Defensive Cyber Operations Analyst

Leidos LLC; Washington; Hybrid; USD 87,000 - 157,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work up to 20% Telework

Job summary

Leidos is seeking Defensive Cyber Operations Analysts to support a 24/7 DCO team in the Washington, DC area. This hybrid role offers up to 20% telework and shifts across Day, Swing, and Mid. You will detect incidents, monitor security tools, and provide technical leadership with senior stakeholders.

DoD certifications and TS/SCI clearance are required or to be obtained within 180 days. The role emphasizes rigorous documentation, collaboration, and rapid, clear communication to protect national

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related discipline and professional experience per level.
• DoD 8570 IAT Level II/III certification required or to be obtained within 180 days.
• DoD 8570 CSSP Analyst certification or equivalent within 180 days.
• DoD 8570 CSSP Infrastructure Support certification or equivalent within 180 days.
• Strong networking knowledge and experience with security tools and event analysis.
• Current DoD TS/SCI clearance and ability to pass screenings.

Responsibilities

• Detect and characterize network incidents and anomalies.
• Monitor security tools, investigate alerts, and develop mitigations.
• Follow SOPs and document actions clearly in tickets.
• Brief senior management with translate security events into actions.
• Maintain high-quality technical writeups for audit trails.
• Communicate across teams in a collocated, high-tempo environment.
• Support CSSP with detection, response, and recovery activities.

Skills

Incident response

Continuous security monitoring

Technical leadership

Security writing

Communication with stakeholders

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related discipline

Tools

SIEM (Splunk)

SIEM (Elastic)

Firewall / IDS/IPS

Job description

The Leidos Digital Modernization sector is seeking Defensive Cyber Operations Analysts to support a Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) team in Washington, DC. Our team provides mission critical, 24/7 operational support to the customer’s mission of protecting federal networked systems and services from cyber threats impacting national security. We hire for these roles on an ongoing basis and our recruiting team will contact applicants as positions become available. This is a hybrid position with the potential for up to 20% Telework. Shifts include Days, Swings and Mids. Shift availability will vary based on program needs and staffing levels. All new hires’ initial 4-6 weeks will be spent on weekday Day Shift to complete onboarding, training and familiarization. Applicants must remain flexible to potential shift modifications to assist in meeting minimum staffing requirements.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Incident Detection & Characterization: Perform computer network incident detection and response activities to detect, correlate, identify, and characterize anomalous activity indicative of enterprise threats.
• Continuous Security Monitoring: Monitor various security tools and applications for malicious activities, investigate associated alerts or indicators, and develop mitigation strategies and courses of action.
• Operational Rigor: Follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) with strong attention to detail, ensuring all system checks are performed timely and all documentation is complete and accurate.
• Technical Leadership & Influence: Work to influence project/team leaders regarding solution design and process approaches; review investigations and reports of peers to ensure accuracy and clarity.
• Senior-Level Briefing: Develop and conduct technical briefings to senior management, translating complex security events into actionable business or mission intelligence.
• Detailed Documentation: Maintain high-quality technical writing standards, documenting every event and associated analysis within the ticketing system for audit and follow-on action.
• Collaborative Coordination: Exercise excellent communication skills for regular face-to-face customer interaction and high-tempo coordination between team members in a collocated environment.
• Adaptive Defense: Support the CSSP in providing detect, response, mitigation, and recovery capabilities by monitoring network/host/application security devices.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

All positions require a Bachelor's Degree in a related discipline as well as professional, directly relevant experience depending on job level (Level II: 2+ years of experience, Level III: 4+ years of experience, Level IV: 8+ years of experience). Additional years of professional and/or military experience may be substituted in lieu of degree.

DoD 8570 IAT Level II/III: Must hold an IAT Level II or higher certification (or obtain within 180 days). (e.g., CompTIA Security+, CySA+, GSEC, SSCP) or (CASP+ CE, CCNP Security, CISA, GCED, and GCIH).

DoD 8570 CSSP Analyst: Must hold a CSSP Analyst certification (or obtain within 180 days). (e.g., CompTIA CySA+, Cloud+, GIAC GCIA).

DoD 8570 CSSP Infrastructure Support: Must hold a CSSP Infrastructure Support certification (or obtain within 180 days). (e.g., CompTIA CySA+, Cloud+, EC-Council CEH, CND, CHFI, GIAC GICSP, and ISC2 SSCP).

Technical Proficiency: Strong computing system knowledge, particularly networking, including communication protocols and familiarity with common security elements such as IDS/IPS and firewalls.

Data Analysis: Direct experience evaluating packet captures (PCAP) and logs to identify malicious traffic and verify security events.

Security Clearance: Current DoD TS/SCI security clearance and ability to pass additional customer suitability screenings prior to start and maintain throughout employment.

PREFERRED SKILLS

• SOC Excellence: Prior experience working in a Cyber Network Defense (CND) or Security Operations Center (SOC) environment.
• Framework Expertise: Demonstrated familiarity with security frameworks such as the Lockheed Martin Cyber Kill Chain and MITRE ATT&CK.
• Intrusion Analysis: Specialized experience in the monitoring of intrusion detection appliances and the analysis of complex, multi-stage alerts.
• Response Recommendation: Proven track record of documenting technical analysis and providing defensive response recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• Platform Familiarity: Experience working with SIEM platforms (Splunk, Elastic, or similar) to perform data correlation and search queries.

#nebo If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting: August 11, 2026 For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range: Pay Range $87,100.00 - $157,450.00 The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.

Leidos Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $17.2 billion for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers. Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement. More details are available here.

Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information at any part of the employment application process. And Leidos will communicate with you only through emails that are sent from a Leidos.com email address. If you receive an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information, please report the email to [e-mail].

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.