Senior Defensive Cyber Operations Lead

Parsons; Linthicum (MD); On-site; USD 148,000 - 267,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Life insurance

Flexible work schedules

Holidays

Job summary

Parsons is seeking a Cybersecurity Lead to head a defensive cyber operations team supporting a government program in Maryland. You will guide penetration testing, vulnerability management, threat hunting, and incident response while coordinating with government stakeholders and Parsons’ Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.

The ideal candidate holds TS/SCI clearance, 11+ years in cybersecurity, and CISSP or equivalent; you’ll shape policies, playbooks, and continuous monitoring, while delivering

Qualifications

• TS/SCI clearance active/current.
• Eleven or more years of experience in cybersecurity, cyber operations, information assurance, information security, or a related field.
• CISSP certification or an equivalent industry‑recognized cybersecurity certification.
• At least one year of experience leading, supervising, mentoring, or coordinating a cybersecurity, SOC, incident response, vulnerability management, or related technical team.
• Demonstrated experience in penetration testing, vulnerability assessment and management, threat hunting, incident response, security monitoring, and SOC operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead, organize, mentor, and support a team of cybersecurity professionals conducting defensive cyber operations.
• Oversee penetration testing and security assessments to identify weaknesses in networks, applications, systems, and OT environments.
• Direct vulnerability assessment activities, including recurring scans, findings analysis, risk prioritization, reporting, and remediation tracking.
• Lead proactive threat‑hunting activities to identify hidden, persistent, or advanced threats across IT and OT environments.
• Oversee continuous monitoring and investigation of anomalous activity and potential security incidents.
• Direct incident response activities including detection, analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, escalation, and lessons learned.

Skills

Leadership

Cybersecurity

Threat hunting

Penetration testing

Vulnerability management

Incident response

Security monitoring

RMF/ATO

DoD/Cyber compliance

Cloud/DevSecOps

Communication skills

TS/SCI clearance

Education

CISSP certification

Tools

SIEM

SOAR

EDR

Vulnerability scanning

Job description

Parsons is seeking a Cybersecurity Lead to head a defensive cyber operations team supporting a government program in Maryland. You will guide penetration testing, vulnerability management, threat hunting, and incident response while coordinating with government stakeholders and Parsons’ Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.

The ideal candidate holds TS/SCI clearance, 11+ years in cybersecurity, and CISSP or equivalent; you’ll shape policies, playbooks, and continuous monitoring, while delivering