Technical Lead – Cyber Defence (OT & Critical Infrastructure)

📍 Brisbane – Hybrid
💰 Up to $1130/day + Super
📅 15-month contract

We are currently partnering with a major utility organisation responsible for delivering essential services to millions of Australians. As part of a significant cyber security uplift program, they are seeking an experienced Technical Lead – Cyber Defence Specialist to strengthen their security operations and defensive capability across both IT and Operational Technology (OT) environments.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role focused on improving cyber detection, response, and resilience within a critical infrastructure environment.

The Opportunity

Utilities operate some of the most complex and sensitive technology environments in Australia. Their operational technology (OT) platforms, including industrial control systems, field devices, and process networks, underpin essential services that communities depend on every day.

With increasing cyber threats targeting critical infrastructure, organisations are investing heavily in strengthening their Security Operations Centres (SOC), threat detection capability, and OT cyber resilience.

This role will sit within a major cyber security transformation program, helping to deliver improvements across:

• Security monitoring and SOC capability uplift
• SIEM / detection engineering
• Threat intelligence and threat hunting
• OT vulnerability discovery and remediation
• Security platform engineering
• Incident response readiness and operational maturity

You will work closely with cyber engineers, architects, operational teams, and program leadership to ensure security controls are technically effective, operationally practical, and aligned to critical infrastructure regulatory requirements.

Key Responsibilities

Cyber Defence & SOC Capability

• Provide hands-on technical leadership across cyber defence initiatives.
• Enhance SOC architecture and operational capability, improving detection and response outcomes.
• Lead the development and tuning of security monitoring and detection use cases.
• Translate threat intelligence and business risks into actionable detection logic.

Detection Engineering & Threat Analysis

• Develop and optimise detection capabilities using SIEM platforms (Microsoft Sentinel preferred).
• Create and refine analytics rules, alerts, and correlation logic.
• Perform threat hunting and threat modelling using frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK (including ICS/OT matrices).
• Improve visibility across enterprise IT and industrial control system environments.

OT Cyber Security

• Support the design and implementation of OT vulnerability management capability.
• Identify vulnerabilities across industrial environments and develop risk-based remediation strategies.
• Ensure security monitoring and controls are compatible with operational technology constraints, including safety and availability requirements.

Security Platform Engineering

• Contribute to the design, integration and optimisation of security technologies including:
  • SIEM
  • Extended Detection & Response (XDR)
  • Firewalls and Secure Web Gateways
  • Security automation / SOAR capabilities
• Support the onboarding of new systems and telemetry sources into the SOC.

Incident Response & Operational Readiness

• Develop and improve incident response playbooks and SOC runbooks.
• Strengthen the organisation’s Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) capability.
• Improve operational readiness through automation, process improvement and playbook development.

Cyber Strategy Alignment

• Ensure initiatives align with the organisation’s cyber security strategy and regulatory obligations, including:
  • ACSC Essential Eight
  • NIST Cybersecurity Framework
  • Security of Critical Infrastructure (SOCI) obligations

What We're Looking For

We are looking for a senior cyber security professional with deep technical expertise, particularly within security operations and detection engineering.

You should be comfortable working hands-on across complex enterprise and OT environments, while also guiding teams and influencing stakeholders.

Key Experience

• Strong experience working in Security Operations / Cyber Defence roles
• Hands-on experience with SIEM platforms (Microsoft Sentinel highly desirable)
• Experience developing detection rules, threat hunting techniques, and security analytics
• Understanding of OT / ICS security challenges in industrial or critical infrastructure environments
• Experience integrating security tooling across enterprise IT and operational technology networks
• Experience developing incident response processes, playbooks, and automation
• Knowledge of cyber security frameworks such as:
  • NIST CSF
  • ACSC Essential Eight
  • MITRE ATT&CK
  • IEC 62443 (desirable)

Certifications (desirable)

• CISSP
• GIAC / SANS certifications
• Microsoft security certifications (SC-100 / SC-200)
• Incident response or cyber operations certifications

Why This Role Is Unique

This role offers the opportunity to work on cyber defence within critical infrastructure, where security outcomes directly impact real-world services relied on by communities.

You’ll be working within a large-scale cyber security program, collaborating with experienced engineers and architects to build a modern, resilient security operations capability across complex IT and OT environments.

If you enjoy solving complex technical problems, improving cyber defence capability, and working on systems that truly matter, this role offers a high-impact opportunity.