Principal Microsoft Defender XDR, IRM & Deception Engineer

WTW; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Private healthcare

Life insurance

Group income protection

Pension (matched)

Volunteer day

Share scheme

Electric vehicle scheme

Dental and optical cover

Job summary

WTW is seeking a Principal Microsoft Defender XDR, IRM & Deception Engineer to lead an enterprise deception programme and Defender XDR implementation. You will integrate honeypots, decoy assets, and deceptive credentials with XDR, Sentinel, and IRM to enable proactive, intelligence-led security operations at scale.

You will drive cross-functional collaboration with SOC, CTI, Identity, Cloud, and Engineering teams, mentoring engineers and shaping detection, response, and automation capabilities

Qualifications

• Experience leading enterprise deception programmes and Defender XDR deployment.
• Strong knowledge of security analytics, threat hunting and automation.
• Proven ability to design, implement, and operate deception fabrics across hybrid/multi-cloud environments.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead the enterprise deception programme end-to-end.
• Design, deploy, and operate a layered deception fabric across on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.
• Act as the technical authority for deception engineering and Defender XDR.
• Lead the design and optimisation of Defender XDR across endpoints, identities, email and cloud workloads.
• Integrate deception signals into Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel as high-fidelity detections.
• Define a unified detection and response strategy across the Microsoft security stack.
• Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, and Legal to align DLP and insider-risk controls.
• Extend deception capabilities across AWS, GCP, and OCI.

Skills

Deception engineering

Defender XDR

KQL proficiency

Automation/Orchestration

Threat hunting

MITRE frameworks

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/InfoSec

Tools

Thinkst Canary

T-Pot

Cowrie

OpenCanary

Zscaler Deception

PowerShell

Job description

The Principal Microsoft Defender XDR, IRM & Deception Engineer, working within the Global Information and Cyber Security Defence (ICSD) function, is the technical leader for enterprise cyber deception and unified detection and response across the Microsoft security ecosystem. The role focuses on building, operating, and continuously evolving an enterprise-grade Insider Risk Management (IRM) and deception programme - including honeypots, honeytokens, decoy users, decoy devices, deceptive credentials, and breadcrumbs - fully integrated with Microsoft Defender XDR (Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Identity, Defender for Office 365, and Defender for Cloud Apps), Microsoft Sentinel, and Microsoft Security Copilot.

The role exists to detect adversaries earlier in the kill chain by deceiving attackers into engaging with high-fidelity traps, while delivering unified detection, automated investigation, and response across endpoint, identity, email, and cloud workloads. It combines deep deception engineering expertise with hands‑on Defender XDR mastery and the use of Agentic AI to drive proactive, intelligence‑led, and largely autonomous security operations.

The Role

Deception Engineering Leadership

• Own and lead the enterprise cyber deception programme end-to-end, including strategy, architecture, deployment, operations, and continuous improvement.
• Design, deploy, and operate a layered deception fabric across on‑premises, hybrid, and multi‑cloud environments using honeypots, honeytokens, decoy accounts, decoy devices, deceptive files / shares, and breadcrumbs.
• Act as the technical authority for deception engineering and Microsoft Defender XDR across the enterprise.
• Lead the design, implementation, and optimisation of Microsoft Defender XDR across endpoint, identity, email, and cloud‑app workloads.
• Integrate all deception signals (honeypot, honeytoken, decoy, breadcrumb) into Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel as first‑class, high‑fidelity detections.
• Define and enforce a unified detection and response strategy across the Microsoft security stack.
• Lead the design and implementation of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies across endpoints, cloud apps, and collaboration platforms
• Define and enforce data protection controls to prevent unauthorised data exfiltration and misuse
• Leverage Microsoft Insider Risk Management (IRM) to detect risky user behaviour, including data leaks, policy violations, and insider threats
• Correlate DLP, IRM, and identity signals with Microsoft Defender XDR to provide unified incident context
• Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, and Legal teams to align DLP and insider risk controls with regulatory and business requirements
• Continuously optimise detection use cases combining identity, data, and behavioural analytics
• Extend the deception programme and Defender‑style detection capabilities consistently across AWS, GCP, and OCI, including:
• Cloud honeypots, decoy IAM roles, and honeytoken cloud credentials / API keys
• Control‑plane, workload, container, and Kubernetes threat detection
• Cross‑cloud identity and access misuse detection
• Ensure consistent detection, deception, and response coverage across hybrid and multi‑cloud environments.

Automation, Agentic AI & Continuous Improvement

• Contribute towards automation of deception deployment, detection, investigation, and response workflows using Microsoft Sentinel SOAR, Logic Apps, and Microsoft Security Copilot.
• Define KPIs and metrics covering deception engagement, detection coverage, and response maturity.
• Continuously improve detection, hunting, and deception capabilities to align with emerging threats and adversary tradecraft.

Stakeholder Engagement & Technical Leadership

• Lead and grow a team of Defender XDR and Deception Engineers, setting technical direction, standards, and delivery priorities.
• Partner with SOC, CTI, Identity, Cloud, and Engineering teams to embed deception and Defender XDR detection into all enterprise platforms.
• Provide mentorship and leadership to deception engineers, detection engineers, threat hunters, and SOC analysts.
• Communicate deception strategy, detection coverage, residual risk, and security improvements to senior stakeholders.

What you'll bring:

Hands‑on experience with:

• Open-source and commercial deception / honeypot platforms (e.g., Thinkst Canary, T-Pot, Cowrie, OpenCanary, Zscaler Deception)
• Advanced KQL for detection engineering and threat hunting at scale
• Detection-as-code, CI/CD of detection content, and security content management

Strong knowledge of adversary tradecraft and frameworks:

• MITRE ATT&CK, MITRE Engage, MITRE D3FEND, and the cyber kill chain
• Experience leveraging Agentic AI, Microsoft Security Copilot, or AI/ML in security operations (detection, hunting, IR, automation).
• Extensive hands‑on experience operating and engineering Microsoft Defender XDR (MDE, MDI, MDO, MDA) in large enterprises.

Deep expertise across the Microsoft security stack, including:

• Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) deceptive accounts, deceptive devices, and honeytokens
• Microsoft Sentinel (analytics rules, workbooks, hunting, SOAR)
• Microsoft Security Copilot, automated investigation & response, and attack disruption
• Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps and Defender for Cloud
• Proven experience leading incident response across identity, endpoint, email, and cloud domains.
• Strong scripting / automation experience (PowerShell, Python, or equivalent).
• Deep understanding of Zero Trust architecture and identity‑centric defence.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience contributing to red‑team / purple‑team exercises and breach‑and‑attack simulation (BAS) programmes.

Microsoft certifications:

• Microsoft Certified: Security Operations Analyst Associate (SC-200)
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500)
• Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert (SC-100)
• Industry certifications (CISSP, GCIA, GCFA, GCIH, OSCP, or equivalent)
• Cloud certifications across AWS, GCP, or OCI

What We Offer

Enjoy a benefits package designed to help you thrive, both professionally and personally.

• 25 days of annual leave plus an extra WTW day to relax and recharge.
• private healthcare
• life insurance
• group income protection
• regular health assessments
• defined contribution pension scheme, featuring matched contributions up to 10% from the company.

We support your growth and balance with hybrid working options, access to an employee assistance programme, and a fully paid volunteer day to make a difference in your community.

• hybrid working options
• employee assistance programme
• fully paid volunteer day to make a difference in your community
• electric vehicle car scheme
• share scheme
• cycle‑to‑work programme
• dental and optical cover
• critical illness protection

Start making the most of your career and wellbeing with a range of benefits tailored for you.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We’re committed to equal employment opportunity and provide application, interview and workplace adjustments and accommodations to all applicants. If you foresee any barriers, from the application process through to joining WTW, please email [e-mail]