SOC Manager

SOC Team Lead

Location: Newcastle (Hybrid – 3 days onsite)

Salary: £65,000 – £70,000 per annum

Clearance: DBS Required

Type: Full-time, Permanent

I’m working with a well-established UK cyber security business that’s scaling its Security Operations Centre and looking to hire a SOC Team Lead. This is a great opportunity for someone ready to lead a 24×7 operational team, support complex incidents, and influence both technical capability and team development within a CREST-aligned MDR environment.

About the Role

As SOC Team Lead, you’ll manage a skilled team of security analysts protecting global organisations from evolving threats. You’ll be responsible for technical escalations, operational planning, and supporting continuous improvements across detection, response, and tooling. This role combines leadership, process ownership, and hands-on incident response responsibilities.

We are happy to look at people who have come from a senior background looking for the next step in their career, or established SOC Leads who are looking for a fresh challenge!

Key Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations of a 24×7 Security Operations Centre
• Act as the senior escalation point for investigations and incident response
• Support the development and refinement of playbooks, SOPs, and detection rules
• Ensure coverage planning and shift rotations are in place for round-the-clock response
• Mentor and guide analysts through regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career planning
• Champion collaboration across threat detection, DFIR, red team, and engineering teams
• Collaborate with vendors and partners to ensure tooling and integrations remain effective
• Track and report on performance metrics and recommend areas for improvement
• Contribute to technical input across RFPs, client proposals, and internal documentation
• Evaluate new tools and processes for SOC scalability and resilience

Desired Experience

• Proven experience leading or mentoring SOC or IR teams in an enterprise or MSSP environment
• Strong understanding of EDR, SIEM, and XDR platforms and their role in threat detection
• Familiarity with CREST, NCSC IR Level 2, or equivalent frameworks
• Ability to translate technical findings into business impact for internal and external stakeholders
• Exposure to threat hunting, DFIR, or security engineering is a plus
• Strong organisational and communication skills, with a focus on collaboration and mentorship
• Any previous public contributions (blogs, speaking, community involvement) are a bonus

What’s on Offer

• Hybrid working setup in a central Newcastle
• Access to both offensive (red team) and defensive (SOC/DFIR) capabilities
• Supportive team culture with genuine career progression pathways
• Regular training and development from day one
• Input into tools, tech, and process decisions

Unfortunately our client is unable to offer sponsorship for this role