The Cyber Defense Optimization Engineer II

HCA Healthcare; Nashville (TN); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, prescription, dental, vision

Wellbeing support

Paid time off & family leave

401(k) match

Tuition assistance

Fertility & family benefits

Job summary

HCA Healthcare is seeking a Security Threat Engineer II to enhance Cyber Defense & Response maturity. You will enable technical teams through structured training paths, workshops, and hands-on labs while coordinating with cross-functional partners to improve processes and metrics.

The role focuses on automation opportunities, threat intelligence consumption, and sustaining alignment with CDR goals in a fast-paced enterprise. Nashville-based with remote flexibility where applicable.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 3+ years of relevant work experience.
• Experience in cybersecurity incident response and threat intelligence.

Responsibilities

• Onboard new CDR use cases with enablement programs and docs.
• Develop training materials, labs, and workshops for upskilling.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to drive process improvements.
• Track performance metrics to measure maturity and impact.
• Coordinate STOR requests across CDR teams.

Skills

CIRT experience

ACH framework

Threat intelligence

OSI layers knowledge

SIEM tools

EDR/NGAV

SOAR familiarity

Cross-team collaboration

High-tempo environment

Ticketing systems

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

SIEM

Firewalls

Web Proxy

EDR/NGAV

SOAR

Virtual Machines

Phishing Triage

UBA

Job description

Are you passionate about the patient experience? At HCA Healthcare, we are committed to caring for patients with purpose and integrity. We care like family! Jump-start your career as a(an) Security Threat Engineer II today with HCA Healthcare.

Job Summary And Qualifications

The Cyber Defense Optimization Engineer II plays a critical role in enhancing the operational maturity of Cyber Defense & Response (CDR) by supporting onboarding, upskilling, and continuous improvement initiatives. This role focuses on enabling technical teams through structured learning paths, process refinement, and metrics-driven performance tracking. The ideal candidate will be passionate about cybersecurity enablement, process optimization, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation.

Major Responsibilities

• Support onboarding of new CDR use cases through structured enablement programs and documentation.
• Develop and maintain upskilling resources, including technical training materials, workshops, and hands-on labs.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and implement process improvements that enhance operational efficiency.
• Assist in the development and tracking of performance metrics to measure maturity, effectiveness, and impact of cyber defense initiatives.
• Contribute to the coordination and prioritization of Security Telemetry Onboarding Requests (STOR) across CDR.
• Participate in technical enablement efforts, including tool adoption, workflow optimization, and knowledge sharing.
• Help drive innovation by identifying opportunities for automation and AI integration in onboarding and training processes.
• Maintain alignment with broader CDR goals and ensure continuous feedback loops between teams.
• Routinely collaborate with individuals and teams from across the enterprise. Desired Experience:

Desired Experience

• Experience (3+ years) as a member of a Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) or comparable team.
• Experience (1+ years) with an event/information analysis framework such as Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH).
• Experience (1+ years) consuming and generating cybersecurity threat intelligence.
• Experience (3+ years) across the technology stack. Familiarity with all OSI layers and expertise in some.
• Experience (3+ years) using the following types of security tools: o SIEM o Firewalls o Web Proxy o Anti-Virus (AV) o Next Gen Anti-Virus (NGAV) o Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) o Sandboxing o Virtual Machines o Netflow analysis o Malware Repositories o Threat Intelligence o Deception Stack o Intrusion Detection/Prevention System (IDS/IPS) o Security Orchestration Automation Response (SOAR) o Phishing Triage o User Behavior Analytics (UBA) o Email Hygiene and Filtering
• Experience (3+ years) interfacing with peer support teams (Security Engineering, Vulnerability and Patching Teams, Networking, Access Management, Legal, Risk/Governance, etc.).
• Experience (3+ years) working in a high-tempo, dynamic environment with a high-performance team.
• Experience (3+ years) with work ticketing systems (e.g. – ServiceNow, JIRA).

What qualifications you will need:

• Bachelor's Degree required
• Three or more years of relevant work experience

Special Qualifications

• The successful candidate will possess the following aptitudes and skillsets:
  • Experience as Security Operations Center lead/senior analyst role for 1+ years.
  • Able to maintain a superior knowledge of the cyber security capabilities of operating systems, networking devices, control systems, and vendor offerings via self-directed learning and formal training.
  • Excellent critical thinking skills to understand available data and use it to support or refute potential hypothesis that explain the data. Use available data to develop and communicate conclusions and recommendations.
  • An ability to work and thrive in stressful situations. A demeanor that conveys calm professionalism in stressful situations.
  • An ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive data and to follow proper ethical practices for using tools and accessing data.
  • A strong desire to determine root cause of events. A willingness to fully investigate all alternatives exhaustively until a conclusion can be supported.
  • Ability to self-prioritize tasks based on criticality and threat level.
  • Advanced written and oral communication skills.

The following certifications and courses are helpful, but not required

• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
• GIAC: GSEC, GCIH, GCIA, GCED, GMON, GCDA, GDAT, GCFE or comparable
• CompTIA Security+

Benefits

HCA Healthcare, offers a total rewards package that supports the health, life, career and retirement of our colleagues. The available plans and programs include:

• Comprehensive benefits for medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, behavioral health and telemedicine services
• Wellbeing support, including free counseling and referral services
• Time away from work programs for paid time off, paid family leave, long- and short-term disability coverage and leaves of absence
• Savings and retirement resources, including a 401(k) Plan with a 100% match on 3% to 9% of pay (based on years of service), Employee Stock Purchase Plan, flexible spending accounts, preferred banking partnerships, retirement readiness tools, rollover support and financial wellbeing counseling
• Education support through tuition assistance, student loan assistance, certification support, dependent scholarships and a partnership with Galen College of Nursing
• Additional benefits for fertility and family building, adoption assistance, life insurance, supplemental health protection plans, auto and home insurance, legal counseling, identity theft protection and consumer discounts

Learn More About Employee Benefits

Note: Eligibility for benefits may vary by location.

HCA Healthcare has been recognized as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere Institute more than ten times. In recent years, HCA Healthcare spent an estimated $3.7 billion in cost for the delivery of charitable care, uninsured discounts, and other uncompensated expenses.

"The great hospitals will always put the patient and the patient's family first, and the really great institutions will provide care with warmth, compassion, and dignity for the individual."- Dr. Thomas Frist, Sr.

HCA Healthcare Co-Founder

We promptly review all applications. Highly qualified candidates will be contacted for interviews.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.