Research Assistant Cybersecurity Jobs in Wisconsin

VIB (Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie) is an entrepreneurial non-profit research institute, with a clear focus on ground-breaking strategic basic research in life sciences and operates in close partnership with the five universities in Flanders.

The ICT department at VIB ensures that technology, information, and data are managed securely and efficiently.

• Supporting and continuously improving VIB’s ICT infrastructure and digital workplace.
• Protecting our organisation against cybersecurity threats.
• Enabling digital transformation through secure and modern ICT services.
• Helping researchers and support services work efficiently through reliable, resilient, and secure technology.

To further strengthen our cybersecurity capabilities, VIB in Ghent is looking for a Cybersecurity Engineer who enjoys combining hands‑on security operations with continuous improvement.

As a Cybersecurity Engineer, you play an important role in protecting VIB’s digital environment so that more than 2.000 researchers and support staff can work securely and with confidence.

You work closely with our Senior Security Engineer and the wider ICT team to strengthen VIB’s cybersecurity posture across Microsoft 365, Azure, endpoints, servers, networks and identity services. Together, you help detect threats, improve security controls, automate operational activities and continuously increase the maturity of our security environment.

You combine operational security work with engineering and continuous improvement. Whether you are investigating security alerts, improving monitoring, implementing new security capabilities or automating repetitive tasks, you enjoy making our ICT environment safer every day.

You collaborate closely with colleagues across ICT – including Support and Operation Engineers, System Engineers, Project Managers and external partners – to ensure security is embedded throughout our services and projects. This role offers an excellent opportunity to further develop your expertise while working alongside an experienced Senior Security Engineer in a modern Microsoft-based security environment.

You will report to the Senior Security Engineer.

As a Cybersecurity Engineer you will:

• Monitor, investigate and respond to security alerts and incidents using Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender.
• Perform proactive threat hunting and contribute to incident response activities.
• Support vulnerability management by identifying, assessing and following up on remediation activities.
• Help improve detection capabilities through tuning, automation and continuous optimisation.

• Help maintain secure configurations across Microsoft 365, Azure, endpoints, servers and network infrastructure.
• Support identity and access management initiatives.
• Assist in maintaining secure firewall configurations and network security controls.
• Help ensure backup and recovery solutions remain secure, reliable and properly monitored.
• Contribute to patch and security update processes across VIB’s infrastructure.

• Improve security monitoring and operational processes through automation and scripting.
• Help implement new security technologies and security improvements.
• Develop and maintain operational scripts using PowerShell and Microsoft Graph where appropriate.
• Continuously look for opportunities to simplify and improve security operations.

• Support colleagues with complex security-related technical issues.
• Contribute technical documentation and operational procedures.
• Participate in ICT projects to ensure security is considered from the beginning.
• Share knowledge with colleagues and help improve the overall maturity of the ICT team.
• Stay informed about emerging threats, new technologies and security best practices.

Your profile

• You have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in ICT, cybersecurity or a related field, or equivalent through experience.
• You have approximately 3 years of experience in a system engineering, infrastructure engineering or security engineering role.
• You have a solid understanding of modern Microsoft technologies and cybersecurity principles.
• You enjoy analysing technical problems and finding practical, sustainable solutions.
• You are eager to continuously learn and develop your cybersecurity expertise.
• You take ownership of your work while collaborating effectively with colleagues.
• You communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• You enjoy working in an environment where not everything is predefined and where initiative is encouraged.

Technical skills

• Microsoft security
  • Microsoft Defender
  • Microsoft Sentinel
  • Microsoft Entra ID
  • Microsoft Intune
  • Microsoft 365 security
• Infrastructure and networking
  • Windows and/or Linux administration
  • Azure
  • Network security
  • Firewall technologies
• Automation
  • PowerShell
  • Scripting
  • Microsoft Graph API (nice to have)
• Additional experience is considered an asset (experience with one or more of the following is a plus)
  • Fortinet
  • Veeam Backup and Replication
  • Hyper-V and/or VMware
  • Active Directory
  • DNS and LDAP
  • SNMP monitoring
  • Microsoft Purview
  • ITIL
  • NIS2 or information security frameworks

Fluency in both Dutch and English (spoken and written) is required.

• An open-ended contract.
• An attractive salary package including benefits such as meal vouchers, internet allowance, smartphone, hospitalisation insurance, eco vouchers and group insurance.
• The opportunity to work in an innovative, international life sciences environment where your work directly contributes to protecting world-class scientific research.
• A collaborative ICT team where knowledge sharing and continuous learning are strongly encouraged.
• Opportunities for professional growth through training, certifications and hands-on experience with modern security technologies.
• Flexible working hours and possibility to work from home up to two days per week.
• Modern offices at VIB headquarters in Ghent.
• An organisation that values diversity, inclusion and collaboration, where everyone is encouraged to contribute and grow.

If you are interested in helping protect one of Europe’s leading life science research institutes, we’d love to hear from you.