Cyber Program Manager Jobs in Irvine, CA (NOW HIRING)

Role Summary/Purpose:

The Cyber Intelligence Leader leads Synchrony's Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), Detection Engineering, and Cyber Hunt programs. This role is accountable for translating external and internal threat signals into actionable intelligence, proactive hunts, and measurable detection improvements across the enterprise.

The leader partners closely with Synchrony's Joint Security Operations Center (JSOC), Incident Response, Vulnerability Management, and infrastructure/application teams to reduce adversary dwell time and strengthen Synchrony's cyber defenses. The leader will define cohesive multi-year strategies to change current Intelligence processes to adapt to new emerging technologies, to include Artificial Intelligence. The ideal candidate will possess financial sector cyber intelligence and overall Information Security expertise.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Define intelligence requirements and collection plans focused on threats relevant to financial services and Synchrony's environment.

• Produce strategic, operational, and tactical intelligence (executive reporting, actor/campaign tracking, TTP and IOC packages).

• Translate intelligence into detection content, hunt hypotheses, response playbooks, and prioritized mitigations.

• Manage the intelligence lifecycle (collection analysis production dissemination feedback).

• Lead hypothesis-driven hunts mapped to MITRE ATT&CK, focused on high-risk scenarios and validated by available telemetry.

• Coordinate hunts across endpoint, network, cloud, identity, and edge/WAF; document repeatable hunt playbooks.

• Escalate validated suspicious activity to Incident Response and support containment/remediation as needed.

• Convert hunt findings into durable improvements: detections, data onboarding/enrichment, and control remediation.

• Lead a detection engineering function responsible for building and maintaining detection content and analytics across the enterprise.

• Develop detection standards (naming, severity, testing criteria, evidence requirements, runbooks) and a structured tuning process.

• Ensure detections are threat-informed (ATT&CK-mapped), measurable, and aligned to JSOC workflow and triage capacity.

• Drive detection validation through purple-team/attack simulation outcomes and real incident lessons learned.

• Partner with SOC to improve alert fidelity, reduce noise, and ensure clear escalation criteria and responder guidance.

• Maintain a detection backlog and release cadence; ensure change control and documentation for auditability.

• Perform other duties and/or special projects as assigned.

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or an equivalent degree and a minimum 5 years of work

• 8-12+ years of cybersecurity experience with depth in threat intelligence, threat hunting, detection engineering, and/or incident response.

• 3+ years leading teams and/or enterprise programs with measurable outcomes.

• Demonstrated experience building and operationalizing detections within a SIEM/EDR environment and partnering with SOC/IR.

• Strong knowledge of adversary tactics and frameworks (MITRE ATT&CK) and applying them to detection coverage.

• Proficiency working with security telemetry across endpoint, network, cloud, and edge; strong investigative mindset.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to brief executives and produce clear technical documentation/runbooks.

• Ability and flexibility to travel for business as required

Desired Characteristics:

• Experience establishing a detection engineering lifecycle (standards, testing, tuning, change control, coverage reporting).

• Detection content engineering expertise; familiarity with data models/normalization and scalable detection design.

• Financial services and/or regulated industry experience; audit-ready documentation and governance mindset.

• Certifications (preferred): GIAC (GCTI/GCIA/GCIH/GNFA), CISSP, CCSP, or similar.

• Strong technical knowledge of scripting languages and data access methodologies.

• Awareness of the latest cyber security trends and developments.

• US Government Security Clearance, as a plus.

Grade/Level: 14

The salary range for this position is 170,000.00 - 290,000.00 USD Annual and is eligible for an annual bonus based on individual and company performance.

Actual compensation offered within the posted salary range will be based upon work experience, skill level or knowledge.

Salaries are adjusted according to market in CA, NY Metro and Seattle.

Our Way of Working:

We're proud to offer you flexibility. At Synchrony, our way of working allows you to have the option to work from home near one of our Hubs or come into one of our offices.You will be required to commute to your nearestHub (either virtual or physical) for in-person engagement activities such as regularbusiness or team meetings, training and culture events.

*Field Sales and some Commercial team roles may have varied location requirements based upon partner obligations or preferences.

Eligibility Requirements:

• You must be 18 years or older

• You must have a high school diploma or equivalent

• You must be willing to take a drug test, submit to a background investigation and submit fingerprints as part of the onboarding process

• You must be able to satisfy the requirements of Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.

• New hires (Level 4-7) must have 9 months of continuous service with the company before they are eligible to post on other roles. Once this new hire time in position requirement is met, the associate will have a minimum 6 months' time in position before they can post for future non-exempt roles. Employees, level 8 or greater, must have at least 18 months' time in position before they can post. All internal employees must consistently meet performance expectations and have approval from your manager to post (or the approval of your manager and HR if you don't meet the time in position or performance expectations).

Legal authorization to work in the U.S. is required. We will not sponsor individuals for employment visas, now or in the future, for this job opening.All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Our Commitment:

When you join us, you'll be part of an inclusive culture where your individual skills, experience, and voice are not only heard - but valued. Together, we're building a future where we can all belong, connect, and turn ideals into action. More than 50% of our workforce is engaged in our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), where community and passion intersect to offer a safe space to learn and grow.

This starts when you choose to apply for a role at Synchrony. We ensure all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status. We're proud to have an award-winning culture for all.

Reasonable Accommodation Notice:

• Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job or to perform your job. Examples of reasonable accommodation include making a change to the application process or work procedures, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.

• If you need special accommodations, please call our Career Support Line so that we can discuss your specific situation. We can be reached at 1-866-301-5627. Representatives are available from 8am - 5pm Monday to Friday, Central Standard Time

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