Incident Response Engineer 2

Lever, Inc.; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-first working model

Job summary

Sophos is seeking an intermediate-level Incident Response Analyst to support its MDR customers within the Critical Incident Response Team. You will perform advanced investigative, forensic, and containment activities during active cyber incidents, mentoring junior analysts and producing customer-facing findings.

You will operate with moderate autonomy, serve as the technical backbone of engagements, and contribute to post-incident reviews while maintaining thorough documentation and timelines.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of incident response, MDR, SOC, or security operations experience.
• Solid understanding of endpoint forensics and log analysis.
• Experience investigating malware, credential theft, ransomware, or similar threats.
• Ability to correlate alerts and telemetry to determine incident scope and root cause.
• Strong written and verbal communication for documenting findings and updates.
• Experience mentoring or guiding junior analysts.
• Ability to work in high-pressure, time-sensitive incident environments.
• Willingness to work some weekends and holidays as part of a rotation.

Responsibilities

• Perform advanced investigative and forensic analysis across endpoints, network logs, and cloud telemetry.
• Execute containment and response actions to neutralize active threats as directed by senior staff.
• Validate IOCs and correlate alerts to determine scope and root cause.
• Maintain engagement documentation, timelines, and playbooks.
• Mentor junior IR and SOC analysts to ensure quality and consistency.
• Prepare technical findings for customer updates and post-incident reports.
• Identify detection or response gaps observed during investigations.
• Participate in shift handovers, debriefs, and post-incident reviews.

Skills

Incident response

MDR/SOC

Security operations

Endpoint forensics

Log analysis

Attack techniques

Malware investigation

Credential theft

Ransomware

Communication

Mentoring

High-pressure environments

Tools

EDR

SIEM

Forensic tools

OSQuery

SQL

KQL

Job description

About Us

Sophos is a cybersecurity leader defending 600,000 organizations globally with an AI-driven platform and expert-led services. Sophos meets organizations wherever they are in their security maturity and grows with them to defeat cyberattacks. Its solutions combine machine learning, automation, and real-time threat intelligence with frontline human expertise from Sophos X-Ops to deliver advanced, 24/7 threat monitoring, detection, and response.

Sophos offers industry-leading managed detection and response (MDR) alongside a comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity technologies — including endpoint, network, email, and cloud security, extended detection and response (XDR), identity threat detection and response (ITDR), and next-gen SIEM. Together with expert advisory services, these capabilities help organizations proactively reduce risk and respond faster, with the visibility and scalability needed to stay ahead of evolving threats.

Sophos goes to market with a global partner ecosystem, including Managed Service Providers (MSPs), Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), resellers and distributors, marketplace integrations, and cyber risk partners, giving organizations the flexibility to choose trusted relationships when securing their business. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

Role Summary

Sophos is seeking an intermediate-level Incident Response Analyst to support its Managed Detection and Response (MDR) customers within the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT).

As an Incident Response Analyst 2, you will perform advanced investigative, forensic, and containment activities during active cyber incidents. You will operate with moderate autonomy, serve primarily in an Incident Responder role, and begin supporting Incident Advisors with validated technical findings and customer-facing context. This role serves as the technical backbone of most engagements and includes mentoring junior analysts to ensure consistent execution and documentation quality.

What You Will Do

• Perform advanced investigative and forensic analysis across endpoints, network logs, and cloud telemetry
• Execute containment and response actions to neutralize active threats as directed by Incident Advisors or Senior Analysts
• Validate indicators of compromise (IOCs) and correlate alerts, artifacts, and telemetry to determine scope and root cause
• Maintain clear and accurate engagement documentation, including trailheads, timelines, and playbooks
• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior IR and SOC analysts to ensure adherence to CIRT investigative and documentation standards
• Prepare technical findings and summaries for inclusion in customer updates and post-incident reports
• Identify and communicate detection or response gaps observed during investigations
• Participate in shift handovers, debriefs, and post-incident reviews to ensure engagement continuity
• Maintain accurate time and activity tracking to support operational visibility and service improvement

What You Will Bring

Essential:

• 2+ years of experience in incident response, MDR, SOC, or security operations roles
• Solid technical understanding of endpoint forensics, log analysis, and common attack techniques
• Experience investigating malware, credential theft, ransomware, or similar threats
• Ability to correlate alerts and telemetry to determine incident scope and root cause
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for documenting findings and contributing to customer updates
• Experience mentoring or guiding junior analysts
• Ability to work effectively in high-pressure, time-sensitive incident environments
• Willingness to work some weekends and holidays as part of a rotation

Desired:

• Hands-on experience with EDR, SIEM, and forensic collection tools
• Familiarity with OSQuery, SQL, or KQL
• Knowledge of MITRE ATT&CK and incident response frameworks
• Industry certifications such as GCIH, GCED, CompTIA Security+, or equivalent
• Experience contributing to playbooks, detection tuning, or service improvement initiatives

What’s Great About Sophos?

• Sophos operates a remote-first working model, making remote work the primary option for most employees. However, some roles may necessitate a hybrid approach. While we are a remote first organization, applicants must have legal authorization to work in the jurisdiction where the position is posted, without requiring employer sponsorship.
• Our people – we innovate and create, all of which are accompanied by a great sense of fun and team spirit
• Employee-led diversity and inclusion networks that build community and provide education and advocacy
• Annual charity and fundraising initiatives and volunteer days for employees to support local communities
• Global employee sustainability initiatives to reduce our environmental footprint
• Global fitness and trivia competitions to keep our bodies and minds sharp
• Global wellbeing days for employees to relax and recharge
• Monthly wellbeing webinars and training to support employee health and wellbeing

Our Commitment To You

We’re proud of the diverse and inclusive environment we have at Sophos, and we’re committed to ensuring equality of opportunity. We believe that diversity, combined with excellence, builds a better Sophos, so we encourage applicants who can contribute to the diversity of our team. All applicants will be treated in a fair and equal manner and in accordance with the law regardless of gender, sex, gender reassignment, marital status, race, religion or belief, color, age, military veteran status, disability, pregnancy, maternity or sexual orientation. We want to give you every opportunity to show us your best self, so if there are any adjustments we could make to the recruitment and selection process to support you, please let us know.

Data Protection

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