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Senior Detection Engineer Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Senior Detection Engineer

Ashburn, VA · On-site

$106K - $146K/yr

Detection Engineering: Design, build, and optimize advanced security detections within the Splunk platform. You will move beyond basic alerts to create high-fidelity, risk-based alerting (RBA) models ...

Senior Adversary Emulation Engineer

Reston, VA · On-site

$119K - $163K/yr

We are seeking a Senior Adversary Emulation Engineer to help establish and mature adversary ... Partner with Threat Detection Engineering to validate detection coverage, alert fidelity ...

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Senior Detection Engineer information

What is the difference between Senior Detection Engineer vs Security Analyst?

AspectSenior Detection EngineerSecurity Analyst
Required CredentialsBachelor's in CS, Cybersecurity, or related; certifications like CISSP, GIACBachelor's in CS, Cybersecurity, or related; certifications like CompTIA Security+
Work EnvironmentDevelops detection tools, analyzes security data, creates detection rulesMonitors security alerts, investigates incidents, reports findings
Employer & Industry UsageTech companies, financial institutions, cybersecurity firmsIT departments, government agencies, large enterprises

While both roles focus on security, Senior Detection Engineers primarily develop and refine detection systems, whereas Security Analysts monitor and respond to security incidents. The Senior Detection Engineer role is more technical and development-oriented, while Security Analysts focus on incident response and analysis.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior detection engineer, and why are they important?

To excel as a Senior Detection Engineer, you need advanced knowledge of cybersecurity principles, threat detection methodologies, and experience with incident response, often supported by a degree in computer science or related certifications like CISSP or GIAC. Proficiency in SIEM platforms (such as Splunk or Sentinel), scripting languages (like Python), and EDR/XDR tools is typically required. Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving skills, and effective communication help you collaborate with teams and respond to evolving threats. These capabilities are crucial for proactively identifying and mitigating security risks to protect organizational assets.

What is a senior detection engineer?

A Senior Detection Engineer is a cybersecurity professional responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining systems that detect threats and malicious activities within an organization's network. They create and refine detection rules, analyze security alerts, and work closely with incident response teams to mitigate risks. Senior Detection Engineers also lead efforts to improve detection capabilities by researching new attack techniques and developing advanced monitoring solutions. Their expertise helps organizations proactively defend against evolving cyber threats.

What are some common challenges a senior detection engineer faces when developing and tuning detection rules?

A Senior Detection Engineer often encounters challenges such as balancing detection accuracy with false positive rates, staying ahead of evolving threat landscapes, and ensuring detection rules adapt to new attack techniques. They must also collaborate closely with other security teams to understand operational impacts and validate the effectiveness of their rules in real-world scenarios. Regular communication, continuous learning, and iterative testing are crucial to overcoming these challenges and maintaining a robust security posture.

How much do detection engineers make?

Detection engineers typically earn a median salary ranging from $90,000 to $130,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and certifications. Senior detection engineers with specialized skills in cybersecurity tools and threat detection may earn higher salaries, often exceeding $150,000.
What job categories do people searching Senior Detection Engineer jobs in Virginia look for? The top searched job categories for Senior Detection Engineer jobs in Virginia are:
What cities in Virginia are hiring for Senior Detection Engineer jobs? Cities in Virginia with the most Senior Detection Engineer job openings:

Senior Detection Engineer

Verizon

Ashburn, VA • On-site

$106K - $146K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement

Posted 6 days ago


Verizon rating

7.8

Company rating: 7.8 out of 10

Based on 522 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

36th of 97 rated telecommunications companies


Job description

When you join Verizon
You want more out of a career. A place to share your ideas freely - even if they're daring or different. Where the true you can learn, grow, and thrive. At Verizon, we power and empower how people live, work and play by connecting them to what brings them joy. We do what we love - driving innovation, creativity, and impact in the world. Our V Team is a community of people who anticipate, lead, and believe that listening is where learning begins. In crisis and in celebration, we come together - lifting our communities and building trust in how we show up, everywhere & always. Want in? Join the #VTeamLife.
What you'll be doing...
The GN&T Network Security team is looking for a highly motivated and experienced Security Engineer with expertise in security detections, EDR systems and data engineering to join the Network Security Foundational team.
Successful candidates will be able to apply their expertise in the design, and implementation of cutting-edge and mission critical security detections used to detect and mitigate sophisticated threats facing Verizon and our customers. The Network Intelligence infrastructure consists of several large scale compute and storage clusters that are used to analyze petabyte scale network and security event data sets for anomalous and malicious network activity.
As a Security Engineer on our team, you won't just be monitoring dashboards; you will be the architect of our detection strategy and the primary defender of our infrastructure and global network.
In this role, you will be an owner of our Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) ecosystem and our SIEM visibility. You will be expected to anticipate how an adversary thinks, build the systems to catch them, and lead the technical discussions when high-stakes incidents occur.
Key Responsibilities
  • Detection Engineering: Design, build, and optimize advanced security detections within the Splunk platform. You will move beyond basic alerts to create high-fidelity, risk-based alerting (RBA) models that identify complex attack patterns.
  • EDR Strategy & Management: Serve as the global SME for our CrowdStrike environment. This includes managing large-scale deployments, tuning prevention policies, and performing deep-dive forensic analysis on endpoint telemetry.
  • Linux Security Mastery: You will work primarily on linux-based systems developing detections and investigating EDR-based alerts and detections.
  • Data Engineering: Analyze, normalize and utilize data to identify certain security patterns and properties.
  • Scripting and Coding: Build small programs and scripts to solve problems and automate tasks to allow the team to move faster and be more efficient.

Where you'll be working...
In this hybrid role, you'll have a defined work location that includes work from home and assigned office days in one of the offices listed for this position, or any other Verizon office.
What we're looking for...
You'll need to have:
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related field or four or more years of work experience.
  • Four or more years of relevant experience required, demonstrated through one or a combination of work and/or military experience, or specialized training.
  • Extensive background in overseeing EDR/XDR detections on a large scale.
  • Experience managing Linux systems, including deep knowledge of the boot process, PAM, and persistence mechanisms.
  • Network Intelligence: Advanced knowledge of networking protocols (BGP, TLS/SSL, DNS).
  • Expert knowledge in developing scripts and writing programs (e.g. Python) to automate tasks and solve problems.
  • Data Engineering: Advanced knowledge of database systems, the relational database model and hands-on expertise working with data.
  • Extensive experience in a dedicated security engineering or incident response role, with a track record of defending enterprise-scale environments.

Even better if you have one or more of the following:
  • Splunk Proficiency: Expert-level knowledge of Splunk SPL. You should be capable of building custom macros, data models, and automated lookups to streamline investigations.
  • Attack & Mitigation Knowledge: You don't just know what a "Golden Ticket" or "Living off the Land" attack is; you know exactly what telemetry is required to block or detect it.
  • Preferred Tools: Hands-on experience with CrowdStrike Falcon (including RTR and Fusion) and Splunk ES is highly preferred.
  • Strong analytical skills and attention to detail with a proven track record of managing and delivering results.
  • Leadership experience as a subject matter expert with effective written, interpersonal, and verbal communication skills.

Where you'll be working
In this hybrid role, you'll have a defined work location that includes working from home and a minimum of three days per week in the office, which will be set by your manager. Employees are responsible for maintaining compliance with hybrid work policies.
Scheduled Weekly Hours
40
Equal Employment Opportunity
Verizon is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to veteran status, disability or other legally protected characteristics.
Benefits and Compensation
Our benefits are designed to help you move forward in your career, and in areas of your life outside of Verizon. From health and wellness benefit options including: medical, dental, vision, short and long term disability, basic life insurance, supplemental life insurance, AD&D insurance, identity theft protection, pet insurance and group home & auto insurance. We also offer a matched 401(k) savings plan, up to 8 company paid holidays per year and up to 6 personal days per year, paid parental leave, adoption assistance and tuition assistance, plus other incentives, we've got you covered with our award-winning total rewards package. Depending on the role, employees have the opportunity to receive compensation in the form of premium pay such as overtime, shift differential, holiday pay, allowances, etc. Newly hired employees receive up to 15 days of vacation per year, which grows with additional service. For part-timers, your coverage will vary as you may be eligible for some of these benefits depending on your individual circumstances.
The salary will vary depending on your location and confirmed job-related skills and experience. This is an incentive based position with the potential to earn more. For part-time roles, your compensation will be adjusted to reflect your hours.
The annual salary range for the location(s) listed on this job requisition based on a full-time schedule is: $101,000.00 - $194,000.00.

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