Cyber Defense Consultant - SME📣 Job Ad

About the Role

Accenture Middle East is seeking a highly experienced Cyber Defense Consultant - SME to join our team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This full-time role is critical in designing, implementing, and maintaining robust enterprise security architectures that align with business objectives, technological advancements, and stringent compliance requirements. You will be instrumental in shaping the security posture of our clients, ensuring their digital assets are protected against evolving threats.

As a Subject Matter Expert, you will provide deep technical guidance and strategic insights across various security domains, including cloud, network, applications, identity, data, and infrastructure. Your expertise will be vital in embedding security from the initial design phases of new systems and transformation programs, ensuring a secure-by-design approach is consistently adopted.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and maintain enterprise security architecture aligned with business, technology, and compliance requirements.
• Define security standards, reference architectures, patterns, and guardrails for cloud, network, applications, identity, data, and infrastructure.
• Review solution designs to ensure security requirements are embedded from the early design stage.
• Conduct security architecture assessments for new systems, platforms, integrations, and transformation programs.
• Identify security risks, recommend appropriate controls, and support the development and execution of risk treatment plans.
• Collaborate effectively with infrastructure, cloud, application, network, IAM, SOC, GRC, and OT teams to ensure secure-by-design implementation.
• Translate complex business and technical requirements into practical and actionable security controls.
• Support the implementation of advanced security models including Zero Trust, defense-in-depth, segmentation, least privilege, secure access, and secure monitoring.
• Define comprehensive security requirements for third-party integrations, APIs, remote access solutions, cloud workloads, and critical systems.
• Support security governance processes by reviewing exceptions, deviations, and architecture waivers.
• Provide expert technical guidance to project teams throughout the design, build, testing, and deployment phases.
• Ensure all solutions comply with internal policies, regulatory requirements, and relevant industry standards such as ISO 27001, NIST, CIS, IEC 62443, and other applicable frameworks.
• Collaborate with SOC and operations teams to ensure security logging, monitoring, detection, and response requirements are integrated into solution designs.
• Maintain up-to-date security architecture documentation, diagrams, decision records, and control mappings.
• Stay abreast of emerging threats, new security technologies, and evolving architecture best practices.
• Assess Operational Technology (OT) risks while meticulously considering safety, availability, production continuity, and operational constraints.
• Design secure OT network segmentation, firewall rules, jump server architectures, DMZ configurations, and controlled data flows between IT and OT environments.
• Develop and implement secure remote access solutions for OT vendors, engineers, and support teams.
• Support OT vulnerability management, the implementation of compensating controls, and risk-based remediation strategies.
• Define security requirements for OT asset discovery, visibility tools, network monitoring, and passive detection technologies.
• Ensure secure backup, disaster recovery, patching constraints, and lifecycle management for OT systems.
• Support OT incident response planning, conduct tabletop exercises, and define security monitoring use cases for OT environments.
• Prepare comprehensive OT security documentation, architecture diagrams, risk assessments, and remediation roadmaps.

Qualifications and Experience

• A minimum of 8 years of experience in cybersecurity, with a strong focus on enterprise security architecture.
• Extensive experience with Operational Technology (OT) environments, including industrial control systems (ICS), SCADA, PLCs, HMIs, engineering workstations, historians, and industrial networks.
• Demonstrated understanding of OT network architecture, the Purdue Model, industrial zones and conduits, and effective IT/OT segmentation strategies.
• Proven experience designing secure remote access solutions for OT vendors, engineers, and support teams.
• In-depth knowledge of OT security standards and frameworks, particularly IEC 62443, NIST SP 800-82, and relevant critical infrastructure security practices.
• Experience in assessing OT risks while carefully considering safety, availability, production continuity, and operational constraints.
• Proficiency with OT asset discovery, visibility tools, network monitoring, and passive detection technologies.
• Familiarity with industrial protocols such as Modbus, DNP3, OPC, Profinet, EtherNet/IP, BACnet, or similar.
• Experience supporting OT vulnerability management, the implementation of compensating controls, and risk-based remediation efforts.
• Ability to design secure OT network segmentation, firewall rules, jump servers, DMZ architecture, and controlled data flows between IT and OT.
• Knowledge of secure backup, disaster recovery, patching constraints, and lifecycle management for OT systems.
• Experience working collaboratively with plant operations, engineering teams, automation vendors, SOC, and cybersecurity teams.
• Ability to effectively balance cybersecurity requirements with operational safety, uptime, and site-specific limitations.
• Experience supporting OT incident response planning, conducting tabletop exercises, and defining security monitoring use cases.
• Understanding of physical security and safety systems and their relationship with cybersecurity in industrial environments.
• Experience preparing OT security documentation, architecture diagrams, risk assessments, and remediation roadmaps.

Required Skills

• Enterprise Security Architecture
• Security Standards Definition
• Cloud Security
• Network Security
• Identity and Access Management (IAM)
• Data Security
• Infrastructure Security
• Security Architecture Assessment
• Risk Identification and Management
• Zero Trust Architecture
• Defense-in-Depth
• Least Privilege Principles
• Secure Monitoring Strategies
• API Security
• ISO 27001
• NIST Frameworks
• CIS Benchmarks
• IEC 62443
• Security Logging and Monitoring
• Security Detection and Response
• Security Documentation
• Emerging Threats Analysis
• Operational Technology (OT) Environments
• Industrial Control Systems (ICS)
• SCADA Systems
• PLCs and HMIs
• Industrial Networks
• Purdue Model
• IT/OT Segmentation
• Secure Remote Access for OT
• NIST SP 800-82
• Critical Infrastructure Security Practices
• OT Risk Assessment
• OT Asset Discovery and Visibility
• OT Network Monitoring
• Passive Detection Technologies
• Industrial Protocols (Modbus, DNP3, OPC, Profinet, EtherNet/IP, BACnet)
• OT Vulnerability Management
• Compensating Controls
• Risk-Based Remediation
• OT Network Segmentation Design
• Firewall Rule Design
• Jump Server Architecture
• DMZ Architecture
• Secure Data Flow Design
• OT Backup and Disaster Recovery
• OT Patch Management
• OT Lifecycle Management
• OT Incident Response Planning
• OT Security Monitoring Use Cases
• Physical Security Integration
• Safety Systems Integration
• OT Security Documentation
• OT Risk Assessments
• Remediation Roadmaps
• Communication Skills
• Problem-Solving Abilities
• Collaboration and Teamwork

Work Environment and Details

This is a full-time position based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The role requires a minimum of 10 years of experience in cybersecurity, with a significant focus on enterprise security architecture and extensive experience with Operational Technology (OT) environments.