NOC / SOC Shift Lead (2nd Shift)

The Defense Sector at Leidos is currently looking to add a NOC / SOC Shift Lead (2nd Shift). The NOC / SOC Shift Lead (2nd Shift) will serve as the senior technical authority and shift supervisor for after-hours network operations and cybersecurity monitoring, blending NOC and SOC functions across DoD networks. This role independently prioritizes and leads response to significant incidents, coaches junior technicians, and owns the shift-turnover process to ensure continuity with day-shift teams and leadership.

This position requires daily on-site work at Langley, AFB. The core hours for this position are considered 4:00 PM to 12:00 AM.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Shift Leadership & Coverage: Serve as the senior point of contact for the 2nd shift NOC/SOC team, assigning and prioritizing incoming alerts and ensuring adequate coverage across the shift.
• Continuous Monitoring: Oversee SIEM and network performance dashboards to detect security threats and infrastructure outages.
• Incident Triage & Response: Lead the triage of real incidents versus false alarms, direct initial diagnostics, and contain active network or security anomalies.
• Escalation & Handoff: Own escalation of high-severity incidents to Tier 2/3 engineering teams or Incident Responders, and author/review the detailed shift-handover report for day-shift leadership.
• Maintenance & Troubleshooting: Oversee routing, connectivity issue resolution, backup restorations, and software patch management during off-peak hours.
• Mentorship & Quality Review: Coach and train junior NOC/SOC technicians, review technician-generated tickets and reports for accuracy, and reinforce shift procedures.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with 4+ years of experience or a Master’s degree with 2+ years of experience. Additional experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Security Clearance: Active DoD TS/SCI clearance.
• DoD 8140/8570: IAT Level II baseline certification (e.g., CompTIA Security+ CE); a CSSP Analyst-aligned certification (e.g., CySA+, CEH, or GCIH) is strongly preferred given the role's blended NOC/SOC scope.
• Experience: 4+ years of hands-on experience in IT security, network operations, or a related field, including some prior experience leading or mentoring a shift team.
• Leadership: Demonstrated ability to prioritize competing incidents, make independent risk-based decisions with minimal oversight, and coordinate a small team during off-hours coverage.
• Technical Skills: Working proficiency with enterprise SIEM/EDR and monitoring tools (e.g., Splunk, CrowdStrike, Microsoft Sentinel, SolarWinds).
• Shift Flexibility: Willingness to work evening and rotational shifts (e.g., 3:00 PM-11:00 PM), including weekends and holidays.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Toolset Familiarity: Exposure to Security Onion, Juniper SSR, Cisco switching, Wireshark, ServiceNow, or Jira Service Manager.
• Advanced Certifications: CySA+, GCIA, or CEH.
• Prior DoD/Military Experience: Previous shift-lead or team-lead experience in a DoD, military, or cleared NOC/SOC environment.
• Process Improvement: Experience refining shift SOPs, playbooks, or escalation procedures based on operational trends.

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Original Posting:

Pay Range:

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.