Incident Response Project Manager

Abacus Group LLC; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading cybersecurity consultancy in Edinburgh is seeking an Incident Response Project Manager to oversee client-facing projects. The successful candidate will coordinate technical projects, manage budgets, and ensure deliverables meet quality standards. This role requires strong communication skills and a minimum of 5 years of IT management experience. A competitive compensation package and generous benefits are offered, including gym discounts and comprehensive travel insurance.

Benefits

Generous annual leave

Gym discount

Life insurance

Comprehensive travel insurance

Private medical and dental insurance

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge-seeking mindset with a relevant degree.
• At least five years of IT waterfall experience.
• Demonstrates superb writing and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Coordinates multiple external technical projects.
• Tracks and manages the project budget.
• Leads the creation of project reports.

Skills

Project management

Client communication

IT systems knowledge

Problem-solving

Organizational skills

Education

Four-year degree or equivalent

PMP certification (or working toward it)

Job description

Job Summary

As our Incident Response Project Manager, you will be primarily dedicated to external, client-facing projects within our Incident Response team. You will be the driving force behind successful, thorough, and robust project deliverables that result in progressive change and secure enhancements to our clients' technical environments. As the primary face of the team on client calls, you will field questions, establish trust, and set precedent as the go‑to person for all incident-related matters. You will be tasked with understanding the current state of an incident, establishing ownership of the overall direction of containment and recovery, and ensuring all parties are aligned with the verticals defined. Constantly in sync with the primary lead engineer leading containment and recovery strategies and delivering agreed-upon strategic initiatives to all parties, you will work as part of a dynamic, flexing team - ready to respond at a moment's notice mapping into your team's on-call rotation. This position will report directly to our Director of Incident Response PMO.

Responsibilities

Project Management

• Coordinates multiple, external technical projects from inception to completion.
• Follows established core processes, project templates, and methodologies.
• Takes a lead in Professional Services stand‑ups & meetings.
• Collaborates on project planning, design, preparation of deliverables, timelining, and contingency planning.
• Understands SOW requirements and converts them into realistic, executable project plans.
• Manages the project resources to effectively execute on‑time deliverables.
• Tracks and manages the project budget from the outset through successful completion.
• Tracks and oversees T&M project scope and related time entries, confirming their validity.
• Employs creative measures to keep project scope contained.
• Ensures QA standards are being met before project delivery.
• Assists in the initial triage and establishment of access for project kick‑off.
• Drives team's development of project proposals and scope documentation.
• Leverages conflict management techniques to address disagreements.
• Assigns and aligns necessary resources, understanding resource requirements and capacity (perm or contracted) on projects, maximizing available resources and leveraging each engineer's skill set effectively.
• Follows up with engineers on a weekly, daily, or hourly basis to understand the progress of their assigned work and identify potential roadblocks.
• Monitors and summarizes the progress of projects to stakeholders.
• Leads the creation of PowerPoint presentations and project reports as required for large projects.
• Participates in incident response on‑call rotation for incoming IR projects.
• Identifies and understands when it is necessary to elevate issues to higher-level resources.
• Addresses billing disputes, overruns, and customer service issues with meaningful resolutions, looping in additional resources as necessary.
• Conducts post‑mortems to outline lessons learned and improve internal processes.

Problem Solving

• Becomes an active part of project teams solving technical or business roadblocks until a resolution is reached and the outcome is personally verified.
• Perseveres in making sound judgment calls when lacking desired resources or data points.
• Challenges technical or business requirements ensuring that the team delivers the right solution, at the right price, at the right time.
• Leverages an understanding of intermediate to advanced systems configuration, management, and maintenance in areas including Microsoft Server, Exchange, SQL Server, SharePoint, Active Directory, GPO, LAPS, SCCM, MDT, Intune, 0365, Azure, VMware, Hyper‑V, VMware deployments, domain controller roles, backup/DR solutions, remote access tools, and troubleshooting diagnostics.
• Uses tools such as event logs, Syslogs, monitoring data, and memory dumps to troubleshoot issues.
• Implements security‑enhancing solutions, including MFA and endpoint protection.

Metrics Measuring Success

• Maintains billable utilization targets.
• Ensures all mandatory reports are generated and updated daily.
• Meets or exceeds deadlines for all assigned projects.
• Keeps projects profitable while maintaining quality.
• Uses cost variance and schedule variance formulas to measure project success.
• Contributes to high customer satisfaction scores on project delivery.
• Records complete change details, time‑worked entries, and work notes in ServiceNow in real‑time.
• Identifies opportunities for process improvement.

Following Process

• Follows Abacus's project process to deliver: configure, test, implement, refine, document, monitor, and transition stakeholders.
• Applies the Change Management Process for approved changes in client environments.
• Communicates internally and externally to provide timely information regarding project status, promised follow‑ups, and requested feedback.

Skills and Experience

• Possesses a strong knowledge‑seeking mindset with a four‑year degree or equivalent and a PMP certification (or working toward it).
• Has managed projects exclusively as the PM, driving client‑facing communication and timelines.
• Has led client‑facing projects, building consultative relationships that result in high client satisfaction.
• Has at least five years of IT waterfall experience with systems, virtualization, and enterprise infrastructures.
• Maintains strong organizational systems to manage work and quality.
• Demonstrates superb writing and verbal communication skills for all audiences, including C‑suite and engineers.
• Shows flexibility in work hours, willing to accommodate evenings, weekends, holidays, and occasional travel.
• Is an effective remote worker with a dedicated home office and at least 50 MBPS internet.

Desired Personality Traits

• Heroic perseverance: delivers under pressure and converts obstacles into opportunities.
• Detail‑oriented: delivers organized, comprehensive documentation and status updates.
• Fast‑moving: moves swiftly between tasks without losing focus.
• Ambidextrous: balances teamwork with proactive advocacy for optimal client solutions.
• Emotionally mature: remains calm under pressure, promotes respectful dialogue, and mitigates conflict.

The Benefits Package Consists Of

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro‑rata if part‑time).
• Gym discount.
• Life insurance.
• Comprehensive travel insurance for you and your family.
• Confidential well‑being and counseling support.
• Competitive compensation.
• Contributory pension scheme.
• Company events.
• Private medical and dental insurance.