Director Security Operations

Sierra Nevada Corporation; Sparks (NV); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual incentive pay

Medical/dental/vision benefits

401(k) with match

Life insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Sierra Nevada Corp (SNC) seeks a Director of Security to lead its comprehensive security program across domestic and international operations. You will drive policy, risk, and crisis management while guiding cloud security, AI modernization, and advanced threat intelligence initiatives.

You will oversee 24/7 SOC operations, engage with executive leadership and key clients, and ensure compliance with industry standards. This role requires a U.S. security clearance and travel as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• 13+ years of experience in related role with at least 6+ years in a leadership role.
• Higher level degree may substitute for experience.
• 7+ years of progressive cybersecurity experience.
• Verifiable background leading operations in MSSP/government/enterprise SOC.
• Proven incident response and crisis management experience.
• Hands-on familiarity with cloud security architectures, automation/SOAR, and ML/AI tools.
• Strong written and verbal communication; ability to present analyses to executives.
• Knowledge of information/industrial security and regulatory compliance.

Responsibilities

• Oversee 24x7x365 multi-tier SOC operations with SLAs/SLOs.
• Direct response strategies as senior escalation point during incidents.
• Lead SOPs, playbooks, and runbooks aligned with ATT&CK, NIST CSF, ISO 27001.
• Steer FP&A and reporting for SOC operations.
• Engage clients and executives; brief on root causes and remediation paths.

Skills

Leadership

Incident response

Crisis management

Executive communication

Threat intelligence

Regulatory compliance

Policy development

Decision making

Security program management

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Splunk

Microsoft Sentinel

CrowdStrike Falcon

Cortex XSOAR

Datadog

LLMs

Job description

Are you looking to advance your career and flex your leadership and security skills in a fast-paced and rewarding organization? Join us! As the Director of Security, you will provide strategic leadership and oversight for the organization's comprehensive security program, which includes information security, industrial security, special programs management, crisis management, and investigations. You will ensure the effective implementation of security policies, standards, and procedures across domestic and international operations. This role involves partnering with various business units to enhance and align security solutions with organizational goals while identifying and planning for emerging security threats. As SNC's corporate team, we provide the company and its business areas with strategic direction and business support spanning executive management, finance and accounting, operations, human resources, legal, IT, information security, facilities, marketing, and communications.

Responsibilities

• SOC Leadership & Operational Excellence Oversee 24x7x365 multi-tier SOC operations, establishing operational cadence, shift handovers, escalation paths, and service level agreements (SLAs/SLOs). Direct response strategies for critical incidents, serving as the senior escalation point and incident commander during active threats, breaches, and outages. Establish standard operating procedures (SOPs), playbooks, and runbooks aligned with industry frameworks (MITRE Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge [ATT&CK], MITRE Adversarial Threat Landscape for Artificial-Intelligence Systems [ATLAS], National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework [NIST CSF], ISO 27001). Maintain high analyst performance and operational rigor while mitigating alert fatigue and burnout. Advance proactive threat hunting and active defense initiatives.
• Manage SOC Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) and reporting.
• Cloud Security Engineering & AI Modernization Lead the security engineering team charged with building, deploying, and maintaining cloud-native detection, response, and monitoring pipelines (AWS/Azure/GCP). Champion the adoption of modern technologies, including machine learning models, predictive threat analytics, and autonomous AI agents to drive automated triage, alert enrichment, and remediation. Oversee SIEM, SOAR, EDR/XDR, and cloud-native security platforms, continuously refining detection engineering, rule tuning, and pipeline efficiency.
• Customer Engagement & Executive Communication Act as the senior operational liaison for key client stakeholders, enterprise leadership, and regulatory bodies. Lead high-stakes client briefings during major security incidents, presenting root-cause analyses, containment actions, and remediation paths with composure. Partner with Product, Customer Success, and Sales engineering teams to align SOC capabilities with client expectations and evolving service offerings.
• Cyber Threat Intelligence & Reporting Oversee the production of actionable cyber threat intelligence (CTI) and operational reporting. Author and review detailed cyber activity reports, executive dashboards, and threat advisories for both technical teams and C-suite/external customer leadership. Translate complex telemetry, adversarial tactics, and forensic finding.

Qualifications You Must Have

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• 13+ years of experience in related role with at least 6+ years in a leadership role (Director, Senior Manager, or equivalent).
• Higher level relevant degree may substitute for experience.
• 7+ years of progressive cybersecurity experience.
• Verifiable background leading operations in an MSSP, government/defense intelligence agency SOC, or Fortune 500 enterprise SOC.
• Proven track record leading incident response and crisis management in high-stress, mission-critical scenarios under strict time constraints.
• Hands-on familiarity managing engineering initiatives involving cloud security architectures, automation/SOAR pipelines, and ML/AI-driven detection tooling.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with proven ability to present technical threat analyses to executive committees and enterprise clients.
• Strong knowledge of information security, industrial security, and regulatory compliance.
• Proven ability to develop and implement policy, influence partners to incorporate security requirements into functional area operations, and drive process improvement both internal and external to the security organization.
• Proven ability to interpret intent of available guidelines/regulations and use considerable judgement in applying them to individual situations.
• Shows strong decision-making skills by clearly stating the BLUF (bottom line up front), highlighting what matters most, simplifying complex information, & making timely, well-reasoned decisions that drive the biggest impact (80/20).
• The ability to obtain and maintain a Secret U.S. Security Clearance is required.

Qualifications We Prefer

• Preferred Certifications & Education Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent practical experience. Certifications: CISSP, CISM, or CCISO; advanced technical certifications such as GIAC (GCIH, GCFA, GNFA, GCDA) are highly desirable.
• Technical Competencies Deep understanding of threat actor tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), malware analysis lifecycles, and forensic methodologies. Practical exposure to LLMs, generative AI tools, or agentic frameworks deployed in security workflows (e.g., automated alert triage, natural-language threat hunting).
• Mastery of modern detection and telemetry stacks (e.g., Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, CrowdStrike Falcon, Palo Alto Cortex XSOAR, Datadog).

Essential Functions

• Leading the strategic planning and execution of the security program.
• Developing and implementing security policies and strategy.
• Advising executive leadership on security-related matters.
• Conducting risk and compliance assessments and developing mitigation strategies.
• Working in an office or hybrid environment, with travel as needed.
• Must be able to lift up to 25 pounds occasionally.
• May require extended periods of sitting and working on a computer.
• This posting will be open for application for a minimum of 5 days and may be extended based on business needs.

SNC offers annual incentive pay based upon performance that is commensurate with the level of the position. SNC offers a generous benefit package, including medical, dental, and vision plans, 401(k) with 150% match up to 6%, life insurance, 3 weeks paid time off, tuition reimbursement, and more.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Secret U.S. Security Clearance. U.S. Citizenship status is required as this position needs an active U.S. Security Clearance for employment. Non-U.S. citizens may not be eligible to obtain a security clearance. The Department of Defense Consolidated Adjudications Facility (DoD CAF), a federal government agency, handles the adjudicative aspects of the security clearance eligibility process for industry applicants. Adjudicative factors which affect the outcome of the eligibility determination include, but are not limited to, allegiance to the U.S., foreign influence, foreign preference, criminal conduct, security violations and illegal drug use. Learn more about the background check process for Security Clearances.

SNC is a global leader in aerospace and national security committed to moving the American Dream forward. We’re known and respected for our mission and execution focus, agility, and disruptive and rapid innovation. We provide leading edge technologies and transformative solutions that support our nation’s most critical security needs. If you are mission-focused, thrive in collaborative environments, and want to make our country stronger with state-of-the-art technologies that safeguard freedom, join our team! SNC is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to an environment free of discrimination. Employment decisions are made based on merit without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran or other characteristics protected by law. SNC is a trusted global leader in aerospace and national security. Our innovative solutions enable connected protection through command, control and communications systems, as well as ISR, cyber, electromagnetic spectrum management, and other high capabilities for systems across all domains – sea, land, air, space and cyber. As a longstanding leader in defense technology, SNC is the optimum intersection of commercial, defense and non-traditional contractors. We are one of the only privately owned mid-tier A&D contractors and we pride ourselves on our ability to invest early and often to ensure mission success on or ahead of schedule. It’s part of our mission to always stay one step ahead; working on solutions today to solve the problems of tomorrow. Founded in 1963, SNC is owned by Chairwoman Eren Ozmen and CEO Fatih Ozmen.