Job Details

Principal Cybersecurity Analyst

Position Number: 6919104
Location: Kennesaw, GA
Position Type: Computing - Network/System Administration

Principal Cybersecurity Analyst

Job ID: 294689
Location: Kennesaw, Georgia
Full/Part Time: Full Time
Regular/Temporary: Regular

About Us

Are you ready to transform lives through academic excellence, innovative research, strong community partnerships and economic opportunity? Kennesaw State University is one of the 50 largest public institutions in the country. With growing enrollment and global reach, we continue to expand our institutional influence and prominence beyond the state of Georgia. We offer more than 190 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to empower our 47,000 students to become thought leaders, lifelong learners, and informed global citizens. Our entrepreneurial spirit, high-impact research, and Division I athletics draw students from throughout the region and from more than 100 countries across the globe. Our university's vibrant culture, career opportunities, rich benefits, and values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity, and accountability make us an employer of choice. We are part of the University System of Georgia. We are searching for talented people to join Kennesaw State University in our vision. Come Take Flight at KSU!

Location

(Primary Location for Job Responsibilities) Our Kennesaw campus is located at 1000 Chastain Road NW, Kennesaw, GA 30144.

Our Marietta campus is located at 1100 South Marietta Parkway, Marietta, GA 30060.

Job Summary

Leads incident response and strengthen our security posture across cloud and on-prem environments. Provides technical leadership in investigations and partners with teams to implement effective security controls, offering oversight and guidance in support of the security operations department and the handling of security events. Possess deep technical expertise, mentoring ability, and a strong understanding of modern threat landscapes.

Responsibilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: -
1. Delivers strategic oversight and operational leadership to the security operations department, aligning capabilities with organizational security goals
2. Leads incident response and serve as escalation point for complex security events
3. Mentors and contributes to team development
4. Enhances security posture through proactive threat detection and mitigation
5. Collaborates with teams to implement security controls and best practices
6. Provides technical expertise in investigations and threat analysis
7. Supports cloud (Azure, AWS, etc.) and on-premises security initiatives
8. Applies defense-in-depth principles and assess application security risks (OWASP Top 10)
9. Uses penetration testing tools and evaluates security controls based on cybersecurity principles

Required Qualifications

Educational Requirements
Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher education in related field

Required Experience
Six (6) years Information Technology Security or other Information Technology related experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Additional Preferred Qualifications
Professional certification, such as CISSP, CISA, etc.
Knowledge of EDR platforms (CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Microsoft Defender, or similar tool)

Preferred Educational Qualifications
An advanced degree from an accredited institution of higher education in Cybersecurity, Information Security and Assurance, or related field

Preferred Experience
Experience with SIEM tools (Splunk, Elastic, Microsoft Sentinel, or similar tool)
Experience with vulnerability management tools (Rapid7, Tenable, Microsoft Defender, or similar tool)

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

ABILITIES
Security control implementation and technical investigation
Mentoring and cross-functional collaboration
Lead incident response and threat analysis
Design scalable security solutions
Communicate technical findings effectively
Strengthen security posture across hybrid environments
Able to handle multiple tasks or projects at one time meeting assigned deadlines
Able to anticipate security threats and proactively develop appropriate solutions
Able to function with autonomy, make sound and timely decisions, and use good judgement to determine which decisions should be escalated

KNOWLEDGE
Incident response, SIEM, EDR, SOAR, cloud security, IAM, vulnerability management
Security frameworks (CIS, NIST, ISO 27001)
Application security risks (OWASP Top 10) and penetration testing tools
Network traffic analysis and log review
Knowledge of EDR platforms (CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Microsoft Defender, or similar tool)

SKILLS
Excellent interpersonal, initiative, teamwork, problem solving, independent judgment, organization, communication (verbal and written), time management, project management, and presentation skills
Proficient with computer applications and programs associated with the position (i.e., Microsoft Office suite)
Strong attention to detail and follow up skills
Strong customer service skills and phone and e-mail etiquette

USG Core Values

The University System of Georgia is comprised of our 25 institutions of higher education and learning as well as the System Office. Our USG Statement of Core Values are Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, and Respect. These values serve as the foundation for all that we do as an organization, and each USG community member is responsible for demonstrating and upholding these standards. More details on the USG Statement of Core Values and Code of Conduct are available in USG Board Policy 8.2.18.1.2 and can be found on-line at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section8/C224/#p8.2.18_personnel_conduct.

Additionally, USG supports Freedom of Expression as stated in Board Policy 6.5 Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom found on-line at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section6/C2653.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Kennesaw State University is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. The University is committed to maintaining a fair and respectful environment for living, work and study. To that end, and in accordance with federal and state law, Board of Regents policy, and University policy, the University prohibits harassment of or discrimination against any person because of race, color, sex (including sexual harassment, pregnancy, and medical conditions related to pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity or national origin, religion, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran or military status by any member of the KSU Community on campus, in connection with a University program or activity, or in a manner that creates a hostile environment for members of the KSU community.

For additional information on this policy, or to file a complaint under the provisions of this policy, students, employees, applicants for employment or admission or other third parties should contact the Office of Institutional Equity at English Building, Suite 225, eeo@kennesaw.edu.

Other Information

This is not a supervisory position.
This position has financial responsibilities.
This position will not be required to drive.
This role is considered a position of trust.
This position does not require a purchasing card (P-Card).
This position may travel 1% - 24% of the time
This position does not require security clearance.

Background Check

Credit Report
Standard Enhanced
Education

Per the University System of Georgia background check policy, all final candidates will be required to consent to a criminal background investigation. Final candidates may be asked to disclose criminal record history during the initial screening process and prior to a conditional offer of employment. Applicants for positions of trust with screening
results which confirm a disqualifying criminal history will be immediately disqualified from employment eligibility.

All applicants are required to include professional references as part of their application process. Some positions may require additional job-based screenings such as motor vehicle report, credit check, pre-employment drug screening and/or verification of academic credentials.

https://www.usg.edu/hr/assets/hr/hrap_manual/HRAP_Background_Investigation_Employment.pdf

To apply, visit https://careers.hprod.onehcm.usg.edu/psp/careers/CAREERS/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM_FL.HRS_CG_SEARCH_FL.GBL?Page=HRS_APP_JBPST_FL&Action=U&FOCUS=Applicant&SiteId=43000&JobOpeningId=294689&PostingSeq=1