Security Operations Engineer

020 Cisco Systems, Inc.; North Carolina; On-site; USD 129,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a seasoned Security Operations professional to join our SecOps team in the United States. The role focuses on vulnerability management, incident response, threat hunting, and detection engineering across cloud and on-premises environments.

You will lead cross-functional triage, drive remediation SLAs, and develop automated detections and playbooks. Join Cisco to advance security across critical infrastructure with mentorship and growth.

Qualifications

• 4+ years in a dedicated SOC, Cloud Security, or Incident Response role.
• Experience with cloud architectures (AWS, Azure, GCP) and vulnerability lifecycles.
• Experience in incident response following NIST/ISO standards.
• Experience with log/telemetry analysis in enterprise SIEMs (Splunk).
• Strong written and verbal communication; capable of postmortems and SOPs.
• Familiarity with AI/LLMs for alert enrichment and automation.

Responsibilities

• Lead vulnerability triage, prioritization, and remediation across PM/QE queues.
• Act as Incident Commander during critical security incidents and drive containment.
• Perform threat hunting and map detections to MITRE ATT&CK.
• Coordinate audits and governance evidence with compliance teams.
• Develop automated workflows, runbooks, and detection rules using Python.

Skills

SOC/IR experience

Cloud security (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Vulnerability management

Incident response

Log/telemetry analysis

Postmortems & SOPs

AI/LLMs for automation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity/Info Systems

Tools

Splunk

Kubernetes

Wiz

Falco

Linux logs

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 11/11/2026

Meet the Team

We believe that world-class security starts with great people. The SBG Security Operations (SecOps) Team is the frontline defense for Cisco’s Security Business Group. At Cisco SBG we build solutions that defend the world’s most critical infrastructure. Our mission is to instill absolute confidence in our engineering partners and global customers that Cisco security solutions are designed, built, and operated securely. In this role, you won’t just be a gear in the machine, you will be an empowered collaborator, working alongside world-class security engineers, researchers, and developers in an inclusive, high-impact environment that fosters continuous learning, mentorship, and career growth.

Your Impact

• Full-Stack Vulnerability Management & Posture Governance: Manage, triage, and validate container, host, and cloud infrastructure findings across enterprise scanners. Drive vulnerability prioritization, validate false positives, and enforce remediation SLAs across product engineering queues.
• Incident Command & Response: Serve as an Incident Commander (IC) during critical-severity SBG security incidents. Lead cross-functional triage calls, direct containment and eradication strategies, coordinate forensics, and facilitate postmortem retrospectives.
• Detection Engineering, Threat Hunting & Intelligence: Analyze multi-source telemetry in enterprise SIEMs and endpoint auditing tools to detect adversary tactics mapped to MITRE ATT&CK framework. Formulate and execute hypothesis-driven threat hunts, converting hunt findings into permanent automated detections and alerting rules.
• Audit, Compliance & Security Assurance: Partner with governance teams to collect, validate, and orchestrate technical control evidence for compliance audits.
• Operational Excellence & Security Automation: Eliminate operational bottlenecks and technical debt by engineering automated workflows, runbooks, and scripts (Python). Leverage AI/LLM tooling and REST APIs to accelerate triage workflows, enhance threat analysis.

Required Qualifications

• 4+ years of hands‑on experience in a dedicated Security Operations Center (SOC), Cloud Security, or Incident Response role within a modern enterprise environment.
• Experience with cloud architecture like AWS, Azure and GCP
• Experience with vulnerability lifecycle management, operating and tuning vulnerability management pipelines, understanding CVSS/EPSS scoring, and driving remediation across complex microservice environments.
• Experience in incident response managing high‑pressure security incident response workflows following NIST SP 800-61 / ISO standards.
• Experience with log & telemetry analysis, querying, correlating, and interpreting security logs within enterprise SIEM platforms (Splunk) and Linux system logs.
• Experience authoring postmortems and SOPs, showcasing effective written and verbal communication skills
• Experience leveraging AI/LLMs for alert enrichment, ticket classification, or routine operational automation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity, Information Systems, or equivalent experience.
• Experience with Python automation and scripting
• Experience with Physical Data Center Security
• Experience consuming REST APIs (Jira, GitHub, cloud APIs) to automate security workflows.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, and container security scanners (Wiz, or Falco).
• Industry-recognized credentials such as CISSP, AWS Certified Security – Specialty, GIAC (GCIH/GCFA/GCDA), or Splunk Core Certified Power User/Admin.
• Experience and availability to participate in a distributed team on-call rotation.

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint. Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $128,600.00 to $184,900.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process. U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time. U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies: 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations) 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies. Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows: .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota; 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%; 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation. For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid. The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below: New York City Metro Area: $155,000.00 - $256,000.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $138,100.00 - $227,900.00 * For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined. ** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.

Cisconians power the future. We make impact as a team, innovating fast and fearlessly to create meaningful solutions on a large scale. The depth and breadth of our technology doesn't just benefit our customers – it also means limitless opportunities for us to experiment and learn. We understand the power each of our unique backgrounds bring when we work together. Because of that, we have a global network of thinkers, doers, experts, and curious creators who help one another do their life’s best work.