AOUSC - Threat Hunt Lead
Qualifications:
- Active Public Trust clearance
- B.S. Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field
- 5+ years within IR in a large SOC (over 5,000 endpoints) with at least 3 years focused on proactive threat hunting or adversary emulation.
- 3+ years of experience with demonstrated proficiency in forming hypothesis, querying large datasets and identifying APT behavior.
- 2+ years’ experience with demonstrated proficiency in scripting languages including Python and PowerShell to develop new tools.
- This role most closely aligns with the NICE work role PD-WRL-006 (Threat Analysis).
- Active OSCP or GXPN certification
Duties:
- Lead proactive threat hunting operations to identify Advanced Persistent Threats (APT), insider threats, malicious activity, and anomalous behaviors that evade traditional security controls.
- Develop and execute hypothesis-driven threat hunts leveraging threat intelligence, adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), behavioral analytics, and anomalous telemetry.
- Coordinate threat hunt activities within Agile two-week sprint cycles and ensure successful execution of all assigned hunt objectives and deliverables.
- Develop Threat Hunt Execution Plans that define hunt hypotheses, objectives, technical methodologies, required telemetry, and investigative procedures.
- Analyze endpoint, network, cloud, identity, SIEM, EDR, and log telemetry to identify indicators of compromise (IOCs), suspicious activity, and attack patterns.
- Coordinate and escalate confirmed or suspected findings to the Cybersecurity Triage and Incident Response teams in accordance with the Judiciary SOC Incident Response Plan (JSOCIRP).
- Collaborate with Detection Engineering teams to identify and remediate logging, telemetry, detection, or visibility gaps discovered during threat hunting operations.
- Work closely with Cyber Threat Intelligence teams to operationalize intelligence, enrich investigations, and identify emerging threats impacting the Judiciary.
- Conduct advanced analysis of threat actor behaviors, malware campaigns, phishing activity, suspicious infrastructure, and attack trends.
- Develop detailed Threat Hunt Reports documenting hunt objectives, findings, TTPs, queries used, telemetry gaps, identified risks, and recommendations for improved detections.
- Produce executive-level Hunt Sprint Reports summarizing hunt activities, operational impacts, recommendations, and emerging cybersecurity risks.
- Provide real-time investigative support during cybersecurity incidents and high-priority threat investigations.
- Perform analysis utilizing Splunk Enterprise Security, Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk SOAR, CrowdStrike, Qualys, ServiceNow, Jira, and other AO-approved security platforms.
- Support the development and refinement of threat models tailored to Judiciary systems, high-value assets, and mission-critical environments.
- Develop and maintain threat hunting SOPs, playbooks, technical procedures, and investigative methodologies aligned with AO and federal cybersecurity standards.
- Support enterprise security awareness initiatives through threat briefings, technical reporting, and operational presentations.
- Participate in weekly technical meetings, operational reviews, and status briefings with AO leadership and federal stakeholders.
- Provide mentorship, technical guidance, and quality oversight to threat hunters and supporting analysts.
- Support transition-in and transition-out activities, operational readiness, documentation development, and knowledge transfer activities.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on detection coverage, telemetry enrichment, operational efficiency, and threat hunting maturity.