Tier 2 Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst

Leidos; Alexandria (VA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 126,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos is seeking experienced Tier 2 Security Operations Center (SOC) Analysts to support the DMDC CyberPRIMES program. The role involves advanced analysis of cybersecurity events escalated from Tier 1, correlating security data, and supporting incident triage and containment to protect DHRA and DMDC systems.

The team operates in a 24x7 environment; candidates require U.S. citizenship and an active Secret clearance, plus experience with SIEM platforms and enterprise monitoring.

Qualifications

• BS degree or equivalent with 2+ years of relevant experience; or a Masters with less than 2 years.
• Experience performing cybersecurity event analysis, SOC operations, cyber defense, incident triage, or security monitoring.
• Experience analyzing and correlating alerts from multiple monitoring capabilities.
• U.S. Citizenship and Active Secret security clearance required.
• Ability to document investigations clearly and work in a 24x7 team.

Responsibilities

• Perform advanced analysis of cybersecurity events escalated from Tier 1.
• Correlate alerts and telemetry to determine severity and impact.
• Distinguish legitimate activity from false positives and incidents.
• Contain or mitigate identified threats per SOC playbooks.
• Preserve evidence and document actions in government-approved systems.
• Coordinate with incident responders and other teams.

Skills

Cybersecurity analysis

SOC operations

Incident triage

Security monitoring

Threat correlation

Teamwork in 24x7

Education

BS degree or equivalent

Masters (less than 2 yrs exp)

Tools

SIEM platforms

Enterprise monitoring tools

Security analysis tools

Job description

Description

Leidos is seeking experienced Tier 2 Security Operations Center (SOC) Analysts to support the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) CyberPRIMES program. Leidos is a major partner on the contract and will provide a substantial portion of the cybersecurity workforce supporting the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA) and DMDC.

Description

Leidos is seeking experienced Tier 2 Security Operations Center (SOC) Analysts to support the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) CyberPRIMES program. Leidos is a major partner on the contract and will provide a substantial portion of the cybersecurity workforce supporting the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA) and DMDC.

The Tier 2 SOC Analyst will perform advanced analysis of cybersecurity events escalated from Tier 1 or identified through enterprise monitoring capabilities. This position will correlate security data, determine the scope and potential impact of suspicious activity, support incident triage and containment, preserve evidence, and coordinate with incident responders and other cybersecurity teams to protect DHRA systems and networks.

Work Locations

Mission Environment

DMDC supports the Defense Human Resources Activity within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OUSD(P&R)) and maintains the Department of Defense’s largest and most comprehensive central repository of personnel, manpower, casualty, pay, entitlement, personnel security, identity, readiness, training, and related data. The DHRA Information Technology (IT) environment includes approximately 15,000 network and endpoint devices supporting more than 600 Government-Off-The-Shelf (GOTS) applications and approximately 100 Risk Management Framework (RMF) authorization boundaries managed through the Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS).

The Tier 2 SOC Analysts operate within a 24x7 security operations environment responsible for detecting, analyzing, escalating, and supporting response to cybersecurity activity affecting DHRA systems and networks. Tier 2 analysts provide the deeper technical analysis required when events cannot be resolved through I

Initial Tier 1 triage.

Primary Responsibilities

• Perform advanced analysis of cybersecurity events escalated from Tier 1 analysts or identified through endpoint, user-activity, network, and other enterprise monitoring capabilities.
• Correlate alerts, security telemetry, and supporting technical data to determine the nature, scope, severity, and potential impact of cybersecurity activity.
• Distinguish legitimate activity, false positives, policy violations, suspicious behavior, and potential cybersecurity incidents.
• Determine appropriate next actions based on approved SOC procedures, playbooks, and escalation criteria.
• Recommend or initiate authorized actions to contain or mitigate identified threats.
• Support cybersecurity incident triage, escalation, and containment in coordination with the incident-response team.
• Preserve relevant technical evidence and supporting information required for further investigation and incident response.
• Document investigative actions, analysis, findings, and conclusions in Government-approved systems.
• Maintain complete and accurate event records, tickets, timelines, and supporting evidence.
• Contribute to required SOC event reporting and operational status information.
• Perform Tier 2 troubleshooting of cybersecurity tools, alerts, security data, and related technical issues.
• Use approved Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) security-analysis tools to investigate cybersecurity events.
• Support security testing, mitigation activities, and cybersecurity compliance checking as required by SOC operations.
• Coordinate analysis with incident responders, network engineers, endpoint-security personnel, cybersecurity-tool teams, system administrators, and other cybersecurity stakeholders.
• Identify recurring false positives, detection gaps, or ineffective alerting and recommend improvements to monitoring and detection capabilities.
• Support tuning of cybersecurity monitoring capabilities to improve detection accuracy and analyst effectiveness.
• Contribute to SOC procedure, playbook, and process improvements based on operational experience and lessons learned.
• Support knowledge transfer across SOC analysts to improve consistent analysis and response within the 24x7 operating environment.

Basic Qualifications

• BS degree or equivalent and 2+ years of prior relevant experience, or a Masters with less than 2 years prior relevant experience. In lieu of degree, additional experience may be required.
• Experience performing cybersecurity event analysis, SOC operations, cyber defense, incident triage, or security monitoring.
• Experience analyzing and correlating alerts from multiple cybersecurity monitoring capabilities.
• Experience investigating endpoint, network, user-activity, or other cybersecurity events.
• Experience determining the scope, severity, and potential impact of suspicious cybersecurity activity.
• Experience supporting cybersecurity incident escalation, containment, mitigation, or evidence preservation.
• Experience using enterprise security-analysis or cybersecurity monitoring tools.
• Experience performing Tier 2 cybersecurity troubleshooting.
• Working knowledge of cybersecurity attack techniques, network-security concepts, endpoint security, event analysis, and incident-response processes.
• Ability to document investigations, findings, actions, and conclusions clearly and accurately.
• Ability to work effectively within a team-based 24x7 security operations environment.
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Active Secret security clearance required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting a Department of Defense or Federal Security Operations Center.
• Experience working in a 24x7 SOC or Cybersecurity Service Provider environment.
• Experience with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platforms and enterprise cybersecurity monitoring tools.
• Experience analyzing endpoint, network, identity, user-activity, intrusion-detection, or other cybersecurity telemetry.
• Experience supporting cybersecurity incident response and digital-evidence preservation.
• Experience tuning security alerts, detection logic, or monitoring capabilities to reduce false positives and improve detection quality.
• Experience developing or refining SOC procedures, playbooks, or escalation criteria.
• Experience with cybersecurity mitigation, compliance checking, or security testing.
• Familiarity with Department of Defense cybersecurity requirements and Risk Management Framework processes.
• Familiarity with DHRA, DMDC, or comparable Department of Defense enterprise environments.

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting

October 9, 2026

For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range

Pay Range $69,550.00 - $125,725.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.

About Leidos

Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $16.7 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Pay And Benefits

Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers. Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement. More details are available at www.leidos.com/careers/pay-benefits.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.

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