Senior IT Cyber Defense Analyst (Shift Lead)
AI-Enabled Security Operations | 24/7 SOC
Location: Remote – Pune/Baroda, India
Department: IT Cybersecurity – Security Operations Center (SOC)
Reports To: SOC Manager
Work Schedule: 24/7 rotational shifts
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced Senior IT Cyber Defense Analyst (Shift Lead) to lead day-to-day SOC operations, oversee security investigations, coordinate incident response, and mentor SOC analysts. The ideal candidate will bring strong SIEM/EDR expertise, advanced threat investigation skills, and hands-on experience using AI/LLM tools and automation to improve SOC efficiency and detection capabilities.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead SOC shift operations, prioritize alerts, manage escalations, and ensure timely handovers and SLA adherence.
- Investigate complex incidents involving phishing, malware, ransomware, compromised accounts, endpoint threats, and suspicious network activity.
- Conduct threat hunting, correlate security telemetry, and map attacker behavior to the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
- Develop, optimize, and troubleshoot SIEM queries, analytics rules, and detection use cases using Microsoft Sentinel and KQL.
- Use approved AI/LLM tools for alert triage, investigation assistance, threat intelligence enrichment, KQL development, incident reporting, and workflow automation; independently validate AI-generated outputs.
- Automate repetitive SOC tasks using Python, PowerShell, APIs, or SOAR capabilities.
- Mentor analysts, improve investigation quality, reduce false positives, and maintain accurate incident documentation and audit-ready evidence.
- Coordinate with Incident Response, IT, Endpoint, Network, and Cloud teams to support containment, remediation, and recovery.
Required Skills and Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience.
- 5+ years of experience in SOC, cyber defense, or incident response, including shift leadership, incident coordination, or analyst mentoring.
- Strong hands-on experience with SIEM, EDR/XDR, incident investigation, and threat detection.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Sentinel and KQL; experience with Microsoft Defender, CrowdStrike, or similar security platforms.
- Strong understanding of networking, Windows/Linux, identity security, email threats, and MITRE ATT&CK.
- Mandatory practical AI/LLM proficiency, including prompt engineering, AI-assisted investigations, validation of AI-generated queries/scripts, and awareness of hallucinations, prompt injection, and data privacy risks.
- Scripting or automation experience using Python, PowerShell, APIs, or SOAR tools.
- Strong analytical, communication, decision-making, and team leadership skills; willingness to work in a 24/7 rotational shift environment.
Preferred Qualifications
- Certifications such as Microsoft SC-200, CompTIA CySA+, GCIH, or relevant SIEM/EDR vendor certifications.
- Experience in proactive threat hunting, detection engineering, cloud security, and SOC process improvement.
What Success Looks Like
- Effective shift leadership and timely, high-quality incident handling.
- Improved detection coverage, investigation efficiency, and reduced false positives.
- Practical adoption of AI and automation to reduce repetitive work while maintaining security, accuracy, and human oversight.
- Strong analyst development, documentation, and operational consistency.
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