SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group. Headquartered in Tokyo and with a 400-year history, SMBC Group offers a diverse range of financial services, including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group has more than 130 offices and 80,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) is the holding company of SMBC Group, which is one of the three largest banking groups in Japan. SMFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: SMFG) stock exchanges.

In the Americas, SMBC Group has a presence in the US, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Backed by the capital strength of SMBC Group and the value of its relationships in Asia, the Group offers a range of commercial and investment banking services to its corporate, institutional, and municipal clients. It connects a diverse client base to local markets and the organization’s extensive global network. The Group’s operating companies in the Americas include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., SMBC MANUBANK, JRI America, Inc., SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc., Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A., and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd.

This is a hybrid role, requiring the successful candidate to attend our Tralee office weekly.

Role Description

SMBC is seeking a Vice President, Senior Threat Detection Engineer to join our Security Operations Center (SOC) as a senior technical leader and hands-on individual contributor. Reporting to the Director of SOC Engineering, this role will play a key part in advancing the Bank's threat detection capabilities across cloud and on-premises environments.

Working closely with Cyber Security, Technology, Risk, and Business stakeholders, you will translate cyber risk, threat intelligence, security incidents, and regulatory requirements into effective detection engineering outcomes that improve the Bank's ability to identify and respond to cyber threats.

This role is ideal for an experienced Detection Engineer who enjoys solving complex security challenges, influencing technical direction, mentoring others, and driving continuous improvement in a highly regulated environment.

Role Objectives: Delivery

Threat Detection Engineering

Design, develop, test, tune, deploy, and maintain enterprise-scale threat detections.
Translate threat intelligence, attack techniques, incident findings, and cyber risks into actionable detection use cases.
Validate detection effectiveness through threat simulations, testing exercises, historical analysis, and operational reviews.
Improve detection quality by reducing false positives, enhancing alert fidelity, and identifying telemetry gaps.
Develop standards, documentation, and analyst guidance to support consistent investigation and response practices.
Map detections to the MITRE ATT&CK framework and perform coverage assessments to drive continuous improvement.

Security Monitoring & Telemetry

Assess monitoring coverage and telemetry quality across cloud, endpoint, identity, network, infrastructure, and application environments.
Provide technical guidance on telemetry onboarding, security analytics, and monitoring architecture.
Partner with engineering and security teams to improve visibility into emerging threats and attack techniques.
Identify coverage gaps and recommend improvements to strengthen detection capabilities.

Automation & Continuous Improvement

Promote Detection as Code, automation, version control, testing frameworks, and repeatable engineering practices.
Drive improvements in detection lifecycle management, testing, deployment, and operational efficiency.
Develop meaningful metrics and reporting to measure detection coverage, effectiveness, and programme maturity.
Support audits, regulatory reviews, and cybersecurity control assessments.

Technical Leadership

Influence the direction of threat detection engineering capabilities, standards, and best practices.
Act as a subject matter expert on threat detection, monitoring strategy, and security analytics.
Partner with stakeholders across Cyber Security, Technology, Risk, and Business functions to deliver security outcomes.
Mentor engineers and analysts while fostering a culture of technical excellence, collaboration, and continuous learning.
Champion innovation and operational excellence across the Security Operations function.

Qualifications and Skills

7+ years of Cyber Security experience with strong expertise in Threat Detection Engineering, Security Operations, Security Analytics, or Incident Response.
Proven experience designing, developing, tuning, and maintaining enterprise security detections.
Strong understanding of security telemetry across cloud, endpoint, identity, network, infrastructure, and application environments.
Experience with SIEM, EDR, UEBA, SOAR, and other security monitoring technologies.
Knowledge of automation, scripting, version control, Detection as Code, and threat-informed defence methodologies.
Strong knowledge of MITRE ATT&CK.
Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction, collaborate across teams, and mentor engineers.
Excellent communication, stakeholder management, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Experience

Cloud security monitoring and detection engineering.
CI/CD, automated testing, and software engineering practices.
Supporting audits, regulatory examinations, or security assessments within a regulated environment.
Experience in threat hunting, threat intelligence, incident response, purple teaming, security architecture, and/or relevant cybersecurity certifications.

Additional Requirements

SMBC’s employees participate in a hybrid workforce model that provides employees with an opportunity to work from home, as well as, from an SMBC office. SMBC requires that employees live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Prospective candidates will learn more about their specific hybrid work schedule during their interview process.

SMBC provides reasonable accommodations during candidacy for applicants with disabilities consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please let us know at accommodations@smbcgroup.com.

Senior Threat Detection Engineer

Job Description