Minnkota Power Cooperative

Cybersecurity Analyst I

Minnkota Power Cooperative is seeking applicants for Cybersecurity Analyst I in our Information Technology department at our headquarters in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Cybersecurity Analyst I will support the protection of the organization’s information assets, technology infrastructure, and cloud environments from evolving cyber threats. This role includes monitoring, investigating, and responding to security events, managing vulnerabilities, and supporting compliance initiatives. The analyst will work closely with IT and cybersecurity leadership to strengthen defenses, ensure regulatory alignment, and enhance overall cyber resilience.

The pay range for this position begins at $83,869 per year. Appropriate compensation will be determined based on a candidate's skills, education, and any previous relevant experience. 

Essential Responsibilities

• Threat Monitoring, Detection, and Analysis
• Continuously monitor SIEM, EDR, and other security platforms for anomalous activity across on-premises and cloud environments.
• Analyze alerts and logs to identify, investigate, and document potential threats.
• Contribute to proactive threat hunting activities and leverage threat intelligence feeds to anticipate emerging risks.

• Vulnerability and Risk Management

• • Perform regular vulnerability assessments across servers, endpoints, applications, and cloud services.
  • Prioritize and track remediation based on risk, exploitability, and asset criticality.
  • Collaborate with IT/OT teams to ensure timely patching and configuration hardening.
• Incident Response and Recovery
  • Assist with executing the incident response plan, including detection, containment, eradication, and recovery.
  • Participate in forensic analysis and root cause investigations.
  • Document incidents and lessons learned, contributing to continuous improvement of response processes.

• Cloud Security and Zero Trust
  • Monitor and secure cloud platforms (e.g., Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS, GCP) to ensure compliance with best practices and regulatory standards.
  • Support identity and access management, multi-factor authentication, and least-privilege principles in cloud and hybrid environments.
  • Assist in evaluating and implementing cloud-native security tools.
• Compliance, Governance, and Policy
  • Support compliance with NERC CIP, CIS Controls, and other applicable frameworks.
  • Assist in internal and external cybersecurity audits.
  • Contribute to updating policies, procedures, and technical standards that align with Zero Trust principles.
• Security Tools, Automation, and Innovation
  • Maintain and optimize security technologies including firewalls, IDS/IPS, SIEM, EDR, and vulnerability scanners.
  • Research and recommend modern security solutions, including AI-driven detection, automation, and SOAR platforms.
  • Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives that enhance efficiency, automation, and visibility.

Organizational Competencies

• Safety
• Integrity
• Teamwork
• Innovation
• Reliability

Job Competencies

• Action Oriented
• Decision Quality
• Flexibility and Adaptability
• Priority Setting
• Problem Solving

Goals and Objectives

The Cybersecurity Analyst I is expected to achieve evolving goals as defined by the Cybersecurity Supervisor. These may include initiatives related to cloud security maturity, automation, vulnerability reduction, and compliance readiness.

Job Qualification Standards

Education and Training

• Bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity, computer science, information technology required; an or equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• Must maintain a valid driver’s license

Experience

• 2+ years of experience in security operations, vulnerability management, or related cybersecurity function preferred
• Familiarity with SIEM, IDS/IPS, EDR, and vulnerability management tools.
• Experience with cloud platforms required; experience with Azure, AWS, or M365 security preferred.
• Understanding of patch management, log analysis, and incident response practices.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Knowledge of industry frameworks preferred, including CIS Controls, NIST CSF, ISO 27001, NERC CIP.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills for collaboration across teams.

Physical and Mental Demands

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the position.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical demands:  While performing the duties of this position, the incumbent is primarily required to sit, stand, walk, stoop, bend and frequently utilize a keyboard/computer. Specific vision abilities include close vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.

Mental demands: While performing the duties of this position, the incumbent will be required to problem solve, read, write and analyze data, work under schedules and deadline pressure, present information to others, work independently and use discretion and judgment for confidential or sensitive projects/issues.

Work Environment: While performing the duties of this position, the employee is exposed to an office environment indoors, and will travel outdoors to multiple locations dependent on work.

Benefits 

Minnkota Power Cooperative supports employees through a strong total compensation package that includes a competitive pay and benefits package, along with career growth opportunities. The cooperative offers: 

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• 401(k)
• Pension plan
• Life insurance and AD&D
• Disability insurance
• Paid leave: Holidays and floating holidays, Vacation, Sick leave
• Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible Spending Accounts for dependent care
• Educational assistance
• Membership in select professional organizations