Senior Cybersecurity Analyst

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, offering more than 190 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to over 50,000 students. 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. We are part of the University System of Georgia.

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.

About the Role

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

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

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher education
• Four (4) years of progressively responsible experience in cybersecurity, information security, or a related Information Technology discipline

Qualifications

• 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

Skills

• 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
• 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

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certifications such as CompTIA Security+, Microsoft SC-200 or SC-400, or comparable mid-level cybersecurity certifications
• 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
• Experience supporting cybersecurity operations within higher education, healthcare, utilities, or government environments

This position will require driving and may travel 1-24% of the time. A background check, including a motor vehicle report, is required for employment.