Cybersecurity Principal Specialist - Hunt Network #5302
Target Hiring Range: $158,000โ$178,000
Department: Chief Information Officer
Posting Date Range: 8/3/2026-8/17/2026
Pay Grade Range: $143,516-$194,617
Work Hours: 1:45 p.m. - 10:15 p.m.
FLSA Status: Exempt
Work Location Status: Hybrid
Hybrid Schedule: 2-3 days a week onsite.
All remote or hybrid work arrangements must be performed from within the continental United States, subject to Sergeant at Arms approval.
The Senate Sergeant at Arms does not pay for relocation expenses.
This vacancy announcement closes at 11:59pm EST. Late applications will not be accepted.
JOB OVERVIEW Job Description
The Target Hiring Range for this position is:$158,000โ$178,000
About Us:
The Sergeant at Arms plays a crucial role in upholding the operationalintegrity of the Senate community. Our vision is to foster an environment ofinnovation, collaboration, and adaptability, ensuring uninterrupted legislativeproceedings irrespective of time, place, or circumstance. The Cybersecuritydepartment is responsible for protecting the systems and information used tocreate the legislation that underwrites our democracy. We create a resilientcybersecurity operation by pro-actively identifying, protecting, detecting,reacting, and recovering (IPDRR) the US Senate enterprise. We combine people,processes, and technology into a state of the art, continuous risk-reductionpractice that is flexible, innovative, and effective.
Role Overview:
The Threat Hunt & Response Principal Specialist serves as a seniortechnical authority within the Cybersecurity Threat Hunt & Response Team,operating at the forefront of the Senateโs cyber defense mission. This is ahigh-tempo, always-on role demanding deep expertise across two equally criticaldisciplines: network forensics and threat hunting, underpinned by hands-onresponse leadership.
In this role, you will leadproactive, hypothesis-driven hunts across the enterprise, network trafficanalysis, protocol inspection, and log forensics to surface stealthy threatsbefore they accelerate. Working closelywith both offensive and defensive security teams, you will translate findings into new monitoring and detection capabilities, ensuring the Senateโscybersecurity posture continuously improves through every engagement. Whenincidents occur, you will serve as the senior technical lead, driving rapidcontainment and root cause analysis with a strong emphasis on network-layerevidence that help strengthen theorganization's overall security and readiness against future threats.
Key Responsibilities:
As a ThreatHunt & Response Principal Specialist, your role is crucial in protectingour organizationโs digital assets and supporting our cybersecurity initiatives.Your key responsibilities include:
- Threat Hunting โ Lead proactive, hypothesis-driven threat hunts across the enterprise to identify stealthy, undetected, or emerging threats. Leverage adversary TTPs, threat intelligence, and behavioral analytics โ with a particular focus on network-based evidence โ to develop and execute hunting hypotheses. Document findings, refine methodologies, and translate hunt results into actionable detections and intelligence products.
- Network Forensics & Analysis โ Serve as the teamโs senior network forensics subject matter expert. Conduct deep-packet inspection, traffic reconstruction, and protocol analysis to uncover attacker activity, lateral movement, and data exfiltration. Leverage tools such as Zeek, Wireshark, Snort, and Suricata to analyze network telemetry and build a complete picture of adversary behavior across the enterprise.
- Incident Response โ Lead and coordinate responses to complex cybersecurity incidents, including malware infections, data breaches, insider threats, and advanced persistent threats (APTs). Serve as incident commander during major security events, ensuring timely communication, effective decision-making, and cross-team coordination with SOC, threat intelligence, vulnerability management, IT operations, legal, and compliance teams. Perform in-depth forensic analysis of systems, networks, logs, and endpoint data to determine root cause, scope, and impact. Produce clear, detailed incident reports, post-incident reviews, and executive-level briefings.
- Detection Engineering โ Use technical expertise and deep understanding of adversary TTPs to design, develop, and implement custom detections that address gaps in the current detection posture. Deploy and tune detections across network, host, and cloud environments, ensuring fidelity, coverage, and operational usability. Continuously refine detection logic based on hunt findings, incident learnings, and emerging threat intelligence.
- Leadership & Mentorship โ Mentor and guide junior threat hunters and incident responders, elevating the teamโs overall technical capability. Develop, refine, and execute threat hunt and incident response playbooks, procedures, and escalation processes. Identify gaps in detection and response capabilities and champion improvements to tools, processes, and controls.
Key Accountabilities/Essential Job Duties
Provides functional and/or technical skills for the assigned cybersecurity unit.
Supports the unitโs work effort as required in preparing materials for collaborating with other sections, divisions, departments, and vendors to gather and disseminate information.
Contributes to the unitโs work effort as required in preparing analysis and materials for providing expert-level support in the assigned area of cybersecurity to SAA IT security branch staff, other SAA technical staff, SAA procurement staff, and other divisions or departments, and for identifying and resolving critical and complex issues in the assigned unit.
Supports the unitโs work effort to develop governing policies, standards, and procedures.