Principal DFIR Engineer - Hybrid Lead Incident Response

Verizon; Ashburn (VA); Hybrid; USD 121,000 - 231,000; Full time

Job summary

Verizon is seeking a Principal Engineer in a hybrid role to lead forensic investigations and incident response across Core, Edge, and network functions. You will own the DFIR lifecycle with minimal supervision and drive automation across cloud-native forensics initiatives.

The role requires extensive experience in digital forensics, network security engineering, and incident response, with strong leadership and executive communication skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or four or more years of relevant work experience.
• Six or more years of relevant work experience in digital forensics, network security engineering, or incident response.
• Proven track record of operating with complete autonomy and leading major incident command.
• Deep experience with SIEM/data analysis platforms (Splunk, ELK).
• Hands-on experience with forensic tools and rule-writing (YARA/YARA-L).
• Expert knowledge of core network protocols (TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, DNS, TLS, HTTP/S).
• Proficiency in scripting and automation (Python, PowerShell, Bash).

Responsibilities

• Autonomous DFIR leadership: drive enterprise-wide forensic collection strategies and incident response programs end-to-end.
• Executive incident command during major security events with cross-functional coordination and rapid containment.
• Network telemetry analysis using PCAP, NetFlow/IPFIX, firewall logs, and router/switch artifacts.
• Develop and maintain forensic tooling automation, cloud-native pipelines, and triage engines.
• Create and refine DFIR playbooks and runbooks for high-impact incidents.
• Produce comprehensive forensic investigation reports with timelines, root cause, and remediation.

Skills

DFIR leadership

Incident command

Network forensics

SIEM analysis

Python scripting

Automation

Forensic tooling

YARA rules

Network protocols

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Splunk/ELK

EnCase

FTK

Volatility

YARA

KAPE

SANS SIFT

X-Ways

Job description

Verizon is seeking a Principal Engineer in a hybrid role to lead forensic investigations and incident response across Core, Edge, and network functions. You will own the DFIR lifecycle with minimal supervision and drive automation across cloud-native forensics initiatives.

The role requires extensive experience in digital forensics, network security engineering, and incident response, with strong leadership and executive communication skills.