Sr. Cyber Defense Specialist (Hybrid)

Selective Insurance; Short Hills (NJ); On-site; USD 130,000 - 176,000; Full time

Job summary

Selective Insurance seeks a Senior ITS Cyber Defense Specialist to strengthen the organization's cyber defense posture through SOC, incident response, and security engineering. The role leads complex cybersecurity initiatives end-to-end, collaborating with IT and business units to define requirements and communicate risks.

The candidate will act as a trusted technical resource, handling on-call duties, managing incidents, and driving improvements across EDR, SIEM, NAC, and vulnerability

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in IT, cybersecurity, CS, IS, risk management, or related field.
• 7+ years in IT, information security, or risk-related roles.
• 5+ years in security operations, incident response, cyber defense, detection engineering, or related security disciplines.
• Experience leading complex technical work and driving security initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Serve as senior SME and escalation point for Cyber Defense, providing technical leadership to team members.
• Monitor, analyze, and respond to security alerts across endpoint, network, identity, email, and cloud environments using enterprise tools.
• Lead incident response activities: scoping, evidence review, containment, and escalation into formal processes.
• Administer and improve Cyber Defense technologies (EDR, SIEM, NAC) including tuning and upgrades.
• Drive detection and response improvements by reducing false positives and closing visibility gaps.

Skills

Security operations

Incident response

Threat detection

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT or related field

Tools

EDR

SIEM

NAC

Vulnerability management

Job description

About Us

At Selective, we don't just insure uniquely, we employ uniqueness.

Selective is a midsized U.S. domestic property and casualty insurance company with a history of strong, consistent financial performance for nearly 100 years. Selective's unique position as both a leading insurance group and an employer of choice is recognized in a wide variety of awards and honors, including listing in Forbes Best Midsize Employers in 2025 and certification as a Great Place to Work in 2025 for the sixth consecutive year. Employees are empowered and encouraged to Be Uniquely You by being their true, unique selves and contributing their diverse talents, experiences, and perspectives to our shared success. Together, we are a high-performing team working to serve our customers responsibly by helping to mitigate loss, keep them safe, and restore their lives and businesses after an insured loss occurs.

Overview

The ITS Cyber Defense Senior Specialist is a senior individual contributor and subject matter expert who strengthens the organization\'s cyber defense posture through a blend of Security Operations Center (SOC), incident response, and security engineering expertise. This role protects enterprise information systems and data from intentional or accidental destruction, disruption, or modification while minimizing the impact on those who need legitimate access to systems, files, networks, and data. The position independently leads and executes complex cybersecurity initiatives from planning through implementation, improves defensive controls and processes, drives detection and response activities for advanced threats, and serves as a trusted technical resource across IT, business teams, and external partners.

The role works closely across IT teams and business units to identify security gaps, define requirements, recommend solutions, and communicate risks, status, and recommendations clearly to both technical and business stakeholders. Provides expert-level consulting, leadership, and escalation support in the identification, analysis, mitigation, and escalation of security risks, anomalies, vulnerabilities, events, and incidents to the Manager, ITS Cyber Defense, in accordance with established procedures. This position is accountable for timely incident handling, detailed case management documentation, advanced analysis of security alerts and threat intelligence, processing of mitigations, and escalation of confirmed or suspected threat activity.

Responsibilities

• Serves as a senior subject matter expert and escalation point for Cyber Defense, providing technical leadership and mentorship to team members.
• Monitors, analyzes, investigates, and responds to security alerts and events across endpoint, network, identity, email, and cloud environments using enterprise security tools.
• Performs alert triage and case management, including validating events, distinguishing false positives from true threats, documenting findings, assessing impact, and escalating in accordance with established procedures.
• Supports and leads incident response activities, including scoping, evidence review, forensic support, documentation, containment actions, and escalation into formal incident response processes.
• Administers and improves Cyber Defense technologies such as EDR, SIEM, NAC, vulnerability management tools, and other monitoring and control platforms, including tuning, troubleshooting, upgrades, and optimization.
• Leads detection and response improvements by tuning alerts, reducing false positives, identifying visibility gaps, and implementing enhancements to tools, processes, and workflows.
• Independently manages technical and operational improvement initiatives, including tool enhancements, process optimization, and reporting improvements, while communicating progress to stakeholders.
• Partners with internal teams and external vendors to support troubleshooting, remediation, tool effectiveness, and implementation of Cyber Defense capabilities.
• Contributes to the development and enhancement of Cyber Defense policies, standards, procedures, and compliance alignment with regulatory and audit requirements.
• Participates in the IT Security on-call rotation and responds to high-priority events and incidents as required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor\'s degree in Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Systems, Risk Management, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in information technology, information security, or risk-related roles.
• 5+ years of direct cybersecurity experience in areas such as security operations, incident response, cyber defense, detection engineering, or related security disciplines.
• Experience independently managing complex technical work, coordinating across teams, and driving security initiatives from assessment through implementation.
• Industry certifications such as CISSP, GIAC, GCIH, GCIA, GCFA, or equivalent are preferred.
• Working knowledge of applicable cybersecurity and privacy frameworks, standards, and regulations, including NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF), SOX, HIPAA, and NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500.
• Availability to support after-hours or on-call activities when needed for incident response, security events, or critical business requirements.

Total Rewards

Selective Insurance offers a total rewards package that includes a competitive base salary, incentive plan eligibility at all levels, and a wide array of benefits designed to help you and your family stay healthy, achieve your financial goals, and balance the demands of your work and personal life. These benefits include comprehensive health care plans, retirement savings plan with company match, discounted Employee Stock Purchase Program, tuition assistance and reimbursement programs, and 20 days of paid time off. Additional details about our total rewards package can be found by visiting our benefits page.

The actual base salary is based on geographic location, and the range is representative of salaries for this role throughout Selective\'s footprint. Additional considerations include relevant education, qualifications, experience, skills, performance, and business needs.

Pay Range

USD $130,000.00 - USD $176,000.00 /Yr.

Additional Information

Selective is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. That means we respect and value every individual\'s unique opinions, beliefs, abilities, and perspectives. We are committed to promoting a welcoming culture that celebrates diverse talent, individual identity, different points of view and experiences - and empowers employees to contribute new ideas that support our continued and growing success. Building a highly engaged team is one of our core strategic imperatives, which we believe is enhanced by diversity, equity, and inclusion. We expect and encourage all employees and all of our business partners to embrace, practice, and monitor the attitudes, values, and goals of acceptance; address biases; and foster diversity of viewpoints and opinions.

For Massachusetts Applicants

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.