Cyber Security Engineer – Freelance Contractor (Brussels)

About the role

We are recruiting on behalf of an EU institution in Brussels for a Cybersecurity Engineer to join the Cybersecurity Operations team. The role focuses on engineering services that automate, harden and monitor the institution’s digital environment, ensuring a robust security posture.

Key responsibilities

• Create custom scripts to automate tasks, analyse data and integrate APIs with security platforms.
• Deploy, manage and harden Linux, Windows and VMware ESXi servers.
• Configure and maintain network devices such as switches, routers, firewalls, VPN gateways.
• Prepare vulnerability assessment reports, remediation plans, dashboards and metric reports.
• Manage the full vulnerability lifecycle across on‑premises and cloud environments.
• Coordinate remediation efforts with multiple teams and ensure timely patching.
• Report on progress, high‑risk assets, threat trends and key security metrics to stakeholders.
• Collaborate with IT, development, cloud, SOC, compliance and external vendors.
• Design and deploy infrastructure to improve availability, scalability and efficiency of threat‑management services.
• Write clear documentation for engineers and end users and solve mission‑critical problems with an automation focus.

Required profile

• Deep expertise in Linux, Windows and VMware ESXi administration.
• Advanced scripting skills in Python and/or Bash for automation and API integration.
• Strong knowledge of TCP/IP, firewalls, VPNs and other network security protocols.
• Experience securing AWS and/or Azure cloud environments.
• Familiarity with enterprise vulnerability scanners (Rapid7 Nexpose, Nessus) and SIEM platforms (Splunk).
• Experience with ticketing systems such as ServiceNow or Jira.
• Ability to adapt to fast‑changing technologies like containers (Docker, Kubernetes) and DevSecOps pipelines.

Required skills

• Linux
• Windows
• VMware ESXi
• Python
• Bash
• TCP/IP
• Firewalls
• VPNs
• AWS
• Azure
• Rapid7 Nexpose
• Nessus
• Splunk
• ServiceNow
• Jira
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• DevSecOps pipelines