TS Mission Lead - SOC

The TS Mission Lead guides an operational team delivering 24x7 defensive cybersecurity monitoring and incident operations across Department of Defense (DoD) Top Secret and classified enterprise networks. Operating on-site, this role balances tactical cyber threat intelligence, alert triaging, packet analysis, and high-impact incident response coordination with a focus on team development, coaching, and operational alignment.

This position operates on a core 5x8 day shift to ensure maximum availability and continuity across 24x7 shifts, facilitate regular analyst engagements, and maintain communication with program and customer leadership.

Primary Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Development

• Coaching & Mentoring: Conduct 1-on-1 check-ins with team members every two weeks to provide supportive, actionable career guidance, reduce operational burnout, and foster long-term retention.
• Professional Growth: Partner with Operations Managers to facilitate advanced technical training, support certification pathways, and deliver objective, performance-driven reviews.
• Trust & Accountability: Establish clear, mission-aligned performance expectations, follow through on team commitments, and address policy compliance and operational gaps fairly and promptly.
• Positive Work Culture: Maintain strong ties with HR and leadership to resolve challenges, build psychological safety in high-stress classified environments, and focus the team on joint problem-solving during operational setbacks.
• Operational Integration: Collaborate with Shift Leads and operations leadership on shift coverage, training schedules, and mission readiness within the SCIF, ensuring rapid recall capability during critical incidents.

Cybersecurity Monitoring & Analysis

• Triage & Investigation: Lead analysts in evaluating alerts from endpoints, IDS/IPS, NetFlow, and custom network sensors across classified enclaves to identify, investigate, and mitigate sophisticated malicious activity.
• Reporting & Intel Integration: Correlate complex multi-source log data to produce detailed Cyber Incident Reports (CIR), integrate tactical threat intelligence feeds into SIEM platforms, and align analysis with MITRE ATT&CK and Cyber Kill Chain frameworks.
• Incident Response Coordination: Direct immediate reporting and applicable containment action's and escalate validated, critical security incidents to customer leadership, JFHQ-DODIN, and USCYBERCOM in accordance with DoD reporting standards.

Basic Qualifications

• Clearance: Active DoD Top Secret / SCI security clearance 
• Certifications:
  • Current DoD 8570/8140 IAT Level II baseline certification (e.g., Security+ CE, SSCP, GSEC, CySA+).
  • Current CSSP-A or CSSP-IR certification (e.g., CySA+, CEH, GCIA, GCIH), or the ability to obtain within 180 days of hire.
• Foundational Knowledge: Strong technical mastery of TCP/IP networking, packet analysis (Wireshark/tcpdump), the OSI model, and defense-in-depth principles.
• Education & Experience:
  • Level III: Bachelor’s degree + 4 year of relevant operational cyber defense or SOC experience (or equivalent military/work experience).
  • Level IV: Bachelor’s degree + 8 years of relevant operational cyber defense or SOC experience (or equivalent military/work experience).
• Location & Availability: 100% on-site SCIF requirement; willingness to work the assigned 5x8 schedule and reside within a 2-hour physical recall commute of Hill AFB, UT; Scott AFB, IL; or Columbus, OH.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience supporting DISA, DoD Cyber Security Service Providers (CSSP), or Service Cyber Components 
• Hands-on technical experience operating enterprise SIEMs/log aggregators (such as Splunk, Elastic, or Sentinel) on classified networks.
• Familiarity with advanced threat actor TTPs, static/dynamic malware analysis, and CJCSM 6510 incident reporting procedures.
• Advanced cybersecurity certifications (such as SANS GIAC, CASP+, or CISSP).
• At least two years of experience leading, mentoring, or supervising cross-functional cybersecurity teams.

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.

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and 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.