Cybersecurity Jobs: Roles, Responsibilities, and Skills

Looking for a stable job in tech? Cybersecurity is one of the fastest growing employment segments — with a zero percent unemployment rate! This is a promising field for new graduates in the technology sector with strong backgrounds in systems design, data, and mathematics. It's also possible to "career pivot" into cybersecurity, even for people with diverse backgrounds. Simply start with a cyber certificate and look for opportunities to grow your skillset. 

What roles and responsibilities can you expect in the cybersecurity domain?

Here's a list of cybersecurity roles, their responsibilities, skills required, and average annual salary. (Do note that salaries vary widely depending on experience, location, and company size/budget.)

Common roles in cybersecurity

Cybersecurity professionals are a frontline defense today, no matter the organization. Whether it’s an in-person local business, a government agency, a large international corporation, or a non-profit, cybersecurity is the vital path for safeguarding critical information and systems from cyberattacks.

Cybersecurity is an expansive subject area, so these are only some of the roles you might encounter. Use these to start training or to plan your next career move. Here are more cybersecurity resources:

• Books to read
• Certifications to earn
• Conferences and events to attend
• Brand new articles to read, handpicked by experts
• Roundups: IT salaries and IT spending forecasts

Now, onto the roles!

InfoSec Analyst

Information security analysts are responsible for analyzing data for potential breach incidents within the corporate network. They're focused on working with risk assessments, vulnerability assessments, security policy planning and enforcement, and data protection.

InfoSec analysts work with security experts and evaluate various security measures, policies, and hypotheses by analyzing raw information generated across the network, applications, and cloud-based systems, as well as the external cybersecurity landscape.

Skills and salary

• Programming and analytical skills
• Systems and software design
• Computer networking and security protocols
• Statistical and mathematical expertise
• Average salary: $140,000/year

Penetration Tester

Penetration testers, aka pen testers, are responsible for testing the security performance of defense systems against possible cyberattack threats. They infiltrate the IT network by exploiting:

• Vulnerabilities and exploits in the technology
• Potential security lapses by internal users, aka "insider threats"

As a pen tester, you’ll gain insights into a potential attack incident that black hat hackers may leverage, and how the security defense capabilities respond to network breach attempts. You’ll also work with business and security experts to evaluate the impact of a breach incident. Your work often overlaps with the ethical hacking practice.

Skills and salary

• Programming and automation
• Software and hardware design
• Threat modeling and reverse engineering
• Problem solving
• Average salary: $139,000/year

(Read our full penetration testing guide.)

Network Security Engineer

Network security engineers are responsible for the technical design, planning, configuration, provisioning, and administration of the networking system. The goal is to ensure network security while also:

• Providing flexibility to scale. 
• Provisioning resources with high flexibility.
• Conforming to applicable organization governance, security, and risk management policies.

Network security engineers work with testing and analysis teams to extract useful networking data, analyze it for security performance, and plan for security improvements.

Skills and salary

• IT and network administration
• Problem solving
• Security protocols and authentication systems
• Networking architecture and design
• Average salary: $149,000/year

(Learn about network security monitoring, a core activity.)

Application Security Engineer

Application security engineers are responsible for establishing security best practices across the software development life cycle (SDLC), evaluating security performance of application components that run on the cloud and internal data centers, and anticipating structural vulnerabilities in the application design.

AppSec engineers work with developers and QA teams to understand the requirements and infuse application security best practices across all phases of the SDLC life cycle.

Skills and salary

• Software design
• Cloud architecture and systems design
• Programming
• Software testing
• Average salary: $144,018/year

Incident Manager, aka Incident Commander (IC)

Incident managers are responsible for ensuring service dependability, incident risk mitigation, and recovery from scheduled, spontaneous, and unforeseen IT incidents and events. Sometimes known as or overlapping with the incident commander role, incident managers work with security and business teams to:

• Develop an incident management approach and incident response plan (IRP).
• Communicate and oversee the incident management program across all business functions and teams.

This role is responsible for ensuring that incidents are handled according to predefined organizational policies. Incident managers also work with analysts to develop capabilities that help anticipate and respond to IT incidents proactively.

Skills and salary

• IT service management framework knowledge and understanding
• Management skills
• Forensics
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• Average salary: $133,000/year

(Related reading: incident severity levels, incident response metrics & CSIRT: critical security incident response team.)

Security Architect

Security architects are responsible for the overall strategy and design of the technology architecture, IT environment, and tooling decisions. They plan, own, and manage the strategy related to cloud infrastructure as well as on-premises data centers, evaluating the security and business implications of their technology decisions for various application and data workloads.

Security architects also assist in planning, designing, and enforcing security defense capabilities, implementing architectural changes, and working with security analysts to evaluate the security performance of the IT environment.

Skills and salary

• Network security and design expertise
• Cloud computing design and architecture
• Information security auditing
• Data protection and security testing
• Average salary: $228,000/year

Cryptography Experts

Cryptographers develop and implement protocols and algorithms that secure sensitive information and protect data integrity in event of a data leak incident. They also help create cryptosystems required to implement and test cryptography schemes, identify weaknesses within existing cryptography protocol implementations, and prevent hackers from intercepting and modifying information.

Cryptography specialists work with software developers and hardware engineers to develop schemes that are robust within the available computing resources.

Skills and salary

• Strong mathematical expertise
• Networking and IT
• Hardware design
• Problem solving
• Average salary: $133,934/year

(Related reading: common encryption methods.)

Digital Forensics Analyst

Digital forensics analysts are responsible for investigating cybercrime and security incidents, also known as "digital forensics". They collect, process, and analyze digital evidence to reconstruct events and support legal proceedings. These professionals work closely with law enforcement and legal teams.

Skills and salary

• Computer science and IT fundamentals
• Data recovery techniques
• Legal and regulatory knowledge
• Analytical and problem-solving skills
• Average salary: $93,000/year

Threat Intelligence Analyst

Threat intelligence analysts gather and analyze information about current and potential cybersecurity threats. They help organizations understand the threat landscape and make informed decisions about security strategies.

Skills and salary

• Research and analytical skills
• Knowledge of threat actors and attack methodologies
• Data analysis and visualization
• Communication skills
• Average salary: $117,423/year

(Related reading: threat intelligence, explained.)

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

The CISO is a leader and strategic thinker when it comes to developing and implementing cybersecurity programs at an organizational level. They understand the technology and business requirements and help improve the overall security posture of the organization with the available resources.

CISOs possess the technology and business acumen to oversee the cybersecurity efforts across all teams and business functions, and guide improvements in the right direction. They are thoroughly involved in cybersecurity design, budget, planning, and other decision-making activities.

Skills and salary

• Business expertise
• Problem solving
• Technical expertise
• People management
• Project management
• Communication
• Average salary: $334,111/year

(Related reading: thought leadership for CISOs & CISOs, CIOs, and CPO, differences explained.)

Why people like working in cybersecurity

Cyber careers can be quite rewarding, and there are a few reasons for that.

Purpose and fulfillment

Cyber pros play a vital role in safeguarding critical infrastructure and information from cyberattacks — for many people, that provides a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Knowing this impact can make it an intellectually stimulating and meaningful career choice.

Lots of learning, lots of growing

The ever-evolving cyber landscape presents numerous opportunities for learning and growth. With new threats and attacks emerging every day, cybersecurity professionals are required to stay up-to-date with the latest tools and techniques to counter them effectively.

This constant need for learning and adapting to changing circumstances keeps professionals engaged and motivated in their work. (But if this is not your preferred professional pace, there are certainly other roles available to you.)

Good earning potential

The field of cybersecurity tends to offer good salaries and job security, making it an attractive career option for many individuals. With the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals, companies are willing to pay high salaries to attract and retain talent. Additionally, as the world becomes increasingly digital, the demand for cybersecurity professionals is expected to grow, ensuring a stable job market for years to come.

Collaborative environment

Cybersecurity professionals often work with different teams — such as IT operations, DevOps teams, etc. — to solve complex problems. This collaboration improves knowledge sharing and professional growth.

Global impact

As cyber threats become increasingly global, cybersecurity professionals have the opportunity to make a difference on an international scale. Your work could potentially protect individuals, businesses, and even nations (!) from cyber attacks.

Cyber is a growing field with plenty of demand

The field of cyber security is an ever-evolving field and offers multiple types of career opportunities. The different opportunities come with various challenges but offer growth potential and competitive salaries. With more emerging cyber threats, the demand for professional cybersecurity engineers is growing, which makes it an excellent career choice for those who are passionate about security or technology in general.