Location Canberra Work Site Onsite Employment Type 12 Months (Initial Contract) Closing Date 11 Dec, 2026 Senior Consultant
- Automation in Cyber A senior consultant to turn manual security and compliance work into audited, reusable automation. Kestrel Eight is looking for a senior consultant to automate security controls and compliance work for an Australian Government agency’s infrastructure team, for 12 months from 1 December 2026. The role is onsite in Canberra. Apply Now The Role You will use automation to make the agency’s cyber security controls repeatable, evidenced and easy for its own staff to run. The focus is turning manual security and compliance work, such as hardening, patching, vulnerability remediation and evidence gathering, into automation that is version controlled, peer reviewed and aligned to the Information Security Manual (ISM) and the Essential Eight. You will work alongside the agency’s infrastructure and security teams. What You Will Do The scope of this role is being finalised with the client, so your duties may include some or all of the following.
• Automate security hardening and configuration baselines for RHEL and OpenShift, aligned to the ISM.
• Build the automation behind Essential Eight controls, including operating system patching and the evidence that it has been done.
• Automate vulnerability and CVE remediation workflows, from detection through to a verified fix.
• Write and maintain Ansible playbooks, roles and pipelines in GitLab, following version control and peer review practice.
• Implement compliance and policy checks as code, so that drift from an agreed baseline is detected and reported.
• Integrate automation with security tooling such as vulnerability scanners, SIEM and ticketing, where required.
• Automate routine security operations tasks where it is safe to do so.
• Document designs, runbooks and Standard Operating Procedures, and hand the automation over to agency staff through knowledge transfer.
• Work within change-controlled processes and produce the evidence needed for audit. What You Will Bring
• 5+ years of experience in automation, DevOps or platform engineering, including time in a security or compliance driven environment.
• Solid Ansible experience, with Ansible Automation Platform preferred.
• Working knowledge of the ISM and the Essential Eight, and how to turn controls into automated checks.
• Solid Linux skills, including RHEL hardening and patching.
• Experience with Git, GitLab CI/CD and infrastructure as code.




• Experience delivering automation that survives an audit and changes in staff.
• Experience working in large, regulated, change-controlled environments.
• Good documentation and mentoring skills. Well Regarded
• SIEM or SOAR experience.
• A Red Hat or security certification. Contract Details Detail Value Rate Competitive daily rate Term 12 Months (Initial Contract). Extension not yet confirmed. Location Canberra, onsite (must be Canberra based) Start 1 December 2026, subject to client onboarding Clearance Active Australian Government NV1 clearance, or one that can be readily reinstated

How to Apply
Apply with a current CV using the button below, or email [email protected]. Only candidates who hold, or can quickly reinstate, an NV1 clearance can be considered. Apply Now Kestrel Eight is an Australian IT advisory and delivery firm. We place senior, locally based practitioners into enterprise and government programs across delivery, architecture, integration and platform modernisation. Location Canberra Work Site Onsite Employment Type 12 Months (Initial Contract) Closing Date 11 Dec, 2026 Senior Consultant
- Automation in Cyber A senior consultant to turn manual security and compliance work into audited, reusable automation. Kestrel Eight is looking for a senior consultant to automate security controls and compliance work for an Australian Government agency’s infrastructure team, for 12 months from 1 December 2026. The role is onsite in Canberra. Apply Now The Role You will use automation to make the agency’s cyber security controls repeatable, evidenced and easy for its own staff to run. The focus is turning manual security and compliance work, such as hardening, patching, vulnerability remediation and evidence gathering, into automation that is version controlled, peer reviewed and aligned to the Information Security Manual (ISM) and the Essential Eight. You will work alongside the agency’s infrastructure and security teams. What You Will Do The scope of this role is being finalised with the client, so your duties may include some or all of the following.




• Automate security hardening and configuration baselines for RHEL and OpenShift, aligned to the ISM.
• Build the automation behind Essential Eight controls, including operating system patching and the evidence that it has been done.
• Automate vulnerability and CVE remediation workflows, from detection through to a verified fix.
• Write and maintain Ansible playbooks, roles and pipelines in GitLab, following version control and peer review practice.
• Implement compliance and policy checks as code, so that drift from an agreed baseline is detected and reported.
• Integrate automation with security tooling such as vulnerability scanners, SIEM and ticketing, where required.
• Automate routine security operations tasks where it is safe to do so.
• Document designs, runbooks and Standard Operating Procedures, and hand the automation over to agency staff through knowledge transfer.
• Work within change-controlled processes and produce the evidence needed for audit. What You Will Bring
• 5+ years of experience in automation, DevOps or platform engineering, including time in a security or compliance driven environment.
• Strong Ansible experience, with Ansible Automation Platform preferred.
• Working knowledge of the ISM and the Essential Eight, and how to turn controls into automated checks.
• Solid Linux skills, including RHEL hardening and patching.
• Experience with Git, GitLab CI/CD and infrastructure as code.
• Experience delivering automation that survives an audit and changes in staff.
• Experience working in large, regulated, change-controlled environments.
• Good documentation and mentoring skills. Well Regarded
• SIEM or SOAR experience.
• A Red Hat or security certification. Contract Details Detail Value Rate Competitive daily rate Term 12 Months (Initial Contract). Extension not yet confirmed. Location Canberra, onsite (must be Canberra based) Start 1 December 2026, subject to client onboarding Clearance Active Australian Government NV1 clearance, or one that can be readily reinstated

How to Apply
Apply with a current CV using the button below, or email [email protected]. Only candidates who hold, or can quickly reinstate, an NV1 clearance can be considered. Apply Now Kestrel Eight is an Australian IT advisory and delivery firm. We place senior, locally based practitioners into enterprise and government programs across delivery, architecture, integration and platform modernisation.

📌 Senior Consultant (Canberra)
🏢 Kestrel Eight
📍 Canberra