Lead Cybersecurity Operations & Threat Hunting

Defend Ltd.; Wellington; Hybrid; NZD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

3.5% KiwiSaver on base salary

Southern Cross Health Insurance

Mobile and Broadband discounts

Flexible, hybrid work environment

Home office setup allowance

Employee assistance program

Job summary

DEFEND is seeking a Senior Cybersecurity Operations Analyst to lead investigations, hunt threats, and strengthen customer security postures. You will work with NZ’s leading cybersecurity professionals and contribute to managed security services for organisations nationwide.

In this on-site role, you will own vulnerability management, assess risk, and drive remediation across infrastructure, endpoints, and applications in Auckland or Wellington.

Qualifications

• Experience with vulnerability management platforms (e.g. Qualys) and threat detection tooling.
• Hands-on threat hunting and security operations expertise.
• Experience with SIEM/EDR and modern security tooling.
• Scripting/automation skills (Python, PowerShell, Bash) or AI techniques.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end vulnerability management across infrastructure, endpoints, and applications.
• Identify, prioritise, and communicate risk—from everyday exposures to zero-day threats.
• Conduct proactive threat hunting using languages like KQL, CQL.
• Investigate and respond to real-world security incidents across identity, endpoint, and network layers.
• Automate security operations using Python, PowerShell, Bash, and/or AI techniques.
• Partner with stakeholders to drive remediation and risk reduction.
• Deliver high-quality reporting and insights that influence decision-making.
• Contribute to cloud security posture and hardening initiatives.
• Continuously improve playbooks, processes, and detection capability.

Skills

Vulnerability management

Threat hunting

SOC operations

Scripting/automation

Security communications

Tools

Qualys

CrowdStrike

SIEM/EDR

Job description

DEFEND is seeking a Senior Cybersecurity Operations Analyst to lead investigations, hunt threats, and strengthen customer security postures. You will work with NZ’s leading cybersecurity professionals and contribute to managed security services for organisations nationwide.

In this on-site role, you will own vulnerability management, assess risk, and drive remediation across infrastructure, endpoints, and applications in Auckland or Wellington.