Incident Response Lead

Leidos; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 108,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and Wellness programs

Competitive compensation

Retirement benefits

Job summary

Leidos in Washington, DC is seeking an Incident Response Lead to join its DHS SOC support team. You will oversee incident response activities across the lifecycle, provide technical leadership, and collaborate with government and contractor teams to monitor, detect, and respond to cyber threats.

The role requires a TS/SCI clearance, US citizenship, and 8–12 years in technical roles, including 4+ years of people management and 5+ years in intrusion detection and incident handling.

Qualifications

• 8–12 years of experience in a technical discipline.
• 4+ years of supervising and/or managing teams.
• 5+ years of intrusion detection and/or incident handling experience.
• Must hold active TS/SCI security clearance and US citizenship.

Responsibilities

• In-depth knowledge of incident response lifecycle phases.
• Expertise in Windows and Linux operations and artifacts.
• Understanding of enterprise network architectures, routing, switching, and security devices.
• Identify suspicious activity and determine root cause and scope of incidents.
• Lead tool and framework improvements for SOC operations.
• Promote best practices in incident response and SOC operations.
• Drive automation and process efficiencies.
• Familiarity with Cyber Kill Chain and ATT&CK frameworks.
• Mentor analysts to deliver high-quality analyses.
• Build trust with customers and stakeholders.

Skills

Incident response leadership

Windows & Linux operations

Network architectures & security

Threat analysis

Mentoring and guidance

Customer stakeholder management

Cyber Kill Chain/ATT&CK familiarity

Clear communication

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

SIEM platforms

Job description

Description

At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers’ success. We empower our teams, contribute to our communities, and operate sustainable. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people, and our community. Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide the way we do business. If this sounds like the kind of environment where you can thrive, keep reading!

The Digital Modernization Sector

The Digital Modernization Sector brings together our digital transformation and IT programs, allowing us to better serve our customers through scale and repeatability. Leidos is seeking an Incident Response Lead to join our team on a highly visible cyber security single-award IDIQ vehicle that provides security operations center (SOC) support, cyber analysis, application development, and a 24x7x365 support staff. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Security Operations Center (SOC) Support Services is a US Government program responsible to monitor, detect, analyze, mitigate, and respond to cyber threats and adversarial activity on the DHS Enterprise. The DHS SOC has primary responsibility for monitoring and responding to security events and incidents detected at the Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) and Policy Enforcement Point (PEP) and is responsible for directing and coordinating detection and response activities performed by each Component SOC. Direction and coordination are achieved through a shared DHS incident tracking system and other means of coordination and communication.

Primary Responsibilities

• In-depth knowledge of each phase of the Incident Response life cycle
• Expertise in Operating Systems (Windows/Linux) operations and artifacts
• Understanding of Enterprise Network Architectures to include routing/switching, common protocols (DHCP, DNS, HTTP, etc), and devices (Firewalls, Proxies, Load Balancers, VPN, etc)
• Ability to recognize suspicious activity/events, common attacker TTPs, perform logical analysis and research to determine root cause and scope of Incidents
• Drive implementation and improvement of new tools, capabilities, frameworks, and methodologies
• Instill and reinforce industry best practices in the domains of incident response, cybersecurity analysis, case and knowledge management, and SOC operations
• Promote and drive implementation of automation and process efficiencies
• Familiarity with Cyber Kill Chain and ATT&CK Framework and how to leverage in Security Operations
• Provide guidance and mentorship to improve analyst skill sets and ensure delivery of high quality analysis and work products
• Establish trust and business relationships with customer and other relevant stakeholders

Bachelor's Degree and 8-12 years of experience in a technical discipline.

• 4+ years of supervising and/or managing teams
• 5+ years of intrusion detection and/or incident handling experience
• CISSP and SANS GCIH or GCIA required upon start
• Advanced knowledge in planning, directing, and managing Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT) and/or Security Operations Center (SOC) operations for a large and complex Enterprise
• Significant experience supervising and leading employees of various labor categories and technical skill levels in efforts similar in size and scope to a mature Security Operation
• Mature understanding of industry accepted standards for incident response actions and best practices related to SOC operations;
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to create technical reports based on analytical findings.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Must be a US Citizen.
• Must hold active TS/SCI security clearance to be considered

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep technical understanding of core current cybersecurity technologies as well as emerging capabilities.
• Hands-on cybersecurity experience (Protect, Detect, Respond and Sustain) within a Computer Incident Response organization including prior experience performing large-scale incident response.
• Demonstrated understanding of the life cycle of cybersecurity threats, attacks, attack vectors and methods of exploitation with an understanding of intrusion set tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs).

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 25, 2026

Pay Range

Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00 The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand 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.

About 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 $16.7 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Pay And Benefits

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 at www.leidos.com/careers/pay-benefits.

• competitive compensation
• Health and Wellness programs
• Income Protection
• Paid LeaveRetirement

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

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.