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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Security Operations Manager

💰 $130,000 - $195,000

CybersecurityIT ManagementSecurity Operations

🎯 Role Definition

The Security Operations Manager is a cornerstone of an organization's cybersecurity posture, serving as both a leader and a technical authority. This individual is entrusted with building, managing, and maturing the Security Operations Center (SOC) and its team of analysts. More than just a manager, this role is the central command for cyber defense, responsible for orchestrating the detection, analysis, and response to all security threats in real-time. They are the primary escalation point during critical incidents, combining deep technical expertise with calm, decisive leadership. Ultimately, the Security Operations Manager ensures the organization's digital assets are vigilantly monitored and robustly defended against a constantly evolving threat landscape, translating strategic security goals into tactical, day-to-day operational excellence.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Security Analyst / SOC Analyst III
  • Lead Incident Responder
  • Senior Threat Hunter
  • Cybersecurity Team Lead

Advancement To:

  • Director of Security Operations / Cyber Defense
  • Senior Manager, Cybersecurity
  • Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), particularly in medium-sized organizations
  • Head of Threat & Incident Management

Lateral Moves:

  • Senior Security Architect
  • Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Manager
  • Red Team / Offensive Security Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Team Leadership and Mentorship: Direct, lead, and mentor a team of security analysts, fostering a culture of high performance, continuous learning, and proactive threat hunting while managing schedules, performance reviews, and career development.
  • Incident Response Command: Act as the primary commander and escalation point during major cybersecurity incidents, coordinating response efforts across IT, legal, communications, and executive teams to ensure swift containment, eradication, and recovery.
  • SOC Strategy and Maturity: Develop and execute a strategic roadmap for the Security Operations Center, continuously maturing its capabilities by enhancing processes, introducing new technologies, and improving detection and response times.
  • Security Technology Management: Oversee the complete lifecycle of the security technology stack, including SIEM, SOAR, EDR, NDR, and threat intelligence platforms, ensuring they are properly configured, optimized, and integrated.
  • Threat Intelligence Integration: Direct the operationalization of threat intelligence, ensuring that relevant and timely intelligence is integrated into monitoring systems and used to drive proactive threat-hunting campaigns.
  • Performance Metrics and Reporting: Define, track, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics (e.g., Mean Time to Detect, Mean Time to Respond) to measure the effectiveness of the SOC and communicate the organization's security posture to executive leadership.
  • Playbook and Process Development: Author, review, and maintain comprehensive incident response playbooks, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and other documentation to ensure consistent and effective handling of security events.
  • Vulnerability Management Oversight: Oversee the enterprise's vulnerability management program, collaborating with system owners and IT teams to prioritize remediation efforts based on risk and threat context.
  • Security Incident Analysis: Lead deep-dive investigations into complex security incidents, performing root cause analysis (RCA) to identify underlying issues and prevent recurrence.
  • Threat Hunting Coordination: Design and orchestrate proactive, intelligence-driven threat hunting missions to uncover hidden adversaries and previously unknown malicious activity within the network.
  • Vendor and MSSP Management: Manage relationships with Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) and other third-party security vendors, ensuring service level agreements (SLAs) are met and value is delivered.
  • 24/7 Operations Management: Ensure the seamless operation of a 24/7/365 security monitoring and response capability, including managing on-call rotations and escalation procedures.
  • Digital Forensics Coordination: Lead and coordinate digital forensics activities during investigations to collect, preserve, and analyze evidence in a forensically sound manner.
  • Compliance and Audit Support: Partner with GRC teams to ensure SOC operations are compliant with relevant regulations (e.g., GDPR, PCI-DSS, SOX) and support internal and external audit requests.
  • Security Automation and Orchestration: Drive the automation of security workflows and response actions using SOAR platforms and scripting to improve efficiency and reduce analyst fatigue.

Secondary Functions

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a key security liaison, partnering with IT Infrastructure, DevOps, and application development teams to embed security into their processes and facilitate effective remediation efforts.
  • Budgetary and Resource Planning: Contribute to the annual cybersecurity budget process, providing justification for technology renewals, new tool acquisitions, and necessary headcount.
  • Tabletop Exercise Facilitation: Plan and conduct regular tabletop exercises and simulated cyber-attacks (purple team exercises) to test and refine the organization's incident response plans and team readiness.
    -Emerging Threat Research: Stay abreast of the global threat landscape, emerging attack techniques, and new vulnerabilities, translating this research into actionable defense strategies for the organization.
  • Stakeholder Communication: Effectively articulate complex technical security issues and risks to non-technical business stakeholders and senior leadership, providing clarity and actionable recommendations.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • SIEM & Log Management: Expert-level proficiency in managing and architecting SIEM platforms such as Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, or QRadar, including rule tuning and custom dashboard creation.
  • Incident Response Frameworks: Deep understanding of incident response lifecycles and frameworks like NIST 800-61 and the Cyber Kill Chain.
  • Endpoint and Network Security: Strong experience with Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) solutions (e.g., CrowdStrike, SentinelOne) and Network Detection & Response (NDR) tools.
  • Cloud Security Operations: In-depth knowledge of security principles and services within major cloud environments like AWS, Azure, or GCP (e.g., GuardDuty, Azure Security Center).
  • Automation and Scripting: Proficiency in a scripting language such as Python or PowerShell to automate security tasks and integrate tools.
  • Digital Forensics & Malware Analysis: Practical experience with forensic tools (e.g., EnCase, FTK) and techniques for analyzing malware and investigating compromised systems.
  • Vulnerability Management Tools: Hands-on experience with vulnerability scanning and management platforms like Nessus, Qualys, or Rapid7.
  • Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIPs): Familiarity with using TIPs to consume, analyze, and operationalize threat intelligence feeds.

Soft Skills

  • Leadership and Mentorship: Proven ability to lead, inspire, and develop a technical team, fostering a collaborative and positive work environment.
  • Calm Under Pressure: Exceptional composure and decision-making capabilities, especially during high-stakes security incidents and crises.
  • Strategic and Critical Thinking: Ability to see the bigger picture, align security operations with business goals, and make data-driven decisions.
  • Exceptional Communication: The ability to clearly and concisely communicate complex technical topics to diverse audiences, from junior analysts to C-level executives.
  • Problem-Solving and Analytical Acumen: A relentless drive to investigate anomalies, solve complex problems, and identify the root cause of security issues.
  • Stakeholder Management: Skill in building strong relationships and influencing action across various departments and levels of seniority.
  • Project Management: Strong organizational skills to manage multiple initiatives, prioritize tasks, and deliver projects on time and within budget.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • A Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent demonstrated work experience, combined with industry-standard certifications.

Preferred Education:

  • A Master's degree in Cybersecurity, Information Assurance, or a related discipline.
  • Key industry certifications such as CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), CISM (Certified Information Security Manager), GCIH (GIAC Certified Incident Handler), or GCFA (GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science
  • Information Technology
  • Cybersecurity
  • Information Systems Security

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 8-12+ years in the cybersecurity field.

Preferred: A minimum of 3-5 years of direct experience in a leadership role within a Security Operations Center (SOC), incident response team, or similar cyber defense function. Demonstrable experience managing a team and acting as an incident commander for significant security events is highly preferred.

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