Senior Incident Response Consultant, Rapid Response

OpenKrill; United States; Remote; USD 77,000 - 128,000; Full time

Job summary

Sophos is seeking a Senior Incident Response Consultant to lead incident response engagements for customers worldwide. You will spearhead investigations, coordinate a team, and deliver executive summaries with remediation guidance.

The role emphasizes strong communication and adherence to MITRE ATT&CK in a remote-first setting. The position requires 5+ years in incident response, experience with ransomware/BEC investigations, and the ability to mentor analysts.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience leading incident response investigations involving ransomware.
• Experience leading BEC investigations.
• Continuously learning and staying informed of the changing threat landscape.
• Proven track record of successful neutralization and remediation of ransomware threats.
• Excellent understanding of the Incident Response process.
• Excellent understanding of cyber risks and able to qualify them to customers.
• Excellent oral communication skills.
• Strong written communication skills.
• Ability to manage time effectively.
• Able to delegate and prioritize tasks across multiple incidents.
• Able to excel under stressful circumstances.
• Occasionally willing to begin work early and/or stay late when warranted for customer engagements.
• Strong grasp of the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
• Enjoy mentoring and assisting in the development of junior analysts.
• A team-player attitude with a willingness to share knowledge.
• Ability to work some weekends and holidays.
• Post-secondary education in Cybersecurity, comparable

Responsibilities

• Lead kick off calls with customers to understand their situation and identify initial response actions to contain the threat.
• Lead daily update calls for customers to deliver forensic findings.
• Deliver concise email updates to customers between update calls.
• Direct the forensic investigations, identify priorities, and delegate tasks to analysts.
• Conduct multiple Rapid Response incidents concurrently.
• Determine TTPs identified by analysts and add them to the threat intel platform.
• Write clear and concise Executive Summary style reports in a timely manner.
• Responsible for basic to moderate complexity projects that contribute to the development of the Sophos Rapid Response service.
• Provide daily handover notes to teams located in different time zones, or when incident responsibility is being transferred to another Incident Lead.

Skills

Incident response leadership

Executive communication

Mentoring junior analysts

Time management

Team collaboration

Weekend/holiday readiness

MITRE ATT&CK familiarity

Ransomware/BEC investigations

Threat neutralization and remediation

Education

Post-secondary education in Cybersecurity

Tools

Splunk

ELK

SQL queries

PowerShell

Python

Bash

Job description

About Us

Sophos is a cybersecurity leader defending 600,000 organizations globally with an AI-driven platform and expert-led services. Sophos meets organizations wherever they are in their security maturity and grows with them to defeat cyberattacks. Its solutions combine machine learning, automation, and real-time threat intelligence with frontline human expertise from Sophos X-Ops to deliver advanced, 24/7 threat monitoring, detection, and response.

Sophos offers industry-leading managed detection and response (MDR) alongside a comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity technologies - including endpoint, network, email, and cloud security, extended detection and response (XDR), identity threat detection and response (ITDR), and next-gen SIEM. Together with expert advisory services, these capabilities help organizations proactively reduce risk and respond faster, with the visibility and scalability needed to stay ahead of evolving threats.

Sophos goes to market with a global partner ecosystem, including Managed Service Providers (MSPs), Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), resellers and distributors, marketplace integrations, and cyber risk partners, giving organizations the flexibility to choose trusted relationships when securing their business. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

Role Summary

Sophos is seeking an experienced and motivated Senior Incident Response Consultant to join our Incident Response (IR) service. The Sophos IR team is an elite group of incident responders that are engaged by organizations worldwide to respond to and neutralize cyber threats. Specializing in industry-standard forensic tools and Sophos technologies, the team provides comprehensive investigations, response actions, remediation guidance, and root cause analysis to combat a wide range of cybersecurity incidents.

As a Senior Incident Response Consultant on the Sophos IR team, you will be responsible for spearheading incident response engagements for customers who have experienced a cybersecurity attack. In this role, you will lead a team of Incident Response Consultants, running customer-facing calls, providing detailed written updates via email, and determining the priorities of the investigation, delegating tasks accordingly to your team.

In this role, you will be accountable for ensuring that the appropriate actions have been taken by both your team and the customer to effectively neutralize the threat. Additionally, you will be tasked with conducting a thorough root cause analysis to determine the origin of the incident, including identifying whether any data exfiltration occurred, provided the necessary evidence is available.

At the culmination of each engagement, you will be responsible for producing an executive summary-style report, which will include a timeline of key events mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework. This comprehensive report will serve as a valuable resource for stakeholders, highlighting the steps taken to combat the cybersecurity incident and provide remediation guidance.

The ideal candidate for this role will possess extensive experience leading incident response efforts, a deep understanding of cybersecurity threats and mitigation strategies, and the ability to communicate complex technical information to executive-level stakeholders in a clear and concise manner.

What You Will Do

• The working week for this role will be Fri, Sat, Sun and Monday working with Tues, Wed and Thursdays off
• Lead kick off calls with customers to understand their situation and identify initial response actions to contain the threat
• Provide guidance to customers on best practices following an incident
• Lead daily update calls for customers to deliver forensic findings
• Deliver concise email updates to customers between update calls
• Direct the forensic investigations, identify priorities, and delegate tasks to analysts
• Conduct multiple Rapid Response incidents concurrently
• Determine TTPs identified by analysts and add them to the threat intel platform
• Write clear and concise Executive Summary style reports in a timely manner
• Responsible for basic to moderate complexity projects that contribute to the development of the Sophos Rapid Response service
• Provide daily handover notes to teams located in different time zones, or when incident responsibility is being transferred to another Incident Lead

What You Will Bring

• 5+ years of experience leading incident response investigations involving ransomware
• Experience leading BEC investigations
• Continuously learning and staying informed of the changing threat landscape
• Proven track record of successful neutralization and remediation of ransomware threats
• Excellent understanding of the Incident Response process
• Excellent understanding of cyber risks and able to qualify them to customers
• Excellent oral communication skills
• Strong written communication skills
• Ability to manage time effectively
• Able to delegate and prioritize tasks across multiple incidents
• Able to excel under stressful circumstances
• Occasionally willing to begin work early and/or stay late when warranted for customer engagements
• Strong grasp of the MITRE ATT&CK framework
• Enjoy mentoring and assisting in the development of junior analysts
• A team-player attitude with a willingness to share knowledge
• Ability to work some weekends and holidays
• Post-secondary education in Cybersecurity, comparable

Desirable:

• Cybersecurity certifications an asset (e.g. CISSP, GCFA, or similar)
• Experience with SIEM technology (e.g. Splunk, ELK, etc.)
• Willingness to work occasional overtime during peak times or holidays
• Experience writing SQL queries
• Experience writing PowerShell, Python, or Bash scripts

In Canada, the base salary for this role ranges from $109,000 to $181,000. In addition to base salary, we offer additional compensation including bonus eligibility and a comprehensive benefits package. A candidate’s specific pay within this range will depend on a variety of factors, including job-related skills, training, location, experience, relevant education, certifications, and other business and organizational needs.

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Ready to Join Us?

At Sophos, we believe in the power of diverse perspectives to fuel innovation. Research shows that candidates sometimes hesitate to apply if they don't check every box in a job description. We challenge that notion. Your unique experiences and skills might be exactly what we need to enhance our team. Don't let a checklist hold you back – we encourage you to apply.

What's Great About Sophos?

Sophos operates a remote-first working model, making remote work the primary option for most employees. However, some roles may necessitate a hybrid approach. While we are a remote first organization, applicants must have legal authorization to work in the jurisdiction where the position is posted, without requiring employer sponsorship.

Our people – we innovate and create, all of which are accompanied by a great sense of fun and team spirit

Employee-led diversity and inclusion networks that build community and provide education and advocacy

Annual charity and fundraising initiatives and volunteer days for employees to support local communities

Global employee sustainability initiatives to reduce our environmental footprint

Global fitness and trivia competitions to keep our bodies and minds sharp

Global wellbeing days for employees to relax and recharge

Monthly wellbeing webinars and training to support employee health and wellbeing

Our Commitment To You

We’re proud of the diverse and inclusive environment we have at Sophos, and we’re committed to ensuring equality of opportunity. We believe that diversity, combined with excellence, builds a better Sophos, so we encourage applicants who can contribute to the diversity of our team. All applic