Cyber Defense Strategy Lead

The Security Executive Council; Bethpage, Northern (NY, KY); Hybrid; USD 134,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Optimum is seeking a Lead, Cyber Defense Operations Strategy and Coordination to drive the strategic direction and operational alignment of enterprise cyber defense capabilities. This role ensures coordinated execution across SOC, Incident Response, Threat Intelligence, and Vulnerability Management to reduce cyber risk and strengthen resilience.

Responsibilities include defining and evolving the defense operations strategy and operating model, coordinating priorities across teams, leading

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
• 8+ years in Cyber Security or related field.
• Leadership in SOC, incident response, threat intel, or vulnerability management.
• Knowledge of NIST CSF, MITRE ATT&CK, ISO 27001.
• Ability to lead cross-functional programs without direct authority.
• Strong executive reporting and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the cyber defense operations strategy, roadmap, and operating model.
• Coordinate priorities and execution across SOC, IR, Threat Intelligence, Vulnerability Management, and security engineering teams.
• Establish and lead oversight, including operational reviews and post-incident reviews.
• Drive development of playbooks, runbooks, escalation paths, and response coordination protocols.
• Translate emerging threats into operational priorities, detection use cases, and control improvements.
• Develop and report KPIs/KRIs such as MTTR and remediation SLA performance.
• Partner with Infrastructure, IT, Legal, Privacy, and business teams during incident response and readiness.
• Lead improvement exercises and drills to strengthen crisis response.
• Identify gaps and coordinate automation and operational improvements.

Skills

SOC leadership

Incident response

Threat intelligence

Vulnerability mgmt

Cross-functional

Executive reporting

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

SIEM

SOAR

EDR

Case management

Job description

Optimum is seeking a Lead, Cyber Defense Operations Strategy and Coordination to drive the strategic direction and operational alignment of enterprise cyber defense capabilities. This role ensures coordinated execution across SOC, Incident Response, Threat Intelligence, and Vulnerability Management to reduce cyber risk and strengthen resilience.

Responsibilities include defining and evolving the defense operations strategy and operating model, coordinating priorities across teams, leading