Cyber Defense Ops Specialist

Citizens Financial; United States; On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

Retirement benefits

Flexible work arrangements

Education reimbursement

Wellness programs

Job summary

Citizens Financial is seeking a Cyber Defense Ops Specialist to join the CDOC. Responsibilities include security monitoring, threat analysis, incident handling, and DLP activities, applying mitigations based on threat intel, and supporting response actions. 1+ year SOC experience preferred; a bachelor’s degree and industry certs recommended.

On-site at Citizens Bank Johnston Campus with a 40-hour week. The role emphasizes strong communication, problem-solving, and independent work, with access

Qualifications

• 1+ year in security/SOC environment preferred.
• Knowledge of SIEM tools (Arcsight, Splunk).
• Experience with IDS/IPS and firewall tools.
• Familiarity with data loss prevention and vulnerability tools.
• Understanding of incident response and threat hunting.

Responsibilities

• Perform ongoing monitoring and threat analysis from logs/NetFlow/pcap.
• Identify potential incidents and escalate to senior staff.
• Assess threat intel and apply mitigations promptly.
• Participate in incident handling and remediation activities.

Skills

Strong verbal and written comms

Critical thinking

Problem solving

Ability to work independently

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Industry certificates (Net+, Sec+, CEH, Pentest+)

Tools

Arcsight

Splunk

FirePower

McAfee

Palo Alto

Guardium

jSonar

Symantec

Triton

Cisco

Check Point

Web Application Firewalls

XDR

CrowdStrike

MS Defender

Job description

The Cyber Defense Ops Specialist is an individual contributor in the Cyber Defense Threat Detection (CDTD) Cyber Defense Operations Center (CDOC), responsible for performing security monitoring, intrusion analysis, incident handling, data loss prevention, privileged user monitoring, security incident management, malware detection/eradication, and recognizing hacker/incident response tactics, techniques, and procedures. This role requires the incumbent to stay current with security technology, the threat landscape, and emerging threats.

Primary responsibilities include

• Performing ongoing monitoring and threat analysis, analyzing logs, NetFlow data, and packet capture.
• Identifying potential IT security incidents and escalating information to appropriate senior staff.
• Assessing threat and vulnerability information from all sources (both internal and external) and promptly applying applicable mitigation techniques.

Experience and Skills:

• 1 or more years of security industry experience preferably in a Security Operations Center (SOC) environment
• Experience or knowledge of the following highly desirable: Security Information and Event Management Tools (Arcsight, Splunk, etc.)
• Intrusion Prevention/Detection Tools (FirePower, McAfee, PaloAlto)
• Database Security Tools (Guardium, jSonar)
• Data Loss Prevention Tools (Symantec, Triton, etc.)
• Firewalls (Cisco, Palo Alto, Check Point etc.)
• Application Security Tools (Web Application Firewalls)
• Vulnerability tools
• Cyber Security Incident Response
• Host Intrusion Detection Systems
• XDR and Antivirus Tools (Crowdstrike, Symantec, MS Defender)

Strong verbal and written communication skills including the ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical audiences.

Excellent critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.

Must possess active listening, attention to detail, customer service, prioritization, and problem-solving skills.

Ability to work independently or strategically.

Experience adapting and demonstrating flexibility while working in a dynamic environment.

Education and Certifications

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent combination of experience
• A combination of relevant industry certificates preferred (e.g. Net+, Sec+, CEH, Pentest+, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, Microsoft Azure Fundamentals)

Hours & Work Schedule

• Hours per Week: 40 Hrs. (4 days per week)
• Work Schedule: 7:00am - 5:00pm Wednesday - Saturday)
• Location: Citizens Bank Johnston Campus (this is not a remote opportunity)

Pay Transparency

The salary range for this position is from $64,900 - $90,000 per year, plus an opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus. Actual pay is based on various factors including but not limited to, the budget, work location, relevant skills, and experience.

We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity and paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs, and more. Citizens' paid time off policy exceeds the mandatory paid sick or paid time away policies of local and state jurisdictions in the United States. For an overview of our benefits, visit our Careers site - https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits