Senior Cybersecurity Operations Analyst

DEFEND Limited; Wellington; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Kiwisaver 3.5% on top of base salary

Southern Cross Health Insurance

Mobile and Broadband discounts

Flexible, hybrid work environment

Home office allowance

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Job summary

DEFEND Limited seeks a Senior Cybersecurity Operations Analyst to lead advanced investigations and exposure management across multiple environments, including AI and cloud. You will assess vulnerabilities, manage risk, and report findings to stakeholders, while supporting BAU operations and on‑call coverage.

This role emphasises growth in emerging security technologies and hybrid work arrangements. The successful candidate will bring strong analysis skills, experience with SIEM/EDR, and a

Qualifications

• Must have hands-on exposure management or vulnerability management experience.
• Strong background in cybersecurity operations, threat detection, or incident response.
• Proven ability to investigate complex security events and document findings.

Responsibilities

• Perform advanced investigations across endpoint, identity, cloud, network, application, and AI environments.
• Assess vulnerability and exposure data to identify material risk and support remediation prioritisation.
• Perform risk assessments for critical and zero‑day vulnerabilities, documenting findings and supporting risk exception processes.
• Support the operationalisation of emerging Cyber Defence capabilities across AI security, cloud security, runtime security, asset security, and exposure management.
• Own and develop technologies and services after they transition to business‑as‑usual (BAU) operations.
• Produce clear customer and stakeholder reporting covering incidents, vulnerabilities, exposure, risk, and recommended actions.
• Participate in the 24/7 on‑call.

Skills

Exposure Management

Attack Surface Management

Vulnerability Management

Cybersecurity operations

Threat detection

Incident response

SIEM

EDR

Risk assessment

Documentation

Job description

At DEFEND, we deliver world-class cyber resilience through engineered solutions and expert frontline defence. Our Senior Cybersecurity Operations Analysts provide advanced investigation, threat detection, exposure management, and incident response capability. They handle complex and ambiguous security issues, act as a technical escalation point, and improve the effectiveness, quality and consistency of security operations. This role has an initial focus on emerging security technologies, including AI security, exposure management, cloud security, and runtime security.

In this role you’ll...

• Perform advanced investigations across endpoint, identity, cloud, network, application, and AI environments.
• Assess vulnerability and exposure data to identify material risk and support risk-based remediation prioritisation.
• Perform risk assessments for critical and zero-day vulnerabilities, documenting findings and supporting risk exception processes.
• Support the operationalisation of emerging Cyber Defence capabilities across AI security, cloud security, runtime security, asset security, and exposure management.
• Own and develop technologies and services after they transition to business-as-usual (BAU) operations.
• Produce clear customer and stakeholder reporting covering incidents, vulnerabilities, exposure, risk, and recommended actions.
• Participate in the 24/7 on-call.

You’ll bring…

• Exposure Management / Attack Surface Management / Vulnerability Management experience.
• Strong experience in cybersecurity operations, threat detection, or incident response.
• Strong investigation and analytical capability across complex security events.
• Experience with SIEM and EDR.
• Strong risk assessment, prioritisation, and remediation capability.
• Strong written reporting and documentation skills.

About DEFEND:

Our dream at DEFEND is to improve everyday life by creating a cyber resilient world. Over the last few years, we've experienced phenomenal growth, working with a wide variety of customers and winning several industry awards, including Microsoft's Global Partner of theYear for 2025!

Why DEFEND?

We believe in investing in our employees’ growth and providing them with opportunities to advance their skills and careers. We offer a collaborative workplace culture, and we are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where innovative thinking is encouraged.

By joining our innovative and creative team you will have the opportunity to contribute a variety of cybersecurity outcomes, from culture & awareness of cyber resilience, through to offensive & defensive security. No matter what your role, everyone at DEFEND contributes towards our dream ofcreating a cyber resilient world.

The benefits of working at DEFEND

In addition to workingfor a growing, dynamic NZcompany, DEFEND offers the following benefits to all ourDEFENDers

• 3.5%Kiwisaveron top of your base salary

• Southern Cross Health Insurance coverage

• Mobile and Broadband discounts for yourself and family

• Flexible, hybrid work environment

• An allowance to contribute to your home office setup

• Access to EAP services to support youacross a range of wellbeing needs

Diversity & Inclusion:

At DEFEND, we celebrate a variety of perspectives and experiences. We know from experience that people from underrepresented groups often don’t apply for roles they don’t feel they meet all the criteria for. We’re committed to creating an environment that enables all our team to thrive. If you think you have what it takes, but don’t check every single box, please consider applying. We’d love to hear how you might contribute to the team and being our next DEFENDer.