ZipRecruiter

Log In

1

Lead Cyber Security Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

MartinFed

Lead Cyber Security Engineer

Arlington, VA · On-site

MartinFed is seeking a highly experienced Lead Cyber Security Engineer to provide technical leadership in the design, implementation, assessment, and continuous improvement of enterprise ...

MartinFed

Lead Cyber Security Engineer

Arlington, VA · On-site

MartinFed is seeking a highly experienced Lead Cyber Security Engineer to provide technical leadership in the design, implementation, assessment, and continuous improvement of enterprise ...

MartinFed

Lead Cyber Security Engineer

Arlington, VA · On-site

MartinFed is seeking a highly experienced Lead Cyber Security Engineer to provide technical leadership in the design, implementation, assessment, and continuous improvement of enterprise ...

Ollie

Lead Cybersecurity Engineer

Paxtonia, PA · On-site

$150 - $200/hr

The Lead, Cybersecurity Engineer is responsible for leading the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of enterprise cybersecurity capabilities that protect the organization's systems ...

Accelint

Lead Cybersecurity Engineer

San Diego, CA · On-site

$130K - $165K/yr

Lead Cybersecurity Engineer * Full time * Hybrid and Onsite Options available *This position requires an active U.S. national security clearance. To learn more about the security clearance process ...

Accelint

Lead Cybersecurity Engineer

San Diego, CA · On-site

$125 - $150/hr

Lead Cybersecurity Engineer * Full time * Hybrid and Onsite Options available *This position requires anactive U.S. national security clearance. To learn more about the security clearance process ...

next page

Showing results 1-20

All JobsTechnology JobsNetworking JobsLead Cyber Security Engineer Jobs

Lead Cyber Security Engineer information

See salary details

$40.5K

$122.9K

$180K

How much do lead cyber security engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 9, 2026, the average yearly pay for lead cyber security engineer in the United States is $122,890.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $102,000.00 and $142,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a lead cyber security engineer?

Lead Cyber Security Engineers are experienced professionals responsible for overseeing and guiding the security measures that protect an organization's computer systems and networks. They design, implement, and manage security solutions, lead incident response efforts, and ensure compliance with relevant security standards and policies. In addition to technical tasks, they often supervise junior security staff, coordinate between departments, and develop strategies to address current and emerging cyber threats. Their role is critical in preventing data breaches and maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of organizational data.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a lead cyber security engineer?

To thrive as a Lead Cyber Security Engineer, you need deep expertise in network security, threat analysis, and risk management, often supported by a degree in computer science or information security and relevant certifications such as CISSP or CEH. Familiarity with security information and event management (SIEM) tools, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and cloud security platforms is typically required. Strong leadership, analytical thinking, and communication skills are vital for guiding teams and effectively conveying security strategies to stakeholders. These capabilities are critical for proactively defending organizational assets, leading incident response, and ensuring robust security postures in complex IT environments.

What are some common challenges faced by lead cyber security engineers when managing a security team?

Lead Cyber Security Engineers often face challenges such as balancing hands-on technical responsibilities with leadership and mentorship duties. They must stay current on rapidly evolving threats while ensuring that their team is well-trained and aligned with organizational security policies. Additionally, they frequently coordinate with other departments to implement security initiatives and manage the response to incidents, which requires strong communication and project management skills. Successfully navigating these challenges helps ensure both the team's effectiveness and the organization's overall security posture.

What is the difference between Lead Cyber Security Engineer vs Security Analyst?

AspectLead Cyber Security EngineerSecurity Analyst
Certifications CISSP, CISM, CEHCompTIA Security+, GIAC Security Essentials
Work EnvironmentDesigning security systems, leading security projectsMonitoring security alerts, analyzing threats
Employer & Industry UsageTech firms, finance, government agenciesIT departments, security firms, corporate settings

The Lead Cyber Security Engineer typically focuses on designing and leading security initiatives, requiring advanced certifications and experience. In contrast, a Security Analyst primarily monitors and analyzes security threats, often with entry to mid-level certifications. Both roles are vital in cybersecurity but differ in scope and responsibilities.

What cities are hiring for Lead Cyber Security Engineer jobs?

Cities with the most Lead Cyber Security Engineer job openings:

What states have the most Lead Cyber Security Engineer jobs?

States with the most job openings for Lead Cyber Security Engineer jobs include:

What are popular job titles related to Lead Cyber Security Engineer jobs?

For Lead Cyber Security Engineer jobs, the most frequently searched job titles are:

Lead Cyber Security Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Lead Cyber Security Engineer job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 89% Full Time, 9% Part Time, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 89% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $122,890 per year, or $59.1 per hour.

Lead Cybersecurity Engineer

Cincinnati, OH • On-site

First Student, Inc.
School and Employee Bus Transportation • 10K+ employees
Learn more about First Student, Inc.external

Full-time

Posted 8 days ago

First Student rating

6.3

Company rating: 6.3 out of 10

First Student

Based on 321 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

6.2

Company rating compared to similar companies: 6.2 out of 10

Education support services average

Based on 2,886 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

The best things about working at First Student

  • 89%

    89% of students say it’s good

    of students say it’s good

  • 88%

    88% say they enjoy their job

    say they enjoy their job

  • 87%

    87% of parents and care-givers say it’s good

    of parents and care-givers say it’s good

Featured by First Student, based on 321 Breakroom Quiz responses from their frontline employees

Job description

The Lead Cybersecurity Engineer is a senior individual contributor on First Student's Cybersecurity team, responsible for the day-to-day design, engineering, oversight, and operation of the controls that protect First Student's cloud, endpoint, application, and identity environments. The role leads cybersecurity engineering projects, drives detection and response engineering, and serves as a senior technical resource for cybersecurity investigations and cross-functional partnership with I&O, Data, and Application teams.
This is a hands-on practitioner role. The individual is expected to lead engineering execution, mentor junior team members, and provide technical oversight and peer review of the team's work product within cybersecurity.
Responsibilities
Identify and assess
  • Perform cybersecurity assessments and technical reviews for new platforms, cloud services, identity/authN/authZ changes, and externally-facing systems.
  • Lead offensive-informed technical assessments and translate findings into remediation plans.
  • Perform threat modeling for cloud and SDLC initiatives.

Securely build and protect
  • Engineer and lead operations of cybersecurity controls and cloud security posture management.
  • Author and code-review IaC for cloud governance components, including cloud policy management.
  • Provide SDLC cybersecurity engineering, including SAST and DAST program operation and secure code guidance for custom applications.
  • Provide oversight for identity and endpoint tooling and support enterprise secrets management.

Monitor, hunt, and detect
  • Own the technical integration of First Student systems and log sources into the managed MDR platform, and coordinate with the MDR provider on detection use cases, scenario-based workshops, and joint investigations.
  • Tune telemetry and sensor platforms to reduce false positives and improve detection fidelity.
  • Maintain existing and build new cybersecurity dashboards and telemetry that feed operational and leadership-facing reporting.

Respond, recover, and sustain
  • Serve as a senior technical lead for cybersecurity incidents, directing investigation, evidence collection, and containment across identity, endpoint, cloud, and email in coordination with I&O and MDR partners.
  • Maintain incident investigation templates, IR runbooks, and technical playbooks; drive lessons-learned and control improvements post-incident.
  • Support the incident management technical workflow and tabletop exercise execution.

Govern and manage risk
  • Contribute technical content to policies and standards (e.g., Vulnerability Management, cloud security, SDLC).
  • Interpret control requirements and translate them into enforceable technical controls.
  • Support leadership-facing reporting with technical evidence and narrative for internal reviews and external assessment cycles.
  • Contribute technical evidence to cyber risk acceptance packages.

Lead and coordinate
  • Provide technical oversight and peer review of the cybersecurity team's work product.
  • Mentor cybersecurity analysts and junior engineers on cloud cybersecurity, investigations, and secure design; support individual growth plans in coordination with the Senior Director.
  • Lead cybersecurity engineering projects end to end, including planning, effort estimation, resource coordination, and delivery.
  • Liaise with cybersecurity vendors and managed service providers for issue resolution and operational escalation.

Desired qualifications
Education and certifications
  • BS/BA in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience.
  • Industry certifications preferred: one or more of AWS Certified Security - Specialty, AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate/Professional, SANS/GIAC (GSEC, GCIH, GCSA, GCPN, GCIA), CISSP, CCSP, CRISC.

Knowledge and experience
  • 10+ years total experience in IT, with 5+ years of hands-on, demonstrated experience in one or more of cybersecurity engineering, cloud engineering, or DevOps.
  • Deep, hands-on AWS cybersecurity engineering: Organizations/Control Tower, SCPs and tag policies, IAM Identity Center, KMS key policy design, S3 hardening, Lambda runtime lifecycle, VPC segmentation and flow logging, CloudTrail/GuardDuty/Security Hub, Systems Manager, and cloud security posture management.
  • Working experience with managed MDR services, including onboarding and troubleshooting log sources, tuning detections in partnership with the provider, automating response, and participating in scenario-based workshops and joint IR execution.
  • EDR operations and incident response experience.
  • SDLC cybersecurity experience, including hands-on operation of SAST and DAST tooling, secure design review for cloud-native stacks, and remediation guidance for development teams.
  • Incident response experience on identity, cloud, and application-exposure incidents; ability to produce investigation reports suitable for leadership and legal review.
  • Working fluency in IaC review; proficiency in Python or PowerShell for automation, reporting, and control validation.
  • Strong understanding of NIST CSF 2.0, CIS Controls, and CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark; ability to translate framework requirements into enforceable, testable controls.
  • Familiarity with ITIL and Agile delivery practices.
  • Familiarity with the Microsoft 365 cybersecurity stack.

Personal attributes
  • Deep technical knowledge, strong analytical and problem-solving skills, and the ability to manage complex technical projects.
  • Strong written and oral communication skills; strong interpersonal skills.
  • Customer-focused mindset and attention to detail.
  • Operates independently and drives outcomes to closure. Comfortable defining technical requirements and holding partner teams accountable for implementation without direct execution authority.
  • Comfortable holding multiple technical domains simultaneously (cloud, detection, SDLC, IR) and prioritizing across them without daily direction.
  • Effective across organizational boundaries: I&O, Data, Applications, Legal, and external MDR/consulting partners.
  • High-integrity, ownership-first mindset. Proactive on risk reduction.

Compensation ranges from $130,000 - $155,000 depending on experience.
Language Requirement
This role requires English proficiency. Federal, state, and local requirements, including U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, require training, safety communications, company policies, employment documents, and other job-related communications be conducted in English.
First for a reason:
At First Student, we are a family of 60,000+ employees who take pride in safely transporting more than 5 million students and passengers to and from their destinations each day! Our family of brands include Transco, Total Transportation, Maggies Paratransit, and GVC II. Our employees are at the forefront of safety and innovation; they create and implement the most advanced training and technology the transportation industry has to offer.
In the state of Washington, all technician and driving positions, including but not limited to van drivers and any other position requiring employees to drive a company-owned vehicle, are considered safety-sensitive and are therefore subject to drug and alcohol testing, including cannabis.
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. First is also committed to providing a drug-free workplace. First will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance, and any other fair chance law. Philadelphia's Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance Poster is at this link or upon request https://www.phila.gov/media/20210423160847/Fair-Chance-Hiring-law-poster.pdf.

Working at First Student

Perks for frontline workers

From First Student, via Breakroom

  • Competitive pay and paid training

  • Paid holidays, sick time, and paid time off

  • Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance coverage options

  • 401(k) retirement plan with company match

  • Career advancement opportunities, including operational, maintenance, management, and leadership roles

  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP), including counseling and support services for personal and work-related issues

  • Community impact: Be a trusted figure for students and families

About First Student, in their own words

From First Student

At First Student, we are a team of 66,800 employees dedicated to providing safe, reliable, and efficient student transportation. As the leading student transportation provider in North America, we operate over 530+ locations across the U.S. and Canada. Our family of brands includes Transco, Total Transportation, Maggie’s Paratransit, and GVC II. Our employees are at the forefront of safety and innovation, helping create and implement the advanced training, technology, and transportation solutions our industry has to offer. Our company’s history is rooted in industry innovation, operational excellence, and a shared commitment to putting students first.

Company values

From First Student

• Focus on safety: Safety is at the heart of everything we do

• Foster teamwork: Work together, act with integrity, respect each other, and champion diversity and inclusion

• Care for our students: Ensure our vehicles are welcoming and trusted places where students feel comfortable and secure

• Surpass customer expectations: Go the extra mile to deliver an extraordinary experience for our customers and communities

• Set the highest standards: Continually seek a better way to do things with innovation, sustainable practices, financial discipline, commercial excellence, and operational excellence

What First Student employees say

Pay

Benefits

Hours and flexibility

Workplace

Get the full story on Breakroom

Apply