Senior SOC Analyst - Lead Threat Detection & Response

Focus Group; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Focus Group is seeking a Senior SOC Analyst to lead complex security investigations and drive the day-to-day operations of our Security Operations Centre in a hybrid Manchester setup. You’ll mentor junior analysts and partner with cyber leadership to strengthen detection and response capabilities.

You will oversee monitoring, incident response, and operational improvements, while communicating clearly with customers and internal teams.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience within a SOC, MDR, or MSSP environment.
• Strong experience investigating and responding to cyber security incidents.
• Hands-on knowledge of SIEM platforms such as Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk, Elastic, or similar technologies.
• Experience working with EDR/XDR tools including Microsoft Defender, SentinelOne, Bitdefender, or equivalent solutions.
• In-depth understanding of threat detection principles, adversary behaviours, and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to investigate and correlate activity across multiple data sources.
• Confidence managing critical incidents and making informed decisions under pressure.
• Ability to communicate technical findings clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Previous experience supporting, mentoring, or supervising junior analysts.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities effectively.
• A continuous improvement mindset and passion for cyber security.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily SOC activities, ensuring incidents are prioritised, investigated, and escalated where required.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for high-priority security events and cyber incidents.
• Investigate advanced threats across endpoint, network, cloud, and identity environments.
• Conduct proactive threat hunting exercises to identify previously undetected risks.
• Refine detection rules and monitoring content to improve visibility and reduce false positives.
• Coach and support SOC Analysts, providing guidance and mentorship.
• Maintain high standards of ticket management, documentation, and SLA performance.
• Assist with onboarding of new customers into managed security services.
• Collaborate with internal teams to advance SOC processes and tooling.
• Analyse security logs and telemetry to identify indicators of compromise.
• Create and maintain runbooks, procedures, and documentation.
• Produce concise, customer-friendly incident reports and recommendations.
• Participate in customer calls relating to incident response and service reviews.
• Identify opportunities for automation and efficiency improvements.
• Stay updated on emerging threats and industry best practices.

Skills

SOC experience

Incident response

Threat detection

MITRE ATT&CK

Analytical skills

Communication

Mentoring juniors

Decision making under pressure

Automation mindset

Tools

Microsoft Sentinel

Splunk

Elastic

Microsoft Defender

SentinelOne

Bitdefender

PowerShell

KQL

Job description

Focus Group is seeking a Senior SOC Analyst to lead complex security investigations and drive the day-to-day operations of our Security Operations Centre in a hybrid Manchester setup. You’ll mentor junior analysts and partner with cyber leadership to strengthen detection and response capabilities.

You will oversee monitoring, incident response, and operational improvements, while communicating clearly with customers and internal teams.