Senior Security Specialist - Cyber Defence

Worker Type:

Permanent

Here at BNZ, it's about more than just banking. We work together in an agile, energising environment to create innovative solutions through our promise "If you can imagine a better future, let's find a way."

We support wellbeing, flexible working and have a generous leave offering. There is the opportunity for growth, learning and career development. No two days are the same.

At the heart of BNZ’s digital resilience is our cyber team – a passionate, high performing group of experts who protect our systems, data, and people from evolving cyber threats. Be part of one. In our Cyber Defence function, we combine cutting-edge technology with deep expertise to defend against real-world attacks, ensuring the trust of our customers and integrity of our operations.

You’ll collaborate across security operations, threat intelligence, incident response, and security engineering contributing to a culture of vigilance, innovation and continuous improvement.

If you’re driven by purpose, thrive in high-stakes situations, and want to work alongside some of the best minds in cyber security – this is the team for you.

This role can be based in Auckland or Wellington. It is a hybrid role with three days in the office – Monday Tuesday and Thursday – and two days with the option to work flexibly.

Mō te Tūranga | About the Role

We sat down with the People Leader (who you would report to) and they told us the following about the role:

What is the team culture and environment like?

Supportive and collaborative, with strong incident rhythms and a practical “get it done properly” mindset. You’ll be backed by experienced responders, expected to learn fast, and encouraged to speak up, share context, and help remove friction for the team - especially when we’re handling live events.

What are the five day‑to‑day tasks the person will complete?

• Lead complex incident response activities, including investigation, containment strategy, root‑cause analysis and lessons learned.
• Proactively hunt for threats using hypothesis‑driven approaches aligned to attacker techniques and real‑world intelligence.
• Improve detection‑to‑response workflows, including playbook refinement and contribution to SOAR automation and response acceleration.
• Design, build and maintain detection use cases across SIEM, EDR and relevant cloud telemetry to improve signal quality and coverage.
• Mentor and uplift other analysts and specialists, sharing knowledge and shaping better detection and response outcomes across the team.

What is the most exciting thing about this opportunity?

BNZ provides the opportunity to work on complex, high‑impact security challenges while being supported by a people‑focused culture. There is strong alignment between purpose, trust, and accountability, and the bank actively invests in its people, capability uplift, and long‑term resilience. The work is meaningful, and the environment encourages both technical excellence and balance.

What is your favourite thing about working for BNZ?

BNZ offers a strong benefits package for eligible colleagues — including six weeks annual leave (an additional two weeks on top of standard annual leave), alongside a range of wellbeing and lifestyle benefits.

What attributes will this person display in order to be successful in this role?

A successful Senior Security Specialist will be proactive, technically credible, and outcome‑driven. They will demonstrate strong analytical thinking, sound judgement under pressure, and the ability to lead incident response activities confidently. They will take ownership of incident response and threat response ops, mentor others, and continuously look for ways to improve security outcomes. Comfort with AI‑enabled security capabilities, excellent communication skills, and the ability to influence across technical and non‑technical stakeholders will be critical to success.

What Technical skills are required for this role?

• Strong experience in detection engineering, threat hunting, DFIR or senior incident response roles.
• Deep hands‑on expertise with SIEM and EDR platforms, including detection logic, alert tuning and telemetry analysis.
• Advanced understanding of ATT&CK‑based threat behaviour, attack paths, and defensive detection strategies.
• Experience leading high‑severity cyber incidents, including technical decision‑making under pressure and post‑incident improvement.
• Exposure to SOAR, automation or detection engineering at scale is highly desirable.
• Practical experience applying AI‑enabled analytics and automation to improve detection fidelity, accelerate investigations and support response decisions in a regulated environment.

PLEASE NOTE: Advertising for this position closes Sunday 16 August at 11pm.

Nau Mai ki te Pēke o Aotearoa | Come to the Bank of New Zealand

This is an exciting opportunity to join us!  We're bold thinkers who are taking brave steps to create a company that people want to work for, and customers want to bank with. If you're ready to join a fun organisation where we are proud of our culture and how we are helping New Zealander's to 'Find their way', then show your interest by submitting your application - we can't wait to read it. 

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini" - Success is not the work of an individual, but the work of many.”

Closing Date: 16 August 2026

Applications will be reviewed regularly across the advertising period, but we do reserve the right to close applications early.