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Head of SOC Operations - URGENT
- Start date: ASAP
- Location: London (1-2 days a week in the office)
- Contract length: 6 Months initially (likely to extend)
- Company: FTSE 100 Company
How you will contribute..
The Head of SOC Operations will play a critical role in, overseeing the 24/7/365 monitoring, detection, and response to cybersecurity threats and incidents, ensuring operational excellence, threat intelligence integration, and alignment with the organization's security objectives.
The ideal candidate is a proven cybersecurity leader with a deep understanding of security operations, threat landscapes, incident response, and team leadership. This individual will play a key role in shaping the future of our cyber defense capabilities.
Responsibilities:
- Lead and manage the daily operations of the Security Operations Center, including managing a multi-tiered team of managers, analysts, and incident responders.
- Develop and execute SOC strategy, goals, and KPIs in alignment with organizational cybersecurity and business objectives.
- Oversee incident detection, triage, investigation, and coordinated response efforts to mitigate threats in real time.
- Ensure continuous improvement of security monitoring tools, automation, playbooks, and threat detection capabilities.
- Collaborate with other cybersecurity teams, IT, legal, compliance, and business units to ensure an integrated approach to incident handling and threat mitigation.
- Manage relationships with third-party vendors, MSSPs, and threat intelligence providers.
- Prepare and present metrics, risk assessments, and incident reports to executive leadership and board-level stakeholders.
- Lead post-incident reviews to improve processes and resilience.
- Maintain up-to-date knowledge of the threat landscape, emerging technologies, and compliance requirements.
- Develop training and professional development plans to continuously grow team capabilities.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field (Master's preferred).
- Extensive experience in cybersecurity leadership within a SOC or incident response function.
- Strong knowledge of security technologies, SIEM platforms (e.g., Chronicle, Splunk, QRadar), EDR tools, firewalls, and network security.
- Experience with security frameworks and regulations (NIST, ISO 27001, MITRE ATT&CK, CIS, etc.).
- Demonstrated experience leading security incident investigations and crisis response.
- Excellent leadership, communication, and project management skills.
- Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISM, GIAC, or equivalent are highly preferred.
Preferred Skills:
- Experience managing global SOC operations.
- Familiarity with cloud security operations (AWS, Azure, GCP).
- Proficiency with automation and orchestration tools (SOAR platforms).
- Strong analytical mindset and the ability to make high-pressure decisions.
If interested, please apply and a consultant will be in touch asap!
GCS is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.
