Incident Response Deputy Team Lead

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Security Operations Center (SOC) is a U.S. Government program responsible to prevent, identify, contain and eradicate cyber threats to CBP networks through monitoring, intrusion detection and protective security services to CBP information systems including local area networks/wide area networks (LAN/WAN), commercial Internet connection, public facing websites, wireless, mobile/cellular, cloud, security devices, servers and workstations.  The CBP SOC is responsible for the overall security of CBP Enterprise-wide information systems, and collects, investigates, and reports any suspected and confirmed security violations.

Leidos is seeking an experienced Incident Response professional to join our team. As a leader of this highly visible cyber Security Operations Center (SOC) for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), you will be responsible for managing day to day operations of the team, coordinating efforts of the team, leading by example and performing in-depth technical analysis of network and endpoint logs & activity, cyber incident analysis, escalating findings as deemed appropriate, and containment, remediation and root cause analysis in support of the protection of the customers' systems, networks, and assets.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Responsible for assisting the CIRT Team Lead with managing the team of CIRT analysts, Incident Response actions and priorities, technical analysis and root cause analyses, and interfacing with the customer.

• Partner with other task leads in support of customer initiatives and cyber incidents.

• Create dashboards for key metrics and processes and deliver technical presentations to various levels of customer leadership.

• Interface with senior DHS & CBP leaders and directors to help maintain and sustain critical systems supporting the CBP Security Operations Center.

• Utilize state of the art technologies such as host forensics tools(FTK/Encase), Endpoint Detection & Response tools, log analysis (Splunk) and network forensics (full packet capture solution) to perform hunt and investigative activity to examine endpoint and network-based data.

• Conduct in-depth analysis on hosts and networks, forensic analysis, log analysis, and triage in support of incident response.

• Recognize attacker and APT activity, tactics, and procedures as indicators of compromise (IOCs) that can be used to improve monitoring, analysis, and incident response processes.

• Develop and build security content, scripts, tools, or methods to enhance the incident investigation processes.

• Lead incident response activities and mentor junior SOC staff.

• Work with key stakeholders to implement remediation plans in response to incidents.

• Effectively investigative and identify root cause findings then communicate findings to stakeholders including technical staff, and leadership.

• Flexible and adaptable self-starter with strong relationship-building skills

• Ability to stay up to date with the latest threat intelligence, security trends, tools and capabilities.

• Possess strong problem-solving abilities with an analytic and qualitative eye for reasoning.

• Ability to independently prioritize and complete multiple tasks with little to no supervision.

• Effectively communicate with customer leadership and disseminate timely updates of critical incidents with emphasis on attention to detail and accurate reporting.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in a science or engineering field, IT, or Cybersecurity related field.

• 12+ years of experience be in the areas of incident detection and response, remediation, malware analysis, or computer forensics.

• Ability to prioritize and complete multiple tasks with little to no supervision.

• Experience organizing, directing, and managing contract operation support functions involving multiple, complex, and interrelated project tasks.

• Experience effectively communicating at senior levels within a customer organization.

• Advanced knowledge of the Incident Response Lifecycle and applicability to various types of incidents and situations.

• Ability to collaborate with technical staff and customers to identify, assess, and resolve complex security problems/issues/risks and facilitate resolution and risk mitigation.

• Effective communication skills with emphasis on attention to detail, ability to accurately capture and document technical remediation details, and ability to brief stakeholders on incident statuses.

• Experience creating new processes, playbooks, and SOPs for new tools and workflows. Prior relevant experience should be in the areas of incident detection and response, malware analysis, or computer forensics.

• Ability to script in one more of the following computer languages Python, Bash, Visual Basic or PowerShell.

• Experience running cyber incident investigations with emphasis on attention to detail, adept communication skills, and adherence to defined escalation paths.

Clearance: All CBP SOC employees are required to currently possess a CBP Background Investigation to support this program.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in Federal Government, DOD or Law Enforcement in CND, CIRT or SOC role

• Knowledge of the Cyber Kill Chain and the MITRE ATT&CK framework

• Knowledge of Structured Analytic Techniques

Required certifications:

The candidate should have at minimum ONE of the following certifications:

• CompTIA Cyber Security Analyst (CySA+)

• CompTIA Linux Network Professional (CLNP)

• CompTIA Pentest+

• CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+)

• GPEN - Penetration Tester

• GWAPT - Web Application Penetration Tester

• GSNA - System and Network Auditor

• GISF - Security Fundamentals

• GXPN - Exploit Researcher and Advanced Penetration Tester

• GWEB - Web Application Defender

• GNFA - Network Forensic Analyst

• GMON - Continuous Monitoring Certification

• GCTI - Cyber Threat Intelligence

• GOSI - Open Source Intelligence

• OSCP (Certified Professional)

• OSCE (Certified Expert)

• OSWP (Wireless Professional)

• OSEE (Exploitation Expert)

• CCFP - Certified Cyber Forensics Professional

• CISSP - Certified Information Systems Security

• CEH - Certified Ethical Hacker

• CHFI - Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator

• LPT - Licensed Penetration Tester

• CSA - EC Council Certified SOC Analyst (Previously ECSA - EC-Council Certified Security Analyst)

• ENSA - EC-Council Network Security Administrator

• ECIH - EC-Council Certified Incident Handler

• ECSS - EC-Council Certified Security Specialist

• ECES - EC-Council Certified Encryption Specialist

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:

July 31, 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 $131,300.00 - $237,350.00

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.