Security Analyst (Cyber Defense Analyst)

Thinkahead; India; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health insurance

Paid time off & holidays

Flexible work arrangements

Learning and development opportunities

Employee wellness initiatives

Retirement benefits

Job summary

AHEAD is hiring a Cyber Defense Analyst in India to join our Corporate Security Cyber Defense team. The role focuses on monitoring, triaging, and reporting security events to strengthen our defenses and ensure strong operating controls.

You will work on alert reviews, incident response support, detections improvement, and security projects across enterprise data sources, networks, and cloud environments. Strong collaboration and communication are essential in this fast-paced setting.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of information security experience, including incident response or security operations.
• Hands-on with SIEM platforms and investigations; CrowdStrike NG-SIEM preferred.
• Basic knowledge of networking and cloud environments (AWS/Azure).
• Foundational Windows/macOS knowledge and strong communication skills.
• Familiarity with security frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK, NIST CSF, CIS Controls.

Responsibilities

• Monitor, triage, and analyze security alerts and logs across enterprise platforms.
• Review and correlate events to identify threats and support incident declarations.
• Document findings and provide updates to leadership throughout incidents.
• Conduct proactive threat hunting and contribute to detection planning.
• Support incident response playbooks, workflows, and automation efforts.
• Coordinate with infrastructure teams to remediate vulnerabilities and track fixes.

Skills

SIEM analytics

Incident handling

Threat hunting

Cloud security (AWS/Azure)

Network security basics

Windows/macOS security

Strong communication

MITRE ATT&CK familiarity

Scripting (PowerShell/Python)

Vulnerability management support

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity/Info Security/CS/IT

CCSP/GCIH/CySA+/GSEC/SSCP or similar

Tools

CrowdStrike NG-SIEM

Microsoft Defender XDR

Job description

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.

At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging,where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.

We are an equal opportunity employer,anddo not discriminatebased onan individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, maritalstatus,or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.

We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.

AHEAD is seeking a Cyber Defense Analyst to join the AHEAD Corporate Security Cyber Defense team. This position contributes to the successful delivery of AHEAD’s information security program in order to assure AHEAD stakeholders of strong operating controls and effective defensive capabilities.

The Cyber Defense Analyst is responsible for monitoring, triaging, investigating, and reporting on security events across the enterprise. A typical day will include reviewing and remediating alerts in our security platforms, supporting incident response activities, improving detections, and working on information security-related projects that strengthen AHEAD’s overall security posture.

Reporting directly to Corporate Security leadership, the ideal candidate must be a professional, collaborative team player that is comfortable working with people at all levels of the organization. Applicants should possess strong analytical, communication, follow-up and quality assurance skills, along with the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced security environment.

• Monitor, triage, and analyze security alerts, telemetry, and log data across enterprise security platforms, including SIEM and other detection technologies.
• Perform in-depth analysis of exploits, attacker behavior, and anomalous activity across endpoint, identity, network, cloud, and application data sources.
• Review and correlate security events in the SIEM to identify threats, validate detections, and support timely incident declaration and escalation decisions.
• Document investigative findings, response actions, and evidence throughout the incident lifecycle, and provide timely status updates to leadership and stakeholders.
• Conduct proactive threat hunting and threat research to identify emerging risks, adversary techniques, and gaps in current detection coverage.
• Contribute to detection engineering and response automation efforts that improve Cyber Defense monitoring and containment capabilities.
• Support security tooling operations by helping maintain the effectiveness, reliability, and visibility of core defensive technologies used by the Cyber Defense team.
• Assist with the development and refinement of incident response processes, playbooks, workflows, and operational procedures to improve overall Cyber Defense effectiveness.
• Communicate intrusion activity, incident details, threat trends, and recommended actions clearly to internal stakeholders and leadership.
• Partner with infrastructure teams and system owners to review vulnerability findings, help prioritize remediation, and track closure of high-risk issues.

• 5+ years of experience in information security, ideally including direct experience in incident response, cyber defense, or security operations in a corporate or enterprise environment
• Hands-on experience with SIEM platforms, including creating and using searches, dashboards, alerts, and investigations; experience with CrowdStrike NG-SIEM strongly preferred
• Experience with Microsoft 365 security technologies, including Microsoft Defender XDR for email, identity, and collaboration platforms
• Basic knowledge of networking concepts and cloud environments, including AWS and Azure
• Foundational knowledge of Windows and macOS
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including clear incident documentation and the ability to communicate technical findings to non-technical stakeholders in a global environment
• Familiarity with MITRE ATT&CK, NIST CSF, CIS Controls, or similar security frameworks is preferred
• Basic familiarity with scripting or query languages such as PowerShell, Python, or similar to support automation and analysis is preferred
• Experience supporting vulnerability management processes using tools such as Tenable and Wiz, including triage, validation, prioritization, and remediation tracking is preferred
• Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity, Information Security, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field
• CCSP, GCIH, CySA+, GSEC, SSCP or similar cybersecurity certification required

Why AHEAD:

Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.

We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.

India Employment Benefits include:

• Comprehensive health insurancecoverage for employees, with options to extend coverage to dependents
• Paid time off and company holidays, along with additional leave benefits as per policy
• Flexible work arrangements, supporting work-life balance
• Learning and development opportunitiesto support continuous growth and upskilling
• Employee wellness initiativesand programs focused on physical and mental well-being
• Retirement and statutory benefitsin line with India regulations
• Inclusive and people-first culture, with a strong focus on collaboration and ownership