Sr. Cyber Defense Specialist (Hybrid)

Selective Insurance Company of America•Hartford, CT

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The ITS Cyber Defense Senior Specialist is a senior individual contributor and subject matter expert who strengthens the organization’s cyber defense posture through a blend of Security Operations Center (SOC), incident response, and security engineering expertise. This role protects enterprise information systems and data from intentional or accidental destruction, disruption, or modification while minimizing the impact on those who need legitimate access to systems, files, networks, and data. The position independently leads and executes complex cybersecurity initiatives from planning through implementation, improves defensive controls and processes, drives detection and response activities for advanced threats, and serves as a trusted technical resource across IT, business teams, and external partners. The role works closely across IT teams and business units to identify security gaps, define requirements, recommend solutions, and communicate risks, status, and recommendations clearly to both technical and business stakeholders. Provides expert-level consulting, leadership, and escalation support in the identification, analysis, mitigation, and escalation of security risks, anomalies, vulnerabilities, events, and incidents to the Manager, ITS Cyber Defense, in accordance with established procedures. This position is accountable for timely incident handling, detailed case management documentation, advanced analysis of security alerts and threat intelligence, processing of mitigations, and escalation of confirmed or suspected threat activity.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Systems, Risk Management, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
7+ years of progressive experience in information technology, information security, or risk-related roles.
5+ years of direct cybersecurity experience in areas such as security operations, incident response, cyber defense, detection engineering, or related security disciplines.
Experience independently managing complex technical work, coordinating across teams, and driving security initiatives from assessment through implementation.
Working knowledge of applicable cybersecurity and privacy frameworks, standards, and regulations, including NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF), SOX, HIPAA, and NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500.
Availability to support after-hours or on-call activities when needed for incident response, security events, or critical business requirements.

Nice To Haves

Industry certifications such as CISSP, GIAC, GCIH, GCIA, GCFA, or equivalent are preferred.

Responsibilities

Serves as a senior subject matter expert and escalation point for Cyber Defense, providing technical leadership and mentorship to team members.
Monitors, analyzes, investigates, and responds to security alerts and events across endpoint, network, identity, email, and cloud environments using enterprise security tools.
Performs alert triage and case management, including validating events, distinguishing false positives from true threats, documenting findings, assessing impact, and escalating in accordance with established procedures.
Supports and leads incident response activities, including scoping, evidence review, forensic support, documentation, containment actions, and escalation into formal incident response processes.
Administers and improves Cyber Defense technologies such as EDR, SIEM, NAC, vulnerability management tools, and other monitoring and control platforms, including tuning, troubleshooting, upgrades, and optimization.
Leads detection and response improvements by tuning alerts, reducing false positives, identifying visibility gaps, and implementing enhancements to tools, processes, and workflows.
Independently manages technical and operational improvement initiatives, including tool enhancements, process optimization, and reporting improvements, while communicating progress to stakeholders.
Partners with internal teams and external vendors to support troubleshooting, remediation, tool effectiveness, and implementation of Cyber Defense capabilities.
Contributes to the development and enhancement of Cyber Defense policies, standards, procedures, and compliance alignment with regulatory and audit requirements.
Participates in the IT Security on-call rotation and responds to high-priority events and incidents as required.