Cybersecurity Watch Operations Subject Matter Expert IV

Title: Cybersecurity Watch Operations Subject Matter Expert IV

Location: Alexandria, VA

Clearance: TS/SCI with the ability to obtain and maintain a CI polygraph

Job Details:

• Serve as the senior hands-on technical authority for SOC watch operations and a founding operational SME for the establishment and maturation of a new DoD SOC

• Lead the most complex cyber defense investigations and incident-response activities and provide technical direction when scope, impact, evidence, or response options are uncertain

• Perform advanced forensic and security analysis of digital information, host and network telemetry, firewall and IDS/IPS data, authentication activity, intrusion artifacts, and other relevant evidence

• Establish and continuously improve investigative methodology, triage standards, severity and escalation criteria, evidence requirements, incident workflows, case-quality standards, and shift-turnover practices

• Provide senior technical guidance to SOC management on watch readiness, investigative quality, operational risk, staffing proficiency, capability gaps, and response considerations

• Serve as the highest-level operational escalation point for Cybersecurity Operations Analysts and mentor senior and developing personnel through complex investigations and exercises

• Coordinate complex incidents with government stakeholders, incident response organizations, system owners, administrators, network/security engineers, and other agencies as required

• Partner with cybersecurity engineering personnel to translate watch-operations requirements into actionable telemetry, SIEM/SOAR, network monitoring, firewall, endpoint, enrichment, and automation capabilities

• Identify systemic visibility, detection, workflow, tooling, and analyst-proficiency gaps and develop recommendations to improve SOC effectiveness and enterprise security posture

• Lead development and validation of SOPs, runbooks, incident-response playbooks, analyst qualification standards, training scenarios, exercises, and lessons-learned actions.

• Conduct or direct proactive threat hunting and advanced analysis to identify malicious activity not detected by automated controls and to validate the effectiveness of existing defenses

• Analyze trends across incidents and investigations and provide technical input to operational metrics, significant-activity reporting, leadership briefings, and defensive priorities

• Apply network forensics, host analysis, malware-analysis concepts, vulnerability context, and threat-informed defense techniques as appropriate to complex investigations; advanced malware reverse engineering or penetration-testing experience is beneficial but not required

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institute in a technical discipline applicable to the position; an additional 4 years of may be substituted in lieu of a degree

• Minimum of eight (8) years of relevant experience in addition to education level

• Expert-level hands-on experience in SOC operations, cyber defense analysis, incident investigation, and incident response in complex enterprise environments

• Demonstrated experience leading complex investigations while remaining technically hands-on.

• Demonstrated ability to establish or materially improve SOC operating procedures, investigative standards, incident workflows, or analyst qualification/training programs

• Strong knowledge of enterprise networking, network security monitoring, host/endpoint analysis, identity/authentication activity, incident response, and adversary TTPs

• Experience collaborating with SIEM/SOAR, detection, network-security, endpoint, vulnerability, and other cybersecurity engineering teams

• Experience helping establish, transform, or mature a SOC, CSIRT, or cyber defense capability is highly desired

• Must possess current DoD 8570 IAT II or IAM II certification

• Experience working in a DoD or IC environment

• Current active TS/SCI clearance, with the ability to obtain and maintain a CI polygraph

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veteran/Disabled