Application Security Specialist at SARB, Pretoria

As an Application Security Specialist at the South African Reserve Bank, you will play a key role in keeping the bank's applications secure, resilient and scalable throughout the entire system development life cycle.

Your day to day work will involve:

• Running security assessments such as code reviews, vulnerability scans and penetration tests, then helping teams fix what you find.
• Working closely with developers to build security into every stage of development, from threat modelling and secure coding to security testing.
• Designing and rolling out application security controls, frameworks and policies that protect against new and emerging threats.
• Analysing security risks, advising governance bodies and product owners on solutions, and monitoring implementation.
• Supporting security audits by providing information and addressing findings.
• Acting as the application security expert on IT security projects.
• Evaluating and implementing security tools like static and dynamic code analysis, vulnerability scanning and confidentiality management.
• Staying current with security trends and attack techniques, and applying that knowledge to improve the bank's security posture.
• Helping with major incident response during breaches, including investigation, reporting and recommendations.
• Developing and delivering application security training to developers, testers and business analysts.
• Presenting periodic reports on the security landscape for designated business applications.

To apply, please visit the SARB's official careers portal using the link provided. Applications are handled through the bank's own system.

• A bachelor's degree in IT (NQF 7) or an equivalent qualification.
• Certified Applications Security Engineer (CASE) qualification.
• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) qualification.
• At least 5 to 8 years of experience in system development life cycle frameworks and solutions.
• Of that experience, at least 3 years in overall security governance best practice, frameworks and design.
• Hands on experience with security tools such as DAST, SAST and SCA.
• Additional security certifications such as CISSP, CSSLP, OSCP or GIAC GWAPT will be an advantage.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity, governance, risk and compliance.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure and Google Cloud and their security features.
• Scripting skills in languages such as Bash and Python, and experience with automation frameworks.
• Understanding of network security, encryption and identity management.
• Strong problem solving and analytical abilities.

• Conduct security assessments including code reviews, vulnerability scans and penetration testing to identify and fix security weaknesses.
• Work with development teams to embed security best practices into the system development life cycle through threat modelling, secure coding and security testing.
• Design and implement application security controls, frameworks and policies to guard against emerging threats.
• Identify security risks and vulnerabilities, assess their impact and advise stakeholders on solutions and monitor implementation.
• Participate in application security audits and address security related findings.
• Serve as the application security subject matter expert on IT security projects.
• Contribute to the evaluation and rollout of security tools including static and dynamic code analysis and vulnerability scanning.
• Keep up with the latest security trends, vulnerabilities and attack techniques and apply this knowledge to improve security practices.
• Help implement major security incident response procedures during a breach and provide recommendations to prevent recurrence.
• Develop training material and deliver application security training to developers, testers and business analysts.
• Present periodic reports and analytics on the security landscape for designated business applications.