Security Operations Manager

EXOS; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

EXOS is seeking a seasoned SOC Manager to lead and evolve our security operations across a multi-tenant client base. You will own detection, response, and reporting while guiding a team of analysts and engineers.

This player-coach role demands hands-on IR, digital forensics, and adversary emulation to strengthen detections and playbooks. You will hire, coach, and develop the SOC staff, partnering with cyber leadership on service strategy.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in security operations, incident response, or MSP/MSSP roles, incl. 3+ years leading a SOC/IR team
• Proven incident commander on ransomware, BEC, and account compromise
• Hands-on digital forensics and IR background (host, memory, network)
• Penetration testing/adversary emulation experience applied to detections
• Advanced command of EDR and SIEM at query/detection level
• Knowledge of network/perimeter controls incl. NGFWs and cloud email security
• Experience building SOC processes, runbooks, escalation criteria, and metrics
• Track record of hiring, coaching, and developing analysts/engineers
• Strong IR lifecycle and MITRE ATT&CK knowledge
• Executive communication skills and SLA ownership
• CISSP or CISM, GIAC GCIH or equivalent

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day SOC operations across multiple client tenants, owning queue health and SLA performance
• Serve as incident commander for major incidents and guide containment, eradication, and recovery
• Drive after-action reviews to improve detections, playbooks, and client guidance
• Oversee timeline reconstruction, evidence handling, and legal coordination during incidents
• Lead purple team exercises and translate attacker TTPs into validated detections
• Hire, coach, and review SOC staff and develop internal career paths
• Set tooling direction and prioritize updates across SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, Splunk, and Cisco security products
• Own detection strategy, MITRE ATT&CK alignment, and automation partnerships
• Develop runbooks, QA programs, and KPI reporting (MTTA/MTTR/false positives)
• Present monthly security reviews and translate findings into business decisions
• Collaborate with account management and leadership on onboarding and scoping new engagements

Skills

Incident response leadership

Digital forensics

Threat hunting

EDR management

SIEM management

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Cybersecurity

Tools

SentinelOne

CrowdStrike

Splunk

Cisco Firepower

Cisco ASA

Cisco Umbrella

DNSFilter

Avanan

Job description

The Security Operations Center (SOC) Manager at EXOS leads the SOC. You own how we detect, respond to, and report on threats across every client environment we protect. You also lead the team that does that work every day: Cybersecurity Analysts at Tiers 1, 2, and 3, and a Cybersecurity Engineer who owns our security tooling.

This is a player-coach role. You will step into the hardest investigations, run incident response when it matters most, and bring a forensics and offensive security mindset to how we build and validate detections. You will also hire, coach, and grow the team, and partner with EXOS Cyber leadership on service strategy. The role is built for a leader with 8+ years in security operations and incident response who enjoys building a team as much as closing a hard case.

• Lead day-to-day SOC operations across a multi-tenant client base. Own queue health, shift coverage, escalation paths, and SLA performance for response, escalation, and client communication.
• Serve alongside the incident commander for major incidents, including ransomware, business email compromise, account takeover, and data exfiltration. Assist with scoping, containment, eradication, recovery, and client communication through resolution.
• Assist in after-action reviews that turn every significant incident into concrete improvements in detections, playbooks, and client guidance.
• Guide timeline reconstruction, evidence preservation, and chain of custody. Support breach notification, legal, and cyber insurance coordination when an incident calls for it.
• Lead purple team and adversary emulation exercises with the Analyst III and Cybersecurity Engineer, and turn attacker TTPs into detections we validate end to end.
• Lead and develop the SOC team. Hire, onboard, coach, and run one-on-ones and performance reviews for the Cybersecurity Engineer and Analysts I, II, and III. Build clear development plans that support our promote-from-within, tier-based career path.
• Set direction for the security stack with the Cybersecurity Engineer. Prioritize tooling updates, gap assessments, and recommendations across tools such as SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, Splunk, Cisco Firepower, Cisco ASA, Cisco Umbrella, DNSFilter, Avanan, and our security awareness training platform.
• Own detection strategy at the program level. Track coverage against MITRE ATT&CK, prioritize tuning and new use cases, and partner with the AI Automation Engineers to operationalize playbooks through automation.
• Build SOC process maturity through runbooks, playbooks, investigation standards, QA reviews, and shift handoffs. Report on the metrics that show how the service is performing, including MTTA, MTTR, escalation accuracy, and false positive rate.
• Lead security reviews and QBRs, present monthly reporting on what we saw, what it means, and what we recommend, and translate technical findings into business decisions.
• Partner with Account Management, Service Delivery, and EXOS leadership on client onboarding, capacity planning, and scoping for new managed security engagements.

What You Have Done

8+ years in security operations, incident response, or MSP/ MSSP security roles, including 3+ years leading a SOC, IR team, or security engineering team.

• Proven experience as incident commander on confirmed incidents such as ransomware, business email compromise, and account compromise, from first alert through recovery and after-action review.
• Hands-on digital forensics and incident response background, including host, memory, and network forensics, timeline reconstruction, and evidence handling.
• Penetration testing, red team, or adversary emulation experience, and the ability to apply that attacker perspective to detection and defense.
• Advanced command of an EDR (SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, or Defender for Endpoint) and a SIEM (Splunk, Sentinel, Blumira, or QRadar) at the query, pivot, and detection-authoring level.
• Working knowledge of network and perimeter controls, including next-generation firewalls (Cisco Firepower, Cisco ASA), DNS-layer security (Cisco Umbrella, DNSFilter), and cloud email security (Avanan or similar).
• Experience building SOC processes from the ground up: runbooks, playbooks, escalation criteria, QA programs, and operational metrics.
• A track record of hiring, coaching, and developing analysts and engineers, with the ability to give kind and direct feedback and grow people into their next role.
• Strong fluency in the incident response lifecycle, MITRE ATT&CK, and frameworks such as NIST CSF, NIST SP 800-61, and CIS Controls.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including executive-ready incident reports and the steadiness to guide client leadership through a major incident.
• Comfort owning SLAs and priorities across many clients at once, and availability to lead the team through after-hours incidents.
• CISSP or CISM, plus GIAC GCIH (or an equivalent incident handling certification).

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's or master's degree in Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related discipline. Equivalent military training or certifications considered.
• Forensics certifications such as GIAC GCFA, GCFE, or GNFA, and offensive credentials such as OSCP, GPEN, or PNPT.
• Prior MSP or MSSP experience in a multi-tenant model, including a multi-tenant PSA or ticketing platform (ConnectWise, Autotask, ServiceNow, or similar).
• Experience leading security operations across multiple sites and client tenants, including distributed or multi-location SOC teams.
• Direct experience with our stack: SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, Splunk, Cisco Firepower, Cisco ASA, Cisco Umbrella, DNSFilter, Avanan, and security awareness training platforms.
• Experience with SOAR or automation-driven SOC operations, and comfort working alongside an AI Automation Engineer.
• DFIR tooling depth (Velociraptor or comparable) and experience working with legal counsel, cyber insurance carriers, and breach coaches during major incidents.
• Experience supporting clients with compliance requirements such as SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS, or CMMC.
• Experience building SOC training programs and tiered analyst career paths.