Principal Security Platforms Engineer

NTT DATA, Inc.; Durban; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

NTT DATA, Inc. is seeking a Principal Security Platforms Engineer to steer the Cortex XSIAM platform and related security platforms within an MSSP context.

You will own architecture, onboarding, and automation while guiding detection engineering and platform optimization across SOC teams. Bring 10+ years in security engineering or architecture, expertise in cloud security (Azure/AWS/GCP), and hands-on XSIAM/XDR experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in IT, Cyber Security, CS or related field.
• Experience with Cortex XSIAM architecture and operations.
• On-call and leadership experience in security engineering environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead platform architecture reviews and strategic evolution of security platforms.
• Onboard and integrate new security capabilities and detections.
• Mentor SOC engineers and analysts and guide incident response.

Skills

Cortex XSIAM

SIEM & XDR

Python

PowerShell

REST APIs

KQL

XQL

MITRE ATT&CK

Cloud security

Azure

AWS

GCP

Mentoring

Leadership

Stakeholder

Education

Bachelor's degree

Information Technology

Cyber Security

Computer Science

Tools

Broker-VMs

Job description

Make an impact with NTT DATA

Join a company that is pushing the boundaries of what is possible. We are renowned for our technical excellence and leading innovations, and for making a difference to our clients and society. Our workplace embraces diversity and inclusion - it's a place where you can grow, belong and thrive.

Your day at NTT DATA

Role Summary

The Principal Security Platforms Engineer serves as a subject matter expert for the MSSP's Palo Alto Cortex XSIAM platform but is not limited to and associated security operations technologies. The role is responsible for the strategic evolution, architecture, engineering, automation, onboarding, Agentic AI and operational excellence of the security platforms ecosystem incl. XSIAM.

The successful candidate will provide technical leadership across platform architecture, log onboarding and normalization, detection engineering, automation, content development, integrations, and advanced troubleshooting while acting as a technical mentor and escalation point for engineering and SOC teams.

This role combines Security Architecture, Security Engineering, Detection Engineering and Automation Engineering responsibilities to ensure the security platform continuously evolves to support managed security services, threat detection, incident response and customer onboarding requirements.

Key Responsibilities

XSIAM and Other Security Platforms

• Support the overall architecture, roadmap, and strategic evolution of the MSSP Cortex XSIAM platform and other security platforms.
• Design and maintain multi-tenant service architecture supporting managed security services customers alongside capability teams.
• Lead platform architecture reviews and recommend improvements to scalability, performance, resilience and cost optimization.
• Act as trusted advisor for onboarding, architecture, use-case development and platform optimization initiatives.
• Lead and build new service platform and automation for the SOC/security services
• Support platform upgrades, new integrations design, build and enhance, and feature adoption within XSIAM and other associated security platforms
• Act as L4 escalation support for complex platform issues such platform disruptions, ingestion failures, automation failures and detection gaps.
• Act as an advisor for the development and optimization of:
• Correlation and Suppression Rules
• Alert tuning strategies and Threat intelligence integrations
• Support to develop and maintain XQL-based use cases and detection logic.
• Support in improving the detection coverage by aligning content against MITRE ATT&CK techniques.
• Support in continuous reduction of false positives and alert fatigue.
• Review detection performance and recommend improvements based on threat trends and SOC feedback.
• Engage directly with vendor TAC and engineering teams on critical incidents.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to SOC, Engineering, and Customer Success teams.

• Review customer requirements and recommend security monitoring strategies.
• Develop and maintain:
• Platform standards
• Engineering procedures
• Integration guides
• Document and share operational and engineering knowledge across teams. Mentor Platform, Detection, and SOC Engineers and Analysts.
• Drive technical best practices across the MSSP security engineering function.

Knowledge and Attributes

• Strong knowledge of Cortex XSIAM architecture and operations, SIEM, SOAR, XDR, detection engineering, and modern SOC practices.
• Working knowledge of Python, PowerShell, Rest APIs, KQL, and XQL.
• Deep expertise in security telemetry normalization, correlation, MITRE ATT&CK, threat detection, automation, and orchestration.
• Strong cloud security experience across Azure, AWS, and GCP. Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, consulting, stakeholder engagement, communication, mentoring, and technical leadership skills, with the ability to independently drive complex platform initiatives.

Academic Qualifications And Certifications

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Cyber Security, Computer Science or related field.
• Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSIAM Engineer certification (advantageous).
• Relevant cloud security certifications across Azure, AWS or GCP.
• CISSP, CISM, CCSP or equivalent security certifications preferred.

Required Experience

• 10+ years in Cyber Security Engineering, Security Operations, or Security Architecture.
• 2+ years hands-on experience with Palo Alto Cortex XSIAM/XDR.
• Experience onboarding and normalizing SIEM/XDR telemetry and developing XQL queries, correlation rules, and detection content.
• Experience with automation, orchestration, APIs, Broker-VMs, and cloud-native integrations.
• Experience supporting MSSP or enterprise SOC environments and troubleshooting large-scale platform and ingestion issues.