External Operations Manager Jobs in Springfield, VA

Location: Washington, DC, Ft. Collins, CO, or Kansas City, MO (remote optional, local preferred)

Terms: Full-time

Salary: $150-190k DOE

Clearance: Active Secret required

Travel: 0-10%

This position supports a large-scale federal security operations program delivering 24/7/365 continuous monitoring, intrusion detection, incident response, and threat intelligence across a complex enterprise network environment. The SOC operates under demanding federal cybersecurity compliance requirements and supports multiple government stakeholders across classified and unclassified networks.

The core challenge: sustaining Tier 2 threat watch operations at enterprise scale — validating events, driving accurate incident assessment, and keeping Tier 1 analysts focused, calibrated, and mission-ready around the clock.

As a SOC Operations Manager at Revolutional, you lead the Tier 2 Threat Watch Officer function and are the senior operational authority for event validation, incident assessment, and analyst oversight during your watch. You validate and confirm security events, assess operational impact, correlate anomalies across IDS, IPS, and SIEM platforms, and make real-time recommendations that shape the program's defensive posture.

You are a technically deep operator and a credible team leader. You oversee Tier 1 staff, author intrusion detection signatures, monitor High Value Assets, and maintain current threat awareness that you actively apply to improve the program's detection and response capabilities. When events require interagency coordination, you are the person who initiates and manages that engagement.

• Tier 2 Threat Watch Officer function and operational leadership
• Security event validation, impact assessment, and escalation decisions
• IDS/IPS/SIEM anomaly correlation and network configuration recommendations
• Intrusion detection signature authorship and maintenance
• High Value Asset monitoring and protection oversight
• Tier 1 analyst oversight, performance, and operational discipline
• Interagency coordination for significant security events
• Current threat awareness and its application to enterprise security posture

• Lead the Tier 2 Threat Watch Officer function; serve as the senior operational authority for event triage, validation, and incident assessment during assigned watch periods
• Validate and confirm security events; assess operational impact and determine appropriate response actions, escalation paths, and stakeholder notifications
• Correlate anomalies across IDS, IPS, and SIEM platforms to distinguish genuine threats from false positives and identify complex, multi-vector attack patterns
• Recommend network configuration changes to mitigate identified threats, close detection gaps, and strengthen defensive posture
• Author and maintain intrusion detection signatures to improve detection fidelity against current and emerging threat actors and TTPs
• Monitor High Value Assets and ensure heightened detection coverage, alert fidelity, and response readiness for critical systems
• Coordinate with law enforcement, counterintelligence, and interagency partners on significant security events requiring external collaboration or notification
• Oversee Tier 1 SOC analysts; direct workload, validate analyst actions, enforce SOC procedures, and provide real-time coaching during active events
• Maintain current awareness of the threat landscape, adversary TTPs, and emerging attack vectors; actively apply threat intelligence to improve program detection and response capabilities
• Develop and contribute to SOC playbooks, standard operating procedures, and shift documentation
• Produce accurate shift reports, incident summaries, and escalation notifications for program leadership and government stakeholders
• Write scripts in Python or equivalent languages to automate analyst workflows, improve detection capabilities, or support SOC tool management

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 5 or more years of security operations experience, including hands-on Tier 2 or senior SOC analyst experience
• Demonstrated experience in a supervisory or team lead capacity overseeing SOC analysts or watch floor operations
• Active Secret clearance required

• Deep experience with security event validation, IDS/IPS/SIEM correlation, and incident impact assessment in enterprise network environments
• Hands-on experience authoring intrusion detection signatures for IDS/IPS platforms
• Proficiency with SIEM platforms: search, correlation rule development, alert tuning, and dashboard operations
• Experience monitoring High Value Assets and applying elevated detection and response protocols
• Demonstrated ability to recommend and communicate network configuration changes based on threat analysis findings
• Experience coordinating with external agencies or government partners during significant security events
• Proficiency scripting in Python or equivalent language for SOC automation, workflow improvement, or tool integration
• Current knowledge of adversary TTPs, threat actor trends, and the federal cybersecurity threat landscape
• Familiarity with FISMA, NIST incident response frameworks, and federal security operations standards

• Technically authoritative Tier 2 operator — your event assessments are accurate, well-reasoned, and defensible under scrutiny
• Decisive under pressure: you make sound calls on complex, fast-moving events without waiting for perfect information
• Effective supervisor who holds Tier 1 analysts to standard, develops their tradecraft, and keeps the watch floor operationally disciplined
• Clear communicator who produces crisp incident documentation, sharp shift handoffs, and credible interagency coordination

One or more of the following is preferred:

• CISSP, GCIA (GIAC Certified Intrusion Analyst), GCIH (GIAC Certified Incident Handler), CySA+, or equivalent security operations credential

• Experience leading Tier 2 operations in a federal civilian, defense, or intelligence SOC environment
• Background in intrusion detection signature development for commercial and custom IDS/IPS platforms
• Familiarity with High Value Asset (HVA) monitoring frameworks and CISA HVA assessment processes
• Experience with threat hunting or kill-chain-based detection methodologies
• Familiarity with Zero Trust monitoring or cloud-native SOC operations
• Active TS/SCI clearance

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