Senior Cybersecurity Analyst

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 over 50,000 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

Serves as an experienced individual contributor within the university's cybersecurity operations, responsible for independently handling advanced monitoring, investigation, and response activities. This role contributes to and advances detection, data protection, and compliance processes, supports and helps drive risk and governance initiatives, participates in and promotes cybersecurity awareness efforts, and provides guidance to junior analysts while operating within established procedures and escalation paths.

Responsibilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Independently monitors, investigates, and responds to cybersecurity alerts, incidents, and policy violations across enterprise security platforms
2. Serves as a lead responder for routine to moderately complex security events, coordinating response efforts and escalating higher risk incidents according to established routes
3. Analyzes logs, alerts, and user behavior anomalies to determine potential impact and root cause
4. Supports and continuously refines data protection and compliance controls, including Microsoft Purview DLP, sensitivity labels, retention policies, and eDiscovery workflows
5. Documents investigations, findings, and remediation actions to support compliance, audit, and reporting requirements
6. Monitors security events and detections using SIEM tools such as Microsoft Sentinel and/or Log Analytics
7. Supports governance, risk, and compliance activities by generating evidence, reports, and operational metrics
8. Participates in cybersecurity awareness initiatives, helping to coordinate phishing simulations, training campaigns, and awareness events
9. Assists with the development and delivery of cybersecurity awareness communications and outreach efforts in coordination with internal stakeholders
10. Collaborates with IT, HR, Compliance, and departmental teams to resolve security issues and improve operational effectiveness
11. Provides informal guidance, mentorship, and knowledge sharing to cybersecurity analysts to support consistent practices
12. Participates in security process improvements and tool enhancement initiatives helping advance departmental priorities
13. Contributes to and participates in cybersecurity awareness initiatives and institutional outreach activities

Required Qualifications

Educational Requirements
Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher education.

Required Experience
Four (4) years of progressively responsible experience in cybersecurity, information security, or a related Information Technology discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

Additional Preferred Qualifications
Professional certifications such as CompTIA Security+, Microsoft SC-200 or SC-400, or comparable mid-level cybersecurity certifications

Preferred Educational Qualifications
An advanced degree from an accredited institution of higher education in Cybersecurity, Information Security, Information Systems, or a related field
A degree in Cybersecurity, Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field is preferred

Preferred Experience
Experience supporting cybersecurity operations within higher education, healthcare, utilities, or government environments

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

ABILITIES
Demonstrated capability to review and analyze security alerts, logs, and reports to identify potential threats, misuse, or policy violations and recommend appropriate action
Proven ability to conduct security investigations independently within defined procedures and determine appropriate escalation paths and response recommendations
Capability to support governance, risk, and compliance activities, including audit preparation, reporting, and remediation tracking, and continuous improvement efforts
Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders across the organization to support security and compliance objectives
Able to handle multiple tasks or projects at one time meeting assigned deadlines

KNOWLEDGE
Experience working with cybersecurity monitoring, alert triage, and incident response processes in an enterprise environment
Familiarity with Microsoft 365 security and compliance services, including Purview, Sentinel, eDiscovery, and Compliance Manager
Understanding of data protection, information governance, and regulatory requirements such as FERPA, HIPAA, PCI, and related standards
Experience documenting incidents, investigative findings, and compliance evidence using ticketing or case management systems to support remediation and audit activities
Awareness of common cyber threats and adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures across typical attack stages

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