Senior Cybersecurity Officer

About the Role
The Cybersecurity Officer is responsible for overseeing the organization's cybersecurity posture, ensuring that security policies, controls, and practices effectively protect information assets and align with business objectives. This role involves designing, implementing, and maintaining the organization's security infrastructure and controls to protect systems, networks, applications, and data from cyber threats. It combines governance, risk management, compliance oversight, and hands-on technical expertise with a proactive security mindset. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker with hands-on security knowledge, capable of translating cyber risks into business language and driving organization-wide security initiatives while ensuring regulatory and contractual obligations are met.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (Master's preferred).
• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CEH, GCIH, GCIA, OSCP, or GPEN.
• Cloud security certifications (AWS Security Specialty, Azure Security Engineer).
• Foundational certification such as GIAC, CompTIA Security+, or CySA+.

Experience

• 5–10 years of experience in cybersecurity, information security, risk, or compliance roles.
• Experience with governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) programs and frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with security tools (SIEM, EDR, firewalls, IDS/IPS, vulnerability scanners).
• Experience securing cloud environments (AWS, Azure, G42) and containerized workloads.

Skills

• Strong communication skills; ability to explain complex security concepts clearly.
• Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving abilities.

Technical Competencies

• Strong knowledge of security frameworks (ISO 27001, NIST CSF, CIS Controls, COBIT).
• Solid understanding of regulatory requirements (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOX, CCPA).
• Strong knowledge of network security, encryption, authentication, and endpoint protection.
• Proficiency with SIEM, SOAR, EDR, and vulnerability management platforms.
• Solid scripting skills (Python, PowerShell, Bash) for automation.
• Understanding of MITRE ATT&CK, NIST CSF, and OWASP Top 10.

Key Accountabilities
1. Security Governance & Strategy

• Develop, implement, and maintain the organization's cybersecurity strategy, policies, and standards.
• Align security initiatives with business goals, risk appetite, and regulatory requirements.
• Report security posture, risks, and metrics to leadership.

2. Risk Management

• Lead enterprise-wide cybersecurity risk assessments and identify critical gaps.
• Maintain the cybersecurity risk register and track remediation progress.
• Conduct business impact analyses (BIA) and support continuity planning.

3. Policy & Compliance Oversight

• Ensure compliance with frameworks and regulations (ISO 27001, NIST CSF, SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOX).
• Coordinate internal and external audits, certifications, and regulatory examinations.
• Manage security exceptions, waivers, and policy deviation requests.
• Maintain security documentation, evidence, and control matrices.

4. Security Awareness & Training

• Develop and deliver enterprise security awareness and training programs.
• Run phishing simulations and measure organizational resilience.
• Promote a security-first culture across all departments.
• Provide role-specific training for high-risk groups (finance, HR, IT, executives).

5. Security Architecture

• Design, deploy, and maintain security infrastructure, including firewalls, IDS/IPS, SIEM, EDR/XDR, DLP, and zero-trust solutions.
• Implement security controls across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments (AWS, Azure, G42).
• Develop and enforce security baselines, hardening standards, and configuration guidelines.

6. Threat Detection & Monitoring

• Operate and tune SIEM platforms (e.g., Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, IBM QRadar) to detect anomalous activity.
• Build detection rules, use cases, and alert logic aligned with MITRE ATT&CK framework.
• Monitor security events, investigate alerts, and escalate confirmed incidents.
• Conduct threat hunting to proactively identify hidden threats and indicators of compromise (IOCs).

7. Vulnerability Management

• Perform vulnerability assessments, penetration testing coordination, and security scans.
• Prioritize and track remediation of vulnerabilities across infrastructure and applications.
• Manage patch management and configuration compliance processes.

8. Incident Response & Forensics

• Participate in incident response activities, including containment, eradication, and recovery.
• Perform digital forensics and root cause analysis for security incidents.
• Develop and maintain incident response playbooks and runbooks.
• Support post-incident reviews and implement lessons learned.

9. Identity & Access Management

• Implement and manage IAM solutions, including SSO, MFA, PAM, and RBAC.
• Enforce least-privilege access principles across systems and applications.
• Conduct periodic access reviews and privileged account audits.

10. Application & Cloud Security

• Conduct security reviews of applications, APIs, and cloud configurations.
• Secure cloud workloads, containers, and Kubernetes environments.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to remediate security findings.

11. Automation & Tooling

• Automate security tasks using scripting (Python, PowerShell, Bash) and orchestration tools.
• Evaluate, recommend, and implement new security technologies.
• Integrate security tools with SIEM, SOAR, and ticketing systems.
• Improve operational efficiency through automation and process optimization.

12. Collaboration & Communication

• Partner with Legal team and business teams on security initiatives.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on security engineering matters.
• Communicate security risks and recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Mentor junior security team members and share knowledge.