Job Description

Thales HSM Certified Engineer

Location: Melbourne, Australia | 1 Week Travel to Canberra

Work: Predominantly onsite at a Melbourne Data Centre

Employment Type: Contract – 8–10 Weeks (High Possibility of extension)

Experience: 7–10+ Years

Work Arrangement: Melbourne Data Centre – Onsite

Start: Urgent

Work Rights: Australian Citizens, Permanent Residents or candidates holding a valid Australian Work Visa

Industry: Banking, Financial Services, Payments, Government, Cybersecurity

Why This Role?

We are looking for an experienced Thales HSM Certified Engineer to support a critical short-term assignment across data centre environments in Melbourne and Canberra.

This role is ideal for a specialist with strong hands-on experience in Thales Luna Network HSM and/or Thales payShield platforms, enterprise cryptographic infrastructure, HSM administration, key management and secure credential operations.

The assignment is initially for 8–10 weeks, with a strong possibility of extension based on project requirements.

Why Apply for This Role?

• Work on a critical enterprise HSM and cryptographic infrastructure project.
• Gain exposure to data centre environments across Melbourne and Canberra.
• Work with Thales Luna and/or payShield HSM technologies.
• Opportunity for further engagement depending on project Phase 2.
• Short-term contract with competitive/open rates.

Key Responsibilities

HSM Administration & Operations

Support HSM activities across data centres in Melbourne and Canberra, including:

1. Discovery & Inventory

• Create and maintain a complete inventory of HSMs, including model, serial number, firmware, location, network information, partitions and operational status.
• Document key inventory, ownership, algorithms, key lengths and lifecycle status.
• Review licenses, enabled features, optional modules and support status.
• Document partition configuration and HSM usage by application/service.

1. Physical Inspection & Health Assessment

• Physically inspect in-scope HSMs and verify operational status.
• Review power supplies, fans, batteries, tamper mechanisms and other hardware components.
• Review hardware error logs, audit logs and system events.
• Identify failed, degraded, unsupported or end-of-life components.

1. Credential & Access Validation

• Verify Smart Cards, physical cards, PED keys and authentication devices.
• Validate applicable ACS and OCS cards.
• Verify administrative and operational access procedures.
• Validate HSM Security Officer (SO), Audit Officer (AU), Partition Security Officer (PSO), Partition Owner (PO), Crypto Officer (CO) and Crypto User (CU) roles and credential custodians.

1. Card & Key Material Management

• Create and validate required CTA, Administrator, LMK and On-Call card sets.
• Verify secure storage, handling and chain of custody for cards and authentication materials.

1. Monitoring

• Configure and validate SNMP monitoring and alerting for in-scope HSMs, subject to required licensing, connectivity, platform access, credentials and change approvals.

Key Technical Skills

• Thales Luna Network HSM
• Luna Client Software
• Luna SA
• Luna PCIe HSM
• Luna Backup HSM
• Thales payShield 10K – preferred
• HSM partition management
• Enterprise encryption and cryptographic infrastructure
• Secure key ceremonies
• Key and credential lifecycle management
• HSM monitoring and operational support

What We’re Looking For

• 7–10+ years of relevant technical experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Information Technology or a related field.
• Minimum 5+ years managing enterprise encryption and cryptographic infrastructure.
• Strong hands-on experience administering Thales HSM solutions in production environments.
• Experience working in highly regulated environments such as:
• Banking & Financial Services
• Payments / Payment Processing
• Government
• Healthcare
• Critical Infrastructure
• Strong understanding of HSM administration, access control, key management and cryptographic operations.

Certifications

Mandatory / Highly Preferred:

• Thales Luna HSM Certification
• Thales Certified Security Expert (HCSE) – Luna HSM
• Thales payShield Certification – where applicable

Soft Skills

• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Ability to lead cryptographic governance discussions.
• Experience working with auditors, risk teams and regulators.
• Strong problem-solving and incident management capabilities.

Industry Experience

Experience in any of the following environments will be highly regarded:

• Banking & Financial Services
• Payment Processing Platforms
• FinTech
• Card Scheme Certification Programs
• Government / Critical Infrastructure

Application Process

I look forward to receiving your application! Once submitted, we will review your profile and consider your fit against the requirements of the role. Due to the urgent nature of this assignment, shortlisted candidates may be progressed quickly through the process.

About Sperton

Sperton Australia is part of Sperton Global, a recruitment and consulting company with an international reach. We are committed to helping our clients achieve success in their hiring processes by connecting them with the right talent for the right opportunities.