Senior Security Engineer

Te Ratonga Tautoko Hangarau \| Digital Services

Located in Ōtautahi \| Christchurch, Aotearoa \| New Zealand

Full-time (37.5 hours per week)

Permanent position

Generous annual leave provisions and professional development opportunities

Āu Mahi \| What You Will Do

The University of Canterbury (UC) is seeking a Senior Security Engineer to take a leading role in protecting and advancing our digital landscape. In this pivotal position, you’ll oversee and enhance our cybersecurity tooling, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of UC’s systems and data. You’ll be the technical expert who empowers secure operations and drives continual improvement in how we safeguard the University’s digital assets.

As part of our Digital Security Team, you will:

Implement and maintain security platforms and tools

Design, implement, and optimise security controls and contribute to security architecture, policies, standards and patterns that keep UC ahead of emerging threats

Provide expert security guidance and practical solutions that meet compliance and risk management standards whilst ensuring a good customer experience

Deliver hands-on engineering services to secure UC’s network, identities, data, infrastructure, and applications

Support incident response and champion best-practice cybersecurity across UC

Collaborate with Digital Services teams, Faculty, Research and Business Units and stakeholders to embed security into every layer of digital delivery.

Mōu \| Who You Are

You’re an experienced cybersecurity professional who thrives on solving complex challenges and staying ahead of threats. You’ll have:

10+ years’ experience in IT, with at least 5 years in cybersecurity within medium to large organisations

Proven expertise across modern security tools and practices, including Microsoft Security Tools, cloud security, vulnerability management platforms.

Strong technical knowledge in network security, firewalls, intrusion detection, encryption, authentication, and incident response

A track record of delivering robust cybersecurity solutions and influencing secure practices across teams

Relevant postgraduate qualifications and certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CRISC, MS500, AZ500, or equivalent

A collaborative mindset, excellent communication skills, and a commitment to continuous improvement

An alignment with our organisation's values and culture, promoting a positive and inclusive work environment.

Mahi Ngātahi \| Who You Will Work With

You'll join our Digital Security and Risk Team — a close-knit group of passionate professionals who thrive on collaboration, creativity, and making a real difference. We're not just here to tick boxes; we push boundaries, challenge the status quo, and innovate to create smarter, safer, and more resilient digital experiences for our staff, students, and community. People are at the heart of what we do. We believe great digital solutions start with listening, understanding, and working alongside those we serve.

You'll also be part of our wider Digital Services whānau — a large, dynamic team committed to building world-class digital capability. We're creating a modern, flexible foundation that enables the University to explore new business models, adopt better ways of working, and transform the way we connect, learn, and grow. Together, we're shaping a digital future where technology empowers people, and people inspire technology.

NgāPainga o UC \| Why UC

Ngā Uara \| Our Values of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and tiakitanga guide our decisions and behaviour and provide a roadmap for how we do things at UC, affirming our commitment to pastoral care and support for our ākonga and staff. They challenge and inspire us to be the best we can, and make UC a great place to work and study. For more info on Ngā Uara \| Our Values visit us here.

We are committed to accessible higher education, service to the community and the encouragement of talent without barriers of distance, wealth, class, gender or ethnicity. The University explicitly aims to produce graduates and support staff who are engaged with their communities, empowered to act for good and determined to make a difference in the world.

We offer a range of fantastic benefits including flexible work practices, study opportunities and generous superannuation and leave provisions. For more information, please visit us: Benefits of working at UC \| UC. For more information about Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha \| University of Canterbury, please visit https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/.

The closing date for this position is: 27 November 2025 (midnight, NZ time)

Please note, applications will be reviewed as they are received, and interviews may take place before the close date.

Pēheatetonomai \| How You Apply

Applications for this position must be submitted via our careers website and should include a cover letter and resume.

Please note, we do not accept applications by email, however we are happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to WorkatUC@canterbury.ac.nz

You must have Aotearoa New Zealand or Australian citizenship/permanent residency or hold a valid NZ work visa to be considered for this role.

Job Details

Reference # 29795

Posted on 13 Nov 2025

Closes on 27 Nov 2025 23:55

Location(s) Christchurch

Expertise Information Technology

Job level(s) Experienced

Work type(s) Continuing (Permanent) full-time