Security Operations Analyst - Contract

Role Summary

The Security Operations Analyst is a key member of the SOC, responsible for monitoring, triaging, and responding to security events across the organisation’s endpoint, cloud, and network environments.

The role also covers Data Loss Prevention (DLP) monitoring, vulnerability management, and the documentation and reporting that supports audit and compliance.

The ideal candidate is analytical, detail-oriented, and calm under pressure, and works effectively with infrastructure and application teams to drive remediation.

Key Responsibilities

1. Security Monitoring & Incident Response

• Monitor alerts and dashboards across Trend Micro (e.g. Vision One, Deep Security, Apex One), Microsoft Sentinel, and other security tools.

• Triage alerts, separate true from false positives, and prioritise by severity and business impact.

• Investigate suspicious activity using log analysis, KQL queries, and threat intelligence.

• Escalate confirmed incidents to L2/L3 or the incident response team with clear evidence.

• Carry out initial containment per playbooks, such as isolating endpoints or blocking indicators.

• Tune detection rules and alert thresholds to reduce noise.

2. Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

• Monitor and triage DLP alerts for unauthorised transfer, sharing, or exfiltration of sensitive data.

• Investigate policy violations, determine whether they are accidental, negligent, or malicious, and escalate as required.

• Review and tune DLP policies and rules to reduce false positives.

• Coordinate with data owners, HR, and compliance on confirmed data leakage incidents.

• Report DLP incident trends and policy effectiveness.

3. Vulnerability Management

• Run and review vulnerability scans using Tenable and similar tools.

• Prioritise findings by severity (CVSS), exploitability, and asset criticality.

• Raise remediation tickets, track them to closure, and escalate overdue items.

• Manage risk acceptance and exception requests with supporting justification.

• Produce vulnerability and patch compliance reports for management and audits.

4. Documentation & Reporting

• Document incidents and investigations in the ticketing system (e.g. ServiceNow).

• Maintain SOC playbooks, runbooks, and SOPs.

• Prepare shift handover notes and regular security reports.

• Support audits, compliance checks, and post-incident reviews.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

• Diploma or Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity, IT, Computer Science, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

• 2–4 years in a SOC, security operations, or IT security role.

• Hands-on experience with a SIEM (Microsoft Sentinel preferred) and endpoint or XDR tools (Trend Micro preferred).

• Experience with vulnerability scanners (Tenable preferred) and patch management processes.

• Understanding of DLP concepts and tools, and of the incident response lifecycle and MITRE ATT&CK.

Preferred Certifications

• CompTIA Security+, Microsoft SC-200, or Trend Micro certifications.

Nice to Have

• CEH, GCIH, GCIA, Tenable certifications, or Azure/AWS security certifications.

Skills & Competencies

Technical

• Strong knowledge of network, endpoint, cloud, and OS security (Windows, Linux).

• Ability to write and read KQL queries and analyse logs.

• Familiarity with firewalls, IDS/IPS, WAF, EDR/XDR, DLP, and vulnerability scanners.

• Understanding of CVSS scoring, CVE tracking, and risk-based remediation prioritisation.

Behavioural

• Strong analytical thinking and attention to detail.

• Clear written and verbal communication.

• Ability to work with infrastructure and application teams to drive remediation.

• Calm and effective under pressure and in shift work.