Cloud Security Engineer (L2)

Avatar Recruitment; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 540,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Avatar Recruitment is seeking a Cloud Security Engineer to join the Security Operations and Engineering team in Cape Town. You will manage Azure security configurations, monitor Defender tooling, enforce governance, and respond to incidents to protect cloud workloads.

The role focuses on secure cloud infrastructure, risk management, and continuous improvement of security capabilities with collaboration across Security Operations, Infrastructure, and Cloud Engineering teams.

Qualifications

• Degree in Information Security, Computer Science, IT or related discipline.
• 3–5 years' experience in IT Security or Cloud Security.
• Hands-on Azure administration and cloud security experience.
• Experience with vulnerability management and security monitoring.
• Certifications advantageous: AZ-500, SC-200, SC-300, AZ-104.

Responsibilities

• Administer and maintain Azure security controls and configurations.
• Monitor Azure security posture through Defender and Azure-native tooling.
• Ensure compliance with governance and risk management frameworks.
• Investigate security incidents and alerts with SOC collaboration.
• Support threat detection, monitoring and logging activities and incident response.
• Assist with security reporting and documentation.

Education

Degree in Information Security/Computer Science/IT or related discipline

Tools

Azure

Microsoft Defender

Entra ID

Azure Security Centre/ Defender for Cloud

Microsoft Sentinel

PIM

RBAC

KQL

Job description

Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa | Predominantly Onsite | Intermediate Job Purpose

We are seeking a Cloud Security Engineer to join the Security Operations and Engineering team. The successful candidate will be responsible for the operational security, governance, monitoring and ongoing management of Azure cloud environments. The role will focus on maintaining secure cloud infrastructure, enforcing security controls, ensuring compliance, responding to security incidents and driving continuous improvement of cloud security capabilities. The successful candidate will work closely with Security Operations, Infrastructure, Identity Management and Cloud Engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

Azure Cloud Security Management

Administer and maintain Azure security controls and configurations. Manage and monitor Azure security posture through Microsoft Defender and Azure-native security tooling. Ensure compliance of: Privileged Identity Management (PIM) Role Based Access Control (RBAC) Service Principals Managed Identities Break Glass Accounts Maintain cloud security baselines and standards. Monitor cloud infrastructure for threats, security events and vulnerabilities. Investigate security alerts and recommend remediation activities. Support threat detection, monitoring and logging activities. Assist with cloud incident response and remediation. Ensure compliance with governance and risk management frameworks. Support cloud security hardening initiatives.

Identity & Access Security

Maintain Azure AD / Entra security controls. Monitor privileged access activities. Support identity governance reviews. Conduct access reviews and permissions audits. Ensure compliance with Zero Trust principles.

Vulnerability Management

Work with system owners to remediate identified vulnerabilities. Perform vulnerability reviews and risk assessments. Assist with security compliance reviews.

Security Operations

Investigate security incidents and alerts. Collaborate with SOC teams during incident response activities. Support remediation and lessons learned exercises. Assist with security reporting and compliance documentation.

Automation & Continuous Improvement

Support automation initiatives using PowerShell, Logic Apps, Sentinel Automation Rules and Playbooks. Identify opportunities for operational improvement. Assist with developing security operational runbooks and documentation.

Minimum Requirements

• Education Degree in Information Security, Computer Science, Information Technology or related discipline preferred.
• Relevant Microsoft certifications advantageous.
• Experience 3–5 years' experience in IT Security or Cloud Security.
• Hands‑on Azure administration and cloud security experience.
• Experience with vulnerability management and security monitoring.
• Technical Skills Microsoft Azure Microsoft Defender Suite Microsoft Entra ID Azure Security Centre / Defender for Cloud Microsoft Sentinel PIM RBAC KQL Security monitoring and incident response Vulnerability management.
• Certifications Advantageous AZ-500 SC-200 SC-300 AZ-104