Senior Incident Response Analyst

Western Governors University; Raleigh (NC); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical & dental

Vision & telehealth

HSA & FSA

Retirement plan

11 paid holidays

Parental leave

Bonuses

Job summary

Western Governors University is seeking a Senior Incident Response Analyst to protect our systems and data across multiple platforms. You will lead advanced investigations, strengthen detection capabilities, and collaborate with engineering and IT teams to improve security controls.

The role requires 5+ years in security operations, hands-on SIEM/EDR expertise (CrowdStrike, Carbon Black, Mimecast), and cloud security knowledge.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in security operations (10+ years earns bonus)
• Hands-on SIEM expertise, including content development
• Experience with CrowdStrike or Carbon Black (EDR), Mimecast, and vulnerability management tools
• Working knowledge of MITRE ATT&CK framework and cloud security principles
• Python or Bash scripting for automation
• Strong communicator who can brief leadership and cross-functional teams
• Bachelor's degree in IT Security, CS, or related field, or equivalent experience
• Bonus: CISSP, GIAC, CCSP, or AWS Security Specialty
• SOAR experience and cloud-native security tooling
• Education may be substituted with equivalent experience at hiring manager’s discretion

Responsibilities

• Lead security incident investigations from triage through remediation
• Perform advanced threat detection, analysis, and response across multi-platform environments
• Investigate suspicious activity using SIEM, EDR, network, and other security tools
• Develop and tune SIEM alerts, detection rules, and dashboards
• Conduct threat hunting and research emerging threats to identify risks
• Partner with engineering and IT teams to drive remediation and harden configurations
• Support vulnerability management, audits, and risk assessments

Skills

Security operations

SIEM expertise

MITRE ATT&CK

Python scripting

Cross-functional communication

Cloud security

Vulnerability management

Threat hunting

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT Security/CS or related field

Equivalent experience

Tools

CrowdStrike

Carbon Black

Mimecast

SOAR tooling

Job description

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career. Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. A reasonable estimate of the current range is: Grade: Technical 409.

Our Security Operations Center (SOC) team is responsible for a broad range of security operations, including monitoring, incident response, risk assessment, policy development, audit and compliance, technical operations, and collaboration across departments. This team plays a critical role in safeguarding WGU’s systems and data while driving innovation and collaboration across the organization.

As a Senior Incident Response Analyst, you will help protect WGU’s systems and data by leading advanced incident response and threat detection activities across multiple platforms and environments. You’ll investigate security events, strengthen detection capabilities, hunt for emerging threats, and partner with engineering and IT teams to improve WGU’s overall security posture.

What You’ll Do

• Lead security incident investigations from initial triage through remediation and closure.
• Perform advanced threat detection, analysis, and response across multi-platform environments.
• Investigate suspicious activity using SIEM, EDR, network, and other security tools.
• Develop and tune SIEM alerts, detection rules, and dashboards to improve incident detection and response.
• Conduct threat hunting and research emerging threats to identify and address potential risks.
• Partner with engineering and IT teams to drive incident remediation, harden configurations, and strengthen security controls.
• Support vulnerability management, security audits, compliance initiatives, and risk assessments.

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years in security operations (10+ years earns bonus consideration)
• Hands‑on SIEM expertise, including content development, not just querying
• Experience with CrowdStrike or Carbon Black (EDR), Mimecast, and vulnerability management tools
• Working knowledge of the MITRE ATT&CK framework and cloud security principles
• Python or Bash scripting for automation and workflow improvement
• Strong communicator who can brief leadership and work across non-security teams
• Bachelor's degree in IT Security, Computer Science, or related field, or equivalent experience
• Bonus Points CISSP, GIAC, CCSP, or AWS Security Specialty
• SOAR experience
• Cloud-native security tooling
• Experience in lieu of Education Equivalent relevant experience may substitute for educational requirements at the hiring manager’s discretion.

What to Expect

At WGU, our mission drives everything we do, including how we hire. Our interview experience is designed to give qualified candidates the opportunity to show their best work through meaningful conversations and collaboration. We thoughtfully review every application and invite forward the candidates whose experience and potential best align with the role and our mission. Introductory call with Talent Partner Technical Interview Hiring Leader Interview

Work Location

This is a full-time, in-office position requiring five days per week in our Salt Lake City, Utah or Raleigh, North Carolina office, designed to foster the collaboration and connection that fuel our best work.

Visa Sponsorship

While we welcome applicants from all backgrounds, WGU is not able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

Travel Requirement

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed.

Benefits and Compensation

• Position & Application Details: Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours)
• Full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses
• Medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare
• Health savings account and flexible spending account
• Basic and voluntary life insurance
• Disability coverage
• Accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages
• Legal and identity theft coverage
• Retirement savings plan
• Wellbeing program
• Discounted WGU tuition
• Flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual
• Flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual
• 11 paid holidays
• Other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.

In 1997, a coalition of 19 U.S. governors founded Western Governors University with a singular vision: to make higher education more accessible by offering full degree programs online. Starting small, we quickly expanded. Today, we’re one of the largest accredited online universities in the U.S.