Senior Cyber Defense & Incident Response Lead

NTT DATA, Inc.; Merrifield (VA); On-site; USD 101,000 - 152,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Employee assistance

Life and AD&D insurance

Short/long term disability

Job summary

NTT DATA, Inc. in Merrifield, Virginia is seeking a Cyber Defense & Incident Responder to monitor, analyze, and respond to cybersecurity incidents. You will triage, investigate, contain, and recover while leveraging SIEM/EDR tools and threat intelligence to minimize impact.

The role requires 6+ years IT/IS experience, DoD 8140 certification (or ability to obtain within 6 months), and interim Secret clearance with Top-Secret eligibility. Competitive pay and comprehensive benefits offered.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in information technology, cybersecurity, data science, information systems, or computer science.
• Education Equivalency: 1.5 years of additional experience can substitute for one year of a typical degree program.
• Minimum 6 years of experience in IT and/or IS.
• DoD 8140 certification or ability to obtain within six months of onboarding.
• Ability to obtain a interim Secret Security Clearance and be eligible for a Top-Secret clearance if requested.

Responsibilities

• Monitor enterprise security systems and analyze alerts to identify potential cybersecurity incidents.
• Review SIEM, IDS/IPS, EDR, and related tool alerts for IOAs/IOCs.
• Validate alerts to reduce false positives and prioritize by severity and impact.
• Perform initial triage and analysis of security events to determine scope and urgency.
• Examine logs, network telemetry, and endpoints to identify malicious activity.
• Correlate event details with internal and external threat intel.
• Execute incident response actions per procedures.
• Contain affected systems and assist in recovery.
• Escalate complex incidents to Senior SOC Analysts or SOC Leads.
• Document incident findings and support resolution and improvements.
• Prepare incident tickets, timelines, and investigative notes.
• Contribute to AARs and post-incident reporting.
• Create incident tickets and upload evidence artifacts.
• Communicate clearly and concisely about findings.
• Maintain SOC processes, tools, and playbooks for effective handling.
• Recommend SOP refinements and escalation improvements.
• Identify opportunities to streamline analysis workflows and improve detection.
• Participate in training, exercises, and knowledge-sharing for readiness.
• Support red/blue/purple team exercises when directed.
• Share lessons learned with SOC team members.
• Stay informed on current threats and TTPs relevant to the environment.

Education

Bachelor's degree in information technology, cybersecurity, data science, information systems, or computer science

Education Equivalency: 1.5 years of additional experience can substitute for one year of a typical degree program

Tools

SIEM

IDS/IPS

EDR

Job description

NTT DATA, Inc. in Merrifield, Virginia is seeking a Cyber Defense & Incident Responder to monitor, analyze, and respond to cybersecurity incidents. You will triage, investigate, contain, and recover while leveraging SIEM/EDR tools and threat intelligence to minimize impact.

The role requires 6+ years IT/IS experience, DoD 8140 certification (or ability to obtain within 6 months), and interim Secret clearance with Top-Secret eligibility. Competitive pay and comprehensive benefits offered.