12-month contract (+extensions) | Geelong based | Hybrid role | State government Role

Your new company:

Join a large Victorian organisation delivering essential services to the community. Based in Geelong, the organisation is undertaking significant digital transformation and technology modernisation, with a strong focus on operational resilience, security and sustainable service delivery

Your new role:

This is a hands-on leadership prospect for an experienced cyber security professional to establish and shape a new security capability within a complex Azure environment.

As the Security Operations Lead, you will establish and lead the organisation’s initial security operations capability supporting its new Azure environment and associated services.

You will

- Design and implement security operations processes, procedures and governance.
- Define the operating model across internal teams, delivery partners and managed service providers.
- Lead the implementation and operational adoption of Security Operations Centre capabilities.
- Establish security monitoring, alert management, triage and incident response processes.
- Drive the operational use of Microsoft Sentinel, Defender, Purview and Azure security services.
- Lead cyber incident coordination, escalation, response and recovery activities.
- Support the secure transition of cloud and platform services into production.
- Develop operational metrics, dashboards, playbooks and handover documentation.
- Identify capability gaps and recommend practical improvements to strengthen cyber resilience.

What you'll need to succeed: To be successful in this role, you will bring:

- Strong experience leading security operations, cyber defence,



incident response, cyber resilience or Security Operations Centre functions.
- Proven experience establishing or maturing a security operations capability.
- Hands-on knowledge of Microsoft Sentinel, Defender, Purview and Azure security services.
- Experience supporting cloud transformation, platform transition or major technology change within a complex enterprise environment.
- Practical experience leading cyber incident management, escalation and operational recovery.
- Strong knowledge of security monitoring, threat detection, alert triage and operational security processes.
- The ability to coordinate and influence internal teams, cloud engineers, architects, managed service providers and delivery partners.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical matters into practical business outcomes.
- Sound risk-based decision-making skills in changing and ambiguous environments.
- Experience in government, insurance or another highly regulated environment will be highly regarded. Relevant security certifications and knowledge of the Victorian Protective Data Security Framework and Essential Eight would also be advantageous.

What you'll get in return:

- Inclusive & collaborative team
- Long term state government role
- Flexible working

What you need to do now: Speak to our Experts in Technology for a confidential discussion or send through your updated resume for immediate consideration.

Hays appreciates the importance of workforce diversity and inclusion. We are an equal opportunities employer and have policies, procedures and relationships in place to promote our understanding of all forms of diversity.

📌 Security Operations Lead (Geelong)
🏢 Hays
📍 Geelong