Senior Network Security Lead — Incident Response & On-Call

DEFEND; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

KiwiSaver 3.5%

Health Insurance

Mobile & Broadband discounts

Hybrid work environment

Home office allowance

EAP services

Job summary

DEFEND seeks a Senior Network Security Operations Engineer to lead hands-on security operations, respond to complex faults and incidents, and mentor junior engineers. You will guide 24/7 on-call coverage and ensure secure, resilient network services for our customers.

You bring deep networking and security expertise, strong judgment, ownership mindset, and a collaborative approach to build team capability, documentation, and best practices across the defense stack.

Qualifications

• Comprehensive knowledge of networking and network security principles applicable to complex customer environments.
• Experience in incident response, troubleshooting and fault resolution.
• Experience in network operations and support with ability to provide technical leadership.
• Collaborative mindset with passion for teamwork, mentoring, and developing team capability.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills.
• Strong time management and ability to prioritise competing tasks.
• Excellent documentation skills including creating technical procedures and network diagrams.
• Ability to work independently with sound technical judgment and ownership.

Responsibilities

• Lead, deliver, and support technical solutions for customers.
• Mentor and guide junior team members; act as first escalation point.
• Perform incident, investigation, and analysis to assess severity and impact.
• Diagnose complex faults and lead resolution efforts.
• Identify risks and opportunities; implement improvements for security and resilience.
• Ensure changes comply with change management practices.
• Provide technical leadership for secure, reliable delivery of network security services.
• Participate in 24/7 on-call rotation for incidents.
• Maintain and promote accurate technical documentation.

Skills

Networking & security

Incident response

NOC leadership

Mentoring

Communications

Prioritization

Documentation

Independent ownership

Job description

DEFEND seeks a Senior Network Security Operations Engineer to lead hands-on security operations, respond to complex faults and incidents, and mentor junior engineers. You will guide 24/7 on-call coverage and ensure secure, resilient network services for our customers.

You bring deep networking and security expertise, strong judgment, ownership mindset, and a collaborative approach to build team capability, documentation, and best practices across the defense stack.