IT Security Specialist

Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company; West Des Moines (IA); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work after training

Parental leave

Employee appreciation events

EAP for support

On-site cafeteria & fitness center

Job summary

Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company is seeking an IT Security Specialist to lead advanced security operations and drive security control maturity. You will oversee incident investigations, regulatory compliance efforts, and the deployment and tuning of SIEM/EDR/XDR tools.

The role includes mentoring junior staff and coordinating with IT to strengthen our security posture. The position offers the potential for a hybrid schedule after training, a comprehensive benefits package, and opportunities

Qualifications

• Seven or more years of progressive experience in cybersecurity or security operations.
• Associate’s degree in Cybersecurity, IT, CS, MIS or related field is required; Bachelor’s preferred.
• Experience leading incident investigations and administering enterprise security tools with regulatory exposure.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex security incident investigations including forensic analysis and containment.
• Enhance detection capabilities and reduce false positives through monitoring improvements.
• Administer and optimize SIEM, EDR/XDR, vulnerability management and identity security tools.
• Ensure compliance with applicable insurance cybersecurity laws and NIST/CIS controls.
• Coordinate vulnerability management lifecycle and remediation across IT teams.
• Oversee access reviews, least-privilege, and MFA across Entra ID and Azure.
• Mentor junior Security Specialists and collaborate with compliance and business units.
• Maintain security policy documentation and audit evidence.

Skills

Incident investigations

Security operations

Regulatory compliance

Enterprise security tools

Security certifications

Azure security

Cloud security

Education

Associate’s degree in Cybersecurity/IT

Bachelor’s degree preferred

Tools

SIEM

EDR/XDR

Vulnerability management tool

Identity/security tools

Job description

At Farmers Mutual Hail (FMH), our mission is simple: protect the livelihoods and legacies of America’s farmers through the complete farm insurance solutions we offer. As America’s Crop Insurance Company™, we’re headquartered in the U.S. and have been owned by the farmers we insure for over 125 years.

FMH is seeking an IT Security Specialist to lead advanced security operations, driving security control maturity, and strengthening the organization’s overall security posture. Serves as a technical leader within security, overseeing complex incident investigations, guiding regulatory compliance efforts, optimizing enterprise security technologies, and mentoring junior team members.

BENEFITS:

Our employees appreciate our family-oriented culture, and we make sure their benefits reflect that. In addition to a competitive salary and bonuses, medical/dental/vision plan, 401(k) plan with a generous company match, you will be eligible for benefits such as:

• Potential for hybrid work schedule after training is completed.
• Paid Parental leave and Caregiver leave.
• Employee appreciation events.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for support when you and your family need it.
• On-site cafeteria and fitness center.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Experience: Seven or more years of progressive experience in cybersecurity, security operations, or related technical roles; or equivalent combination of education and/or experience.
• Education: Associate’s degree in Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Computer Science, MIS, or related field required (Bachelor’s degree preferred).
• Skills: Demonstrated experience leading incident investigations, administering enterprise security tools, and contributing to regulatory compliance programs. Intermediate or advanced-level security certifications preferred, such as: CompTIA CySA+ or CASP+, GIAC certifications (GCIH, GCED, GCIA, etc.), CISSP (preferred), Cloud security certifications (e.g., CCSP, Azure Security Engineer).

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Leads complex security incident investigations, including forensic analysis, root cause determination, and coordination of containment and recovery efforts.
• Proactively identifies emerging threats, recommends mitigation strategies, and enhances detection capabilities through improved monitoring logic and alert thresholds to increase threat visibility and reduce false positives.
• Provides senior-level administration, configuration, and optimization of enterprise security technologies, including SIEM, EDR/XDR, vulnerability management, email security, identity security, and cloud security solutions.
• Evaluates security tool effectiveness, identifies control weaknesses, and recommends improvements to security configurations and technical safeguards aligned with organizational standards and risk tolerance.
• Coordinates the enterprise vulnerability management lifecycle, including vulnerability scanning, risk-based prioritization, remediation tracking, validation, exception documentation, and reporting.
• Collaborates with IT teams to address identified vulnerabilities and escalates overdue or high-risk findings.
• Leads periodic access reviews, privileged access oversight, and identity security improvements across Microsoft Entra ID, Azure, and other enterprise identity management platforms, including multifactor authentication, Conditional Access, privileged identity management, and least-privilege enforcement.
• Monitors and evaluates identity security configurations, authentication activities, Azure role-based access controls, application permissions, service principals, managed identities, and privileged access to identify security risks and control deficiencies; coordinates remediation with IT teams and system owners.
• Supports compliance with applicable insurance cybersecurity laws, privacy requirements, organizational policies, and adopted security frameworks, including NIST Cybersecurity Framework and CIS Controls.
• Maintains security control documentation and audit evidence, identifies control deficiencies, and supports remediation tracking, security policy reviews, risk assessments, third-party evaluations, and regulatory examinations.
• Leads technical security process improvements, develops control procedures, and supports incident response exercises and security initiatives.
• Provides mentorship and technical guidance to Security Specialists I and II and serves as a security subject matter expert, collaborating with IT, compliance, and business teams to strengthen security practices and awareness.

This position is not eligible for sponsorship for work authorization by Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company, SI. Therefore, if you will require sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, we cannot consider your application at this time.

Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company does not discriminate in employment (EOE). All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.