Principal Cyber Security Engineer, SOC Lead (US Federal)

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About the Role

This role will support one or more direct or indirect contracts with the U.S. Federal Government which, due to federal government security requirements, mandates that all Workday personnel working on the contracts be United States citizens (naturalized or native).

The SOC Lead will provide technical and operational leadership for the Cyber Defense Security Operations Center supporting U.S. Government SaaS deployments, including air-gapped environments. This role is responsible for overseeing 24x7 monitoring operations, incident response coordination, escalation management, and continuous improvement of SOC processes and capabilities. You will lead a team of SOC Analysts, ensure high-quality investigations, oversee detection engineering collaboration, and drive automation initiatives leveraging platforms such as Splunk and SOAR technologies (e.g., Tines). You will also interface with Red, Blue, Purple Teams and Threat Intelligence to maintain an integrated cyber defense posture. This position requires a balance of operational leadership, deep technical expertise, and the ability to communicate risk effectively to leadership.

About You

This role may require a security clearance at the TS/SCI level. Applicants must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government issued security clearance.

Basic Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in cybersecurity operations, incident response, or threat detection
• 5+ years of experience leading or mentoring security operations personnel
• Deep experience operating and tuning SIEM platforms such as Splunk
• Experience managing incident response lifecycle activities aligned to NIST SP 800-61r3
• Experience supporting secure cloud environments and/or air-gapped networks
• Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience

Other Qualifications

• Strong understanding of adversary TTPs and MITRE ATT&CK framework
• Experience with SOAR platforms (e.g., Tines) and security automation
• Proven ability to manage escalations and high-severity incidents
• Experience developing KPIs, SLAs, and operational metrics
• Strong critical thinking and decision-making skills under pressure
• Ability to coordinate cross-functional teams (Red, Blue, Engineering, Compliance)
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience building and improving SOC playbooks and runbooks
• Certifications meeting DoD 8570 requirements