Principal Cyber Security Engineer

Southern Cross Group; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Funded health insurance

Wellbeing programme

Flexible working arrangements

Job summary

Southern Cross Healthcare is seeking a Principal Cyber Security Engineer in Auckland to shape cyber defence for New Zealand’s largest healthcare provider. You will lead security operations, threat detection, incident response, and security engineering across cloud-native environments and DevSecOps practices.

You will mentor engineers, set technical standards, and influence security priorities while remaining available for on-call responses during significant incidents.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in security operations, incident response and security engineering.
• Strong leadership and mentoring ability in large teams.
• Hands-on with SIEM, XDR/EDR, SOAR and cloud security.
• Knowledge of MITRE ATT&CK and cyber resilience practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead Security Operations, threat detection and incident response.
• Drive complex security engineering initiatives and automation.
• Oversee vulnerability management and security monitoring.
• Guide DevSecOps, IaC and cloud-native security strategies.
• Provide technical leadership during cyber incidents and on-call responses.

Skills

Security Operations

Threat detection

Incident response

Security engineering

Cloud security

DevSecOps

Infrastructure as Code

AI security

MITRE ATT&CK

Digital forensics

Education

Relevant tertiary qualifications in cyber security/IT

Tools

SIEM

XDR/EDR

SOAR

Identity security

Endpoint security

Palo Alto & Microsoft security

Job description

Auckland Closing date: 20 November 2026 Reference: 1106681

Principal Cyber Security Engineer

National Support Office - Auckland

As our Principal Cyber Security Engineer, you'll have the opportunity to shape the future of cyber defence at one of New Zealand's largest healthcare organisations. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced cyber security specialist who thrives on solving complex challenges, embracing emerging technologies and staying one step ahead of evolving threats.

Reporting to our Cyber Defence Technical Lead, you'll be the senior technical expert driving innovation across Security Operations, threat detection, incident response, vulnerability management and security automation, helping protect the critical systems and services our healthcare teams rely on every day.

You'll play a pivotal role in modernising and strengthening our cyber defence capabilities, providing technical leadership across Security Operations and leading complex security engineering initiatives. From advanced threat hunting and incident response to cloud-native security, DevSecOps, Infrastructure as Code and AI-driven technologies, you'll influence how we detect, respond to and prevent cyber threats.

Beyond the technical challenges, you'll be a trusted expert and mentor, sharing your knowledge with our Security Operations Engineers and Analysts while influencing technical standards, security priorities and future investment decisions.

This role also requires you to also be available on-call, providing technical response and support during significant cybersecurity incidents. You'll need the flexibility to respond to critical incidents outside standard business hours when required.

• Extensive cyber security experience: 10+ years' experience across Security Operations, incident response, detection engineering and security engineering.
• Technical leadership: Proven experience as a Principal Engineer, Lead Engineer or senior technical specialist, with the ability to influence, mentor and guide others.
• Security Operations expertise: Demonstrated experience building, strengthening and improving Security Operations capabilities, including security monitoring, incident response, threat detection and operational effectiveness.
• Security engineering expertise: Hands-on experience with SIEM, XDR/EDR, SOAR, identity security, endpoint and network security technologies, ideally including Microsoft or Palo Alto Networks platforms.
• Cloud and infrastructure security: Strong knowledge of cloud, network, infrastructure and application security, including DevSecOps, cloud-native environments and Infrastructure as Code.
• Threat detection and incident response: Advanced expertise in threat hunting, vulnerability management, detection engineering and leading technical responses to complex cyber incidents.
• Security automation and AI: Experience with automation and scripting tools with an understanding of emerging AI security risks, governance and secure AI adoption highly regarded.
• Cyber defence frameworks: Knowledge of MITRE ATT&CK, threat intelligence and modern cyber defence practices, ideally with experience in cyber resilience exercises, incident simulations or digital forensics.
• Complex environments: Experience working in large enterprise, critical infrastructure or highly regulated environments, with exposure to MSSP, MDR or third-party security providers an advantage.
• Qualifications and certifications: Relevant tertiary qualifications in cyber security, IT or a related discipline, or equivalent industry experience. Certifications such as CISSP, CISM, GCIH, GCIA, GCFA, OSCP or Microsoft/Palo Alto Networks certifications would be highly regarded.
• Competitive Rewards: Attractive remuneration package
• Health & Wellbeing: Funded health insurance, a comprehensive wellbeing programme, and generous Christmas/New Year breaks.
• Flexibility & Growth: Flexible working arrangements
• Perks & Community: Discounts from a range of partners and the opportunity to join our Employee Network.

Ko wai matou | Our Organisation

At Southern Cross Healthcare, our purpose is clear: to advance quality healthcare across Aotearoa New Zealand. Our values shape everything we do:

• Care First – We lead with compassion, delivering care that’s deeply human through genuine manaakitanga.
• Better Together – Collaboration is our strength. We unite diverse skills and perspectives to create better outcomes for all.
• Pursue Excellence – We strive to improve, innovate, and excel every day—never settling, always aiming to deliver our best.

If you have specific needs or would like to discuss how we can support you, please contact our Talent Acquisition team at [e-mail] for a confidential conversation