Sr IT Cyber Defense Analyst

Altera Digital Health Inc.; Pune District; Remote; INR 1,600,000 - 2,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Altera Digital Health Inc. is seeking a Senior IT Cyber Defense Analyst (Shift Lead) to steer 24/7 SOC operations, drive incident investigations, and mentor junior analysts. The role emphasizes SIEM/EDR mastery and hands-on use of AI/LLM tools with careful validation.

You will lead threat hunting, refine detection rules in Microsoft Sentinel with KQL, and coordinate incident response across IT and security teams. A strong background in MITRE ATT&CK and scripting is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity, IT, CS or equivalent.
• At least 5+ years in SOC, cyber defense, or incident response with leadership.
• Hands-on experience with SIEM/EDR/XDR and threat detection.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Sentinel and KQL; Defender/CrowdStrike experience.
• Strong networking, Windows/Linux, identity security, and MITRE ATT&CK knowledge.
• Practical AI/LLM skills including prompt engineering and validating AI outputs.
• Scripting or automation using Python/PowerShell/APIs/SOAR.
• Excellent communication and leadership; able to work 24/7 shifts.

Responsibilities

• Lead SOC shift operations, prioritize alerts, manage escalations, and ensure timely handovers and SLA adherence.
• Investigate complex incidents involving phishing, malware, ransomware, compromised accounts, endpoint threats, and suspicious network activity.
• Conduct threat hunting, correlate security telemetry, and map attacker behavior to the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
• Develop, optimize, and troubleshoot SIEM queries, analytics rules, and detection use cases using Microsoft Sentinel and KQL.
• Use approved AI/LLM tools for alert triage, investigation assistance, threat intelligence enrichment, KQL development, incident reporting, and workflow automation; independently validate AI-generated outputs.
• Automate repetitive SOC tasks using Python, PowerShell, APIs, or SOAR capabilities.
• Mentor analysts, improve investigation quality, reduce false positives, and maintain accurate incident documentation and audit-ready evidence.
• Coordinate with Incident Response, IT, Endpoint, Network, and Cloud teams to support containment, remediation, and recovery.

Skills

SOC leadership

Incident response

AI/LLM proficiency

Threat hunting

Scripting (Python/PowerShell)

Team mentoring

MITRE ATT&CK

Networking

KQL

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity / IT / CS

Tools

Microsoft Sentinel

KQL

Microsoft Defender

CrowdStrike

Job description

Senior IT Cyber Defense Analyst (Shift Lead)

AI-Enabled Security Operations | 24/7 SOC

Location: Remote – Pune/Baroda, India

Department: IT Cybersecurity – Security Operations Center (SOC)

Reports To: SOC Manager

Work Schedule: 24/7 rotational shifts

About The Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior IT Cyber Defense Analyst (Shift Lead) to lead day-to-day SOC operations, oversee security investigations, coordinate incident response, and mentor SOC analysts. The ideal candidate will bring strong SIEM/EDR expertise, advanced threat investigation skills, and hands‑on experience using AI/LLM tools and automation to improve SOC efficiency and detection capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead SOC shift operations, prioritize alerts, manage escalations, and ensure timely handovers and SLA adherence.
• Investigate complex incidents involving phishing, malware, ransomware, compromised accounts, endpoint threats, and suspicious network activity.
• Conduct threat hunting, correlate security telemetry, and map attacker behavior to the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
• Develop, optimize, and troubleshoot SIEM queries, analytics rules, and detection use cases using Microsoft Sentinel and KQL.
• Use approved AI/LLM tools for alert triage, investigation assistance, threat intelligence enrichment, KQL development, incident reporting, and workflow automation; independently validate AI-generated outputs.
• Automate repetitive SOC tasks using Python, PowerShell, APIs, or SOAR capabilities.
• Mentor analysts, improve investigation quality, reduce false positives, and maintain accurate incident documentation and audit-ready evidence.
• Coordinate with Incident Response, IT, Endpoint, Network, and Cloud teams to support containment, remediation, and recovery.

Required Skills And Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of experience in SOC, cyber defense, or incident response, including shift leadership, incident coordination, or analyst mentoring.
• Strong hands‑on experience with SIEM, EDR/XDR, incident investigation, and threat detection.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Sentinel and KQL; experience with Microsoft Defender, CrowdStrike, or similar security platforms.
• Strong understanding of networking, Windows/Linux, identity security, email threats, and MITRE ATT&CK.
• Mandatory practical AI/LLM proficiency, including prompt engineering, AI‑assisted investigations, validation of AI-generated queries/scripts, and awareness of hallucinations, prompt injection, and data privacy risks.
• Scripting or automation experience using Python, PowerShell, APIs, or SOAR tools.
• Strong analytical, communication, decision‑making, and team leadership skills; willingness to work in a 24/7 rotational shift environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certifications such as Microsoft SC‑200, CompTIA CySA+, GCIH, or relevant SIEM/EDR vendor certifications.
• Experience in proactive threat hunting, detection engineering, cloud security, and SOC process improvement.

What Success Looks Like

• Effective shift leadership and timely, high-quality incident handling.
• Improved detection coverage, investigation efficiency, and reduced false positives.
• Practical adoption of AI and automation to reduce repetitive work while maintaining security, accuracy, and human oversight.
• Strong analyst development, documentation, and operational consistency.