Senior Network Security Engineer

DEFEND; Christchurch; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

3.5% KiwiSaver on top of base salary

Southern Cross Health Insurance

Mobile and Broadband discounts

Flexible, hybrid work environment

Home office setup allowance

Access to EAP services

Job summary

DEFEND is seeking a Senior Network Security Operations Engineer in Christchurch, NZ. You will lead response to complex faults, mentor juniors, and own incidents end-to-end in a 24/7 on-call rotation.

As a hands-on technical leader, you will apply deep networking and security expertise, drive improvements, document procedures, and ensure secure, resilient delivery of network security services for our customers.

Qualifications

• Comprehensive knowledge of networking and network security principles.
• Experience in incident response, troubleshooting and fault resolution.
• Experience in network operations and support with leadership capabilities.
• Collaborative mindset with teamwork, mentoring, and capability development.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong time management and prioritization under pressure.
• Excellent documentation skills including procedures and network diagrams.
• Ability to work independently with sound technical judgement.

Responsibilities

• Lead, deliver, and support technical solutions to customers.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to junior team members.
• Perform incident investigations and analyze impact and severity.
• Diagnose complex faults and drive effective resolution.
• Identify risks and opportunities for security improvements.
• Ensure changes follow established change management practices.
• Provide technical leadership for secure, reliable network delivery.
• Participate in a 24/7 on-call rotation for rapid response.

Skills

Network security expertise

Incident response leadership

Troubleshooting & fault resolution

Mentoring junior engineers

Documentation & diagramming

On-call experience

Tools

Firewall administration

Network monitoring tools

Job description

At DEFEND, we deliver world-class cyber resilience through engineered solutions and expert frontline defense. Our Senior Network Security Operations Engineer is a hands-on technical leader who keeps our customers' network security services secure, resilient and performing, and who the wider team looks to when problems get hard. You'll lead the response to complex faults and critical incidents, spot risks before they become outages, and be the first port of call for junior engineers as you help build the team's capability. It suits someone with deep networking and security expertise, sound judgement, and the ownership mindset to take a problem through to resolution, including as part of a 24/7 on-call rotation.

Requirements

In this role you'll...

• Lead, deliver, and support technical solutions to customers.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to junior team members, acting as first point of escalation for issues and challenges.
• Perform incident, investigation, and analysis to assess severity and impact.
• Diagnose complex faults and lead the development and implementation of effective resolution.
• Proactively identify risks and opportunities for improvement, recommending changes to maintain security, resilience, and alignment with best practice.
• Ensure compliance with established change management practices when implementing changes.
• Provide technical leadership to ensure the effective, secure, reliable delivery of network security services.
• Participate in a 24/7 on-call rotation, ensuring rapid response and service delivery during critical incidents.
• Maintain and promote accurate technical documentation.

You'll bring...

• Comprehensive knowledge of networking and network security principals, with the ability to apply this knowledge to complex customer environments.
• Experience in incident response, troubleshooting and fault resolution.
• Experience in network operations and support, with the ability to provide technical leadership and guidance.
• A collaborative mindset with a passion for teamwork, mentoring, and contributing to the development of team capability.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills with the ability to communicate technical concepts effectively.
• Time management and prioritization, with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Excellent Documentation Skills including the creation of technical procedures and network diagrams.
• Ability to work independently, exercise sound technical judgement and take ownership of outcomes.

Benefits

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.