Senior Cybersecurity Architect - SOC Modernization (United States)

Direct applicants only — no third-party agencies, please.

Please note: LinkedIn does not offer a contract-to-hire employment type. This role is being posted as full-time, but the initial engagement will be contract-to-hire with planned FTE conversion in Feb/Mar 2027. Due to year-end hiring cycle and budget timing, the contract-to-hire structure is the fastest path to bring someone onto the team immediately, with the intent to convert once the new-year hiring cycle opens.

Our client is an award-winning business and technology consulting firm with a strong national footprint and a reputation for advising enterprise clients in complex, regulated industries. This is a high-impact consulting role focused on SOC modernization, AI-enabled security operations, SIEM/SOAR modernization, detection engineering, and Google SecOps or similar modern SOC platforms .

Quick Overview

• Location: Ideally Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, Seattle, or Dallas. Strong remote candidates may be considered.
• Background Preference: Consulting experience strongly preferred, ideally with enterprise, regulated industry, Energy & Utilities, critical infrastructure, financial services, or healthcare clients.
• Work Model: Hybrid if near a major office; remote may be considered for highly aligned candidates.
• Engagement Preference: Contract-to-hire preferred, though direct full-time hire may be possible for the right candidate.
• Pay Rate: Competitive and open to market rate.
• Full-Time Compensation Range: Approximately $193K–$262K , depending on location, experience, and fit.
• Travel: 10–20%, likely on the lower end.

The role

We’re seeking a Senior Cybersecurity Architect to help clients modernize security operations and move beyond traditional, manually intensive SOC environments. This role is focused on SOC modernization, SIEM/SOAR, detection engineering, security telemetry, automation, AI-enabled workflows, and SecOps tooling strategy .

This is not primarily an IT/OT security role. OT, Energy & Utilities, and critical infrastructure experience are helpful, but the main focus is SOC modernization and AI-enabled security operations.

What you’ll do

• Assess current-state SOC capabilities across people, process, tooling, data, automation, and governance
• Design future-state SOC operating models, analyst workflows, escalation paths, and SecOps processes
• Modernize SIEM/SOAR, detection engineering, case management, and detection/response capabilities
• Rationalize security tooling across SIEM, SOAR, XDR, EDR, IAM/PAM, cloud security, vulnerability management, threat intelligence, and ServiceNow SecOps
• Define telemetry and log ingestion strategies across cloud, endpoint, identity, network, SaaS, application, OT/ICS, and third-party data sources
• Identify practical AI-enabled SOC use cases , including alert summarization, investigation support, detection authoring, playbook execution, and analyst decision support
• Build SOC modernization roadmaps aligned to business risk, cyber maturity, regulatory needs, staffing models, and technology investments
• Lead executive workshops, architecture sessions, platform assessments, and client presentations

What you bring

• 7–10+ years in security architecture, SOC modernization, SecOps, SIEM/SOAR, detection engineering, incident response, security automation, or cybersecurity consulting
• Strong understanding of modern SOC operating models , detection/response workflows, alert triage, threat hunting, case management, and SecOps governance
• Experience designing or modernizing SOC capabilities in enterprise, regulated, or critical infrastructure environments
• Architecture-level exposure to SIEM, SOAR, XDR, EDR, telemetry, log ingestion, correlation, enrichment, and detection content
• Experience rationalizing cybersecurity tools and building practical modernization roadmaps
• Familiarity with AI-enabled or automation-enabled security operations
• Ability to advise CIOs, CISOs, SOC leaders, security engineers, and technology stakeholders
• Strong communication skills and ability to translate technical recommendations into executive-level narratives

Preferred

• Prior consulting experience in a client-facing advisory or delivery role
• Experience with Google Security Operations / Google SecOps, Chronicle SIEM, Chronicle SOAR, BigQuery, or Google Cloud security
• Experience with platforms such as Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Palo Alto Cortex, ServiceNow SecOps, CrowdStrike, Okta, SailPoint, CyberArk, Wiz, Prisma Cloud , or similar tools
• Experience with MITRE ATT&CK, detection-as-code, YARA-L, Sigma, SOAR playbooks, and detection lifecycle management
• Experience supporting Energy & Utilities, OT/ICS, critical infrastructure, or other highly regulated environments
• Familiarity with frameworks such as NIST, ISO 27001, NERC CIP, IEC 62443, HIPAA, GLBA, or PCI DSS
• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CCSP, GSEC, GCIA, GCIH, GCFA, or Google Cloud security certifications