Incident Response Engineer 2

Role Summary

Sophos is seeking an intermediate-level Incident Response Analyst to support its Managed Detection and Response (MDR) customers within the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT).

As an Incident Response Analyst 2, you will perform advanced investigative, forensic, and containment activities during active cyber incidents. You will operate with moderate autonomy, serve primarily in an Incident Responder role, and begin supporting Incident Advisors with validated technical findings and customer-facing context. This role serves as the technical backbone of most engagements and includes mentoring junior analysts to ensure consistent execution and documentation quality.

What You Will Do

• Perform advanced investigative and forensic analysis across endpoints, network logs, and cloud telemetry
• Execute containment and response actions to neutralize active threats as directed by Incident Advisors or Senior Analysts
• Validate indicators of compromise (IOCs) and correlate alerts, artifacts, and telemetry to determine scope and root cause
• Maintain clear and accurate engagement documentation, including trailheads, timelines, and playbooks
• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior IR and SOC analysts to ensure adherence to CIRT investigative and documentation standards
• Prepare technical findings and summaries for inclusion in customer updates and post-incident reports
• Identify and communicate detection or response gaps observed during investigations
• Participate in shift handovers, debriefs, and post-incident reviews to ensure engagement continuity
• Maintain accurate time and activity tracking to support operational visibility and service improvement

What You Will Bring

Essential:

• 2+ years of experience in incident response, MDR, SOC, or security operations roles
• Solid technical understanding of endpoint forensics, log analysis, and common attack techniques
• Experience investigating malware, credential theft, ransomware, or similar threats
• Ability to correlate alerts and telemetry to determine incident scope and root cause
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for documenting findings and contributing to customer updates
• Experience mentoring or guiding junior analysts
• Ability to work effectively in high-pressure, time-sensitive incident environments
• Willingness to work some weekends and holidays as part of a rotation

Desired:

• Hands-on experience with EDR, SIEM, and forensic collection tools
• Familiarity with OSQuery, SQL, or KQL
• Knowledge of MITRE ATT&CK and incident response frameworks
• Industry certifications such as GCIH, GCED, CompTIA Security+, or equivalent
• Experience contributing to playbooks, detection tuning, or service improvement initiatives