Specialist, Cyber Detection Engineer

Prudential Annuities Distributors (PAD); Newark (NJ); On-site; USD 96,200 - 158,800; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary range stated in job posting

Yearly bonus potential

Medical, dental, vision, life, and ADI

Job summary

Prudential Financial, Inc. is seeking a Specialist, Cyber Detection Engineer to design and maintain enterprise threat detection across on‑prem and cloud environments.

This role focuses on continuous improvement of detections aligned with enterprise risk and the evolving threat landscape. You will partner with teams to operationalize alerting, author new detections, validate with attack simulations, and close telemetry gaps to improve visibility and coverage.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of detection engineering, incident response, threat hunting, or security operations in large enterprise environments.
• Proven experience developing detection content across multiple telemetry sources.

Responsibilities

• Operationalize security alerting and develop new custom detection capabilities across endpoint, identity, network, cloud, and application domains.
• Author and maintain detections using SIEM/XDR platforms, ensuring performance, scalability, and precision.
• Transform threat intelligence, incident learnings, purple‑team results, and hunt findings into new detection content, enhancements, or coverage improvements.
• Validate detections using realistic attack scenarios, emulation results, historical data, and safe adversary simulations.
• Identify telemetry gaps and log data quality issues that limit visibility or detection effectiveness, and work with platform and infrastructure teams to remediate.
• Rapidly develop temporary analytics or scoping queries to support Incident Response efforts during active investigations.
• Participate in continuous improvement initiatives, metrics and reporting, and lifecycle management processes.

Skills

Threat detection

Incident response

SIEM/XDR

Python

PowerShell

KQL

MITRE ATT&CK

Logging

Tools

Splunk SPL

Microsoft KQL

SQL

Job description

Job Classification: Technology - Information Security

Are you interested in building capabilities that enable the organization with innovation, speed, agility, scalability, and efficiency? The Global Technology Operations team takes great pride in our culture where digital transformation is built into our DNA! When you join our organization at Prudential, you’ll unlock an exciting and impactful career – all while growing your skills and advancing your profession at one of the world’s leading financial services institutions.

Your Team & Role

The Specialist, Cyber Detection Engineer will serve as a hands‑on technical contributor responsible for designing and maintaining enterprise threat detection capabilities across on‑prem and cloud environments. This role is focused on the continual improvement of detection capabilities, making sure they are aligned with enterprise risk and the evolving threat landscape. You will partner closely with other teams to design and build new detection capabilities that produce actionable and operationally effective alerting.

Here Is What You Can Expect on a Typical Day

• Operationalize security alerting and develop new custom detection capabilities across endpoint, identity, network, cloud, and application domains.
• Author and maintain detections using SIEM/XDR platforms, ensuring performance, scalability, and precision.
• Transform threat intelligence, incident learnings, purple‑team results, and hunt findings into new detection content, enhancements, or coverage improvements.
• Validate detections using realistic attack scenarios, emulation results, historical data, and safe adversary simulations.
• Identify telemetry gaps and log data quality issues that limit visibility or detection effectiveness, and work with platform and infrastructure teams to remediate.
• Rapidly develop temporary analytics or scoping queries to support Incident Response efforts during active investigations.
• Participate in continuous improvement initiatives, metrics and reporting, and lifecycle management processes.

The Skills & Expertise You Bring

• 3+ years of experience in detection engineering, incident response, threat hunting, or security operations in large enterprise environments.
• Practical experience working with common Endpoint, Identity, Network, Cloud & SaaS technologies, and associated logging.
• Proven experience developing detection content across multiple telemetry sources.
• Strong proficiency with at least one major SIEM/XDR ecosystem and advanced query authoring (Splunk SPL, Microsoft KQL, SQL strongly preferred).
• Solid understanding of adversary tradecraft with practical experience applying MITRE ATT&CK to detection design, validation, and coverage assessment.
• Ability to reason about attacker behaviors, detection logic trade‑offs, and operational impacts rather than relying solely on static indicators.
• Experience using common scripting languages (e.g. Python, PowerShell) and to solve problems, automation tasks and interact with REST/GraphQL APIs.
• Strong written and verbal skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• GIAC GDAT, GCDA, GCTD, GCTI, GMON, GCIH, GCFA, GCPY Splunk Power User Microsoft SC-200, AZ-500 CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+)

You’ll Love Working Here Because You Can Join a team and culture where your voice matters; where every day, your work transforms our experiences to make lives better. As you put your skills to use, we’ll help you make an even bigger impact with learning experiences that can grow your technical AND leadership capabilities. You’ll be surprised by what this rock-solid organization has in store for you.

What we offer you:

• Prudential is required by state specific laws to include the salary range for this role when hiring a resident in applicable locations. The salary range for this role is from $96,200.00 to $158,800.00. Specific pricing for the role may vary within the above range based on many factors including geographic location, candidate experience, and skills.
• Market competitive base salaries, with a yearly bonus potential at every level.
• Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, Paid Time Off (PTO), and leave of absences, such as parental and military leave.
• 401(k) plan with company match (up to 4%).
• Company‑funded pension plan.
• Wellness Programs including up to $1,600 a year for reimbursement of items purchased to support personal wellbeing needs.
• Work/Life Resources to help support topics such as parenting, housing, senior care, finances, pets, legal matters, education, emotional and mental health, and career development.
• Education Benefit to help finance traditional college enrollment toward obtaining an approved degree and many accredited certificate programs.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan: Shares can be purchased at 85% of the lower of two prices (Beginning or End of the purchase period).
• Eligibility to participate in a discretionary annual incentive program is subject to the rules governing the program, whereby an award, if any, depends on various factors including, without limitation, individual and organizational performance.
• To find out more about our Total Rewards package, visit Work Life Balance | Prudential Careers.
• Some of the above benefits may not apply to part‑time employees scheduled to work less than 20 hours per week.

Prudential Financial, Inc. of the United States is not affiliated with Prudential plc. which is headquartered in the United Kingdom.

Prudential is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetics, disability, marital status, age, veteran status, domestic partner status, medical condition or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please email [e-mail]. If you are experiencing a technical issue with your application or an assessment, please email [e-mail] to request assistance.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a global financial services leader and premier active global investment manager with approximately $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2023, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Prudential’s diverse and talented employees help make lives better and create financial opportunity for more people by expanding access to investing, insurance, and retirement security.

Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for 150 years. For more information please visit news.prudential.com.

Our Commitment to an Inclusive Workplace

Prudential Financial, Inc. serves its customers in more than 40 countries and territories, and we seek talented, creative individuals from a variety of backgrounds, worldviews, and life circumstances to work with us. We are focused on creating a fully inclusive culture, where all employees feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work. We don’t just accept difference—we celebrate it, support it, and thrive on it. At Prudential, employees have a unique opportunity to build their career path by owning their development, their career, and their future. We encourage employees to hone their skills and explore continued opportunities within Prudential.

PGIM, the global asset management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), is a global investment manager with US $1.3 trillion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2023. With offices in 18 countries, PGIM’s businesses offer a range of investment solutions for retail and institutional investors around the world across a broad range of asset classes, including public fixed income, private fixed income, fundamental equity, quantitative equity, real estate, and alternatives.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (PFI) of the United States is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom, or with Prudential Assurance Company, a subsidiary of M&G plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom. For more information please visit news.prudential.com.

PGIM Inc. (PGIM) is the principal asset management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (PFI), a company incorporated and with its principal place of business in the United States. PFI of the United States is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom or with Prudential Assurance Company, a subsidiary of M&G plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom.

Our Commitment to an Inclusive Workplace

Prudential Financial, Inc. serves its customers in more than 40 countries and territories, and we seek talented, creative individuals from a variety of backgrounds, worldviews, and life circumstances to work with us. We are focused on creating a fully inclusive culture, where all employees feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work. We don’t just accept difference—we celebrate it, support it, and thrive on it. At Prudential, employees have a unique opportunity to build their career path by owning their development, their career, and their future. We encourage employees to hone their skills and explore continued opportunities within Prudential.