Security Analyst – Consultant

CornerStone Technology Talent Services; Columbia (SC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

CornerStone Technology Talent Services is seeking a hands-on Security Analyst to join our public-sector healthcare client on a 100% on-site engagement in Columbia, SC. The role focuses on active defense, security monitoring, incident response, and compliance activities across agency systems and networks.

The ideal candidate has a strong IT security or systems administration background with incident response experience and familiarity with SIEM, firewalls, IDS/IPS, and vulnerability management.

Qualifications

• Six years of relevant work experience with a high school diploma.
• Hands-on IT security or systems administration background.
• Experience with incident response procedures.
• Strong enterprise security practices and risk awareness.
• Ability to work independently and coordinate with multiple teams and vendors.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio templates.

Responsibilities

• Support daily Security Operations Center (SOC) monitoring activities, tools, and processes.
• Monitor security alerts, investigate suspicious activity, gather evidence, and analyze potential threats.
• Conduct threat hunts to identify evidence of compromise.
• Perform vulnerability scanning, analyze results, validate findings, and support remediation.
• Provide hands-on support and maintenance of cybersecurity tools.
• Assess security solutions and processes and recommend improvements to systems and networks.
• Guide junior security analysts in identifying risks and responding to security incidents.
• Collaborate with technical teams, business stakeholders, leadership, and vendors to address security and compliance risks.
• Support security assessments and compliance efforts aligned with federal, state, and agency standards.

Skills

Incident response

SOC monitoring

Threat hunting

Vulnerability management

Security monitoring

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in IT, computer science, or related field

Tools

SIEM

Firewalls

IDS/IPS

tcpdump/Wireshark

Job description

Location: Columbia, South Carolina (100% On-Site)

Employment Type: Long Term Contract

Residency Requirement: Must currently reside in South Carolina. Relocation is not permitted.

CornerStone Technology Talent Services is seeking a Security Analyst for our public-sector healthcare client. This hands-on role supports the active defense of agency systems and networks through security monitoring, threat hunting, vulnerability assessments, incident response, and compliance activities.

Responsibilities

• Support daily Security Operations Center (SOC) monitoring activities, tools, and processes.
• Monitor security alerts, investigate suspicious activity, gather evidence, and analyze potential threats.
• Conduct threat hunts to identify evidence of compromise.
• Perform vulnerability scanning, analyze results, validate findings, and support remediation.
• Provide hands‑on support and ongoing maintenance of cybersecurity tools.
• Assess security solutions and processes and recommend improvements to systems and networks.
• Guide junior security analysts in identifying risks and responding to security incidents.
• Collaborate with technical teams, business stakeholders, leadership, and vendors to address security and compliance risks.
• Support security assessments and compliance efforts aligned with federal, state, and agency standards.

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma with six years of relevant work experience.
• Hands‑on experience or an educational background in IT systems security or systems administration.
• Experience with incident response procedures and practices.
• Strong understanding of enterprise operations and secure technology practices.
• Ability to work independently and collaborate with multiple teams and vendors.
• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to prioritize assignments, meet deadlines, and report progress.
• Intermediate proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio, including templates and formatting guidelines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Willingness to learn new tools and processes, accept feedback, and adapt to changing priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a SOC environment, including alert triage, security dashboards, and incident investigation.
• Experience with SIEM systems, centralized log management, firewalls, IDS/IPS, and network security monitoring.
• Familiarity with vulnerability assessments, threat management, and secure system configuration.
• Knowledge of TCP/IP and network analysis tools such as Wireshark or tcpdump.
• Familiarity with NIST 800-series standards, CMS ARC-AMPE, COBIT, FedRAMP, and security compliance assessments or audits.
• Experience integrating Risk Management Framework tasks into the software development lifecycle.
• Knowledge of cloud security, multi‑tenant environments, and vendor interfaces.
• Healthcare IT or government experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in IT, computer science, or a related technical field with at least three years of relevant experience.
• Relevant security certifications from CompTIA, ISC2, SANS GIAC, or similar organizations.

What We're Looking For

The strongest candidates will bring a combination of: IT Security / Systems Administration + Incident Response + SOC Monitoring + SIEM + Threat Hunting + Vulnerability Management

We are particularly interested in experienced Security Analysts, SOC Analysts, Cybersecurity Analysts, and Systems Administrators with strong security operations experience.

This is not a GRC-only or compliance-focused position. Candidates must have hands‑on technical experience investigating incidents, monitoring security environments, and responding to cybersecurity threats.