify and mitigate threats.
• Drive improvements in ESOC Monitoring processes.

Skills

Cyber Security experience

Analytical problem-solving

Knowledge of Networking

Knowledge of Cloud Computing

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Job description

Job Description

This role sits within the Detect & Respond sub-team of the GSOC under the Cyber Security tower in Security & Resilience. Working with the team you will be analysing and responding to security events as they surface, making initial judgements as to possible severity, seeking support and guidance where needed and escalating or developing mitigation recommendations to help defend our systems and data. Your role will often require close collaboration with other parts of the business to help identify, enable and drive the right investigation steps and response actions. GSOC defends the entire Nationwide and Virgin Money estates which requires engagement and communication with both technical and non-technical teams across the business. You'll help mature our internal processes, developing or defining appropriate detection, response and containment capabilities as well as contributing to the GSOC Strategy. You will help shape our future technology direction, suggesting and assisting with innovative ways to combat contemporary cyber threats so we remain fit to find and confront malicious activity. At Nationwide we offer hybrid working wherever possible. More rewarding relationships are supported through our hybrid approach, bringing colleagues together across our UK wide estate, whilst also supporting generous access to home working. We value our time in the office to solve problems, to learn, and to feel connected.

For this job you'll be located at our nearest regional hub. There will be a need to regularly connect with colleagues for collaboration events in one of our office sites. This is anticipated to be once a quarter in Swindon. Working in a 3-on, 3-off alternating day/night shift pattern, you'll be responsible for ensuring cyber security alerts are investigated in line with playbooks throughout the cyber incident lifecycle. If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works. If we receive a high volume of relevant applications, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so please apply as soon as you can.

Responsibilities

You'll be handling cyber security alerts from triage through to closure, making and evidencing high quality decisions and escalating where appropriate.

There will be opportunities to play a supporting role in Incident Response activities to enable the prompt identification, investigation and mitigation of threats, acting across various roles and responsibilities to achieve cyber risk reduction in cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments.

You'll be expected to identify potential service improvements to enable ESOC Monitoring to operate more effectively and efficiently, providing feedback and taking ownership to deliver improvement activities where appropriate and supporting BAU operational demands. This will include process/playbook development, use case review and the collection and production of Management Information.

This role will require you to work closely with other teams across S&R and COO to drive positive security outcomes.

About you

As a minimum you'll have:

• Experience of working within a Cyber Security (e.g., SOC, Cyber Incident Response, Penetration Testing) or IT (e.g., Service Disk, Sysadmin) role
• A problem-solving mindset with the ability to use structured and analytical approaches
• Demonstrable knowledge of basic IT concepts including but not limited to Networking, Hardware, Operating Systems & Cloud Computing
• Working knowledge of core Cyber Security concepts and tooling and the ability to apply this understanding to investigations
• The ability to build good working relationships with both technical and business stakeholders, gaining their respect and trust based on your knowledge and professionalism
• The desire and understanding to quickly learn new technologies
• The ability to accurately communicate findings and recommendations through written and verbal mediums

Customer First Behaviours

Our customer first behaviours put customers and members at the heart of how we work together. They are the set of behaviours that every colleague needs to display, in every role:

• Feel what customers feel - We step into our customers' shoes, using their feedback and insights to empathise with them and to understand their needs, so that every decision we make starts and finishes with our customers in mind
• Say it straight - We are brave in speaking out and saying what we think - we're honest and direct with good intent, openly sharing diverse perspectives to reach the best conclusions and using language everyone can understand
• Push for better - We don't settle for mediocrity, we challenge the status quo, taking responsibility for continuous improvement and personal development
• Get it done - We prioritise what will have the greatest impact, we are decisive, and we take accountability for delivering brilliant customer outcomes

You can strengthen your application by showing how our customer first behaviours resonate with you, and where you may have already demonstrated these.

Qualifications

The extras you'll get

• 25 days holiday, pro rata
• From January 2026, all Nationwide colleagues will benefit from private medical insurance
• A highly competitive pension to help you build a strong foundation for retirement
• Access to an annual performance related bonus
• Training and development to help you progress your career
• A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Life assurance to provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones in the event of your death
• Wellhub - access to a range of free and paid options for health and wellness
• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year

Banking - but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society

We forge our own path at Nationwide. As a mutual, we're owned by our members - those customers who bank, save or have a mortgage with us. We challenge the financial sector status quo. We don't see customers as the engine of our own profit. We share our profits with them and put their needs first. Always there when they need us. Supporting them and their lives.

If you're inspired by fairer finances, passionate about making a meaningful impact, and truly care about our customers, you're one of us. At Nationwide, you are challenged to grow and rewarded for doing so. Valued. Recognised. Inspired to be your best. As a community we want our working lives to count. As a team, we celebrate what we achieve. As a standard-setter, we work for the good of customers, communities, and broader society. We are purpose-driven. Uncompromisingly customer. Unstoppably Nationwide.

What to do next

If this role is for you, please click the 'Apply Now' button. You'll need to attach your up-to-date CV and answer a few quick questions for us. We respond to everyone, so we will be in contact shortly after the closing date to let you know the outcome of your application. Please note that should you be successful in securing this role the job title on our internal systems will be "Engineer - E1".