Max Couling
Cybersecurity professional with hands-on experience in financial services security, risk assessment, and regulatory compliance. Proven track record supporting RBNZ requirements and SWIFT audits.
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WORK EXPERIENCE
Ernst & Young (EY) | Cybersecurity Consultant - Client Secondment - Risk & Compliance Specialist
- Achieved zero-finding SWIFT CSP audit certification by coordinating evidence collection across 25 mandatory controls, strengthening organisation's payment security posture and compliance.
- Conducting 10+ risk assessments across IT, OT, and third-party environments, managing security exemption process for 10+ requests while balancing business requirements against NIST 800-53 controls.
- Performing weekly application security assessments for onboarding, analysing applications with 50-1000+ vulnerabilities (SQL injection, XSS, open-source risks); reduced false positives through code-level verification, including identifying a false positive where the tool flagged Playwright test scripts rather than prod code.
- Working directly with Head of GRC and CISO to support enterprise-wide security initiatives and governance program.
Graduate Cybersecurity Consultant
- Supported financial services clients including life insurance companies and banking institutions with cybersecurity maturity improvements and regulatory compliance.
- Helped insurance client achieve RBNZ Cyber Resilience baseline requirements, focusing on Govern and Identify domains of NIST CSF 2.0 Cybersecurity Framework.
- Designed and facilitated C-Suite workshops that secured executive buy-in for expanded cybersecurity initiatives and increased security investment.
Intern Cybersecurity Consultant
- Covered Technical Business Analyst role for SailPoint IdentityNow implementation, facilitating UAT's, validating access review functionality, and coordinating with stakeholders to ensure successful deployment across 22,000+ users.
- Validated IAM implementation against security requirements and stakeholder needs, ensuring access controls aligned with principle of least privilege across the organisation.
Exzel IT Consulting | Part-Time IT Specialist
- Provided on-site and remote technical support including network troubleshooting, hardware repairs, system configuration and secure data destruction for small businesses and education centres.
EDUCATION
University of Auckland | Bachelor of Science, Majoring in Computer Science and IT Management
- Top Achiever Scholarship ($20,000)
- Awarded highest grade in INFOMGMT 399 (top of class)
- Class Rep
PROJECTS
SurveyHustle | Website | GitHub
Full-stack Flask & PostgreSQL platform enabling ethical, privacy-focused data sharing through anonymised surveys, integrating Differential Privacy and deployed on my Raspberry Pi with Cloudflare Tunnels/protection.
Home Security Lab
Self-configured network environment including Ubiquiti EdgeRouter with custom firewall rules, Docker containers (Vaultwarden, ‘SurveyHustle’, PiHole), and Cloudflare tunnel implementation for secure remote access.
CERTIFICATIONS, SKILLS & INTERESTS
- Certifications: Microsoft Certified, AZ-900 & AI-900, EY Solution Architecture and Cyber Bronze badges
- In-Progress Certifications: CompTIA Security+ certification (self-study), AZ-500, OWASP API Security Top 10
- Technologies: Python (Flask), Azure, Git/Github, Excel, SQL (PostgreSQL), Docker, Linux, ServiceNow (GRC)
- Skills: Project Planning & Delivery, Stakeholder Management, Information Security, Workshop Facilitation
- Interests: Space, Video Games, Board Games, Building PCs & tinkering with hardware, My German Shepherd ‘Jet’