Soc Operations Manager

SOC Operations Manager - £800-£950 per day - Inside IR35 - Primarily remote - 6 month initial contract

We're supporting a well-established nuclear energy organisation operating within a highly regulated environment to appoint an experienced SOC Operations Manager. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who thrives in leading high-performing cyber security operations teams, driving continuous improvement, and responding to an evolving threat landscape.

Candidates with experience gained within financial services, banking, insurance, defence, government or other highly regulated industries are particularly encouraged to apply.

The Role -

As SOC Operations Manager, you'll lead the day-to-day operation of the Security Operations Centre, ensuring security monitoring, incident response and cyber defence capabilities are operating effectively. You'll be responsible for developing the SOC function, leading analysts and engineers, improving operational maturity and working closely with senior cyber and technology stakeholders.

This is a leadership role requiring a balance of technical understanding, operational excellence and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities -

• Lead and develop a high-performing SOC team, providing coaching, mentoring and technical leadership.
• Oversee the detection, investigation and response to cyber security incidents.
• Drive continual improvement across SOC processes, playbooks and operational procedures.
• Monitor and improve key SOC performance metrics including MTTD, MTTR and SLA performance.
• Ensure effective use and optimisation of SIEM, EDR/XDR and SOAR technologies.
• Coordinate major cyber incidents and lead post-incident reviews.
• Work closely with threat intelligence, infrastructure, cloud and security engineering teams to enhance detection capabilities.
• Manage relationships with third-party security providers and technology vendors.
• Produce operational and executive reporting on SOC performance, cyber threats and service improvements.
• Ensure compliance with security standards, regulatory requirements and industry best practice.

Experience Required -

• Proven experience leading or managing a Security Operations Centre (SOC).
• Strong background within a highly regulated environment such as Financial Services, Banking, Insurance, Government, Defence or Critical National Infrastructure.
• Experience managing security analysts and technical cyber security teams.
• Strong understanding of incident response, threat detection and security operations.
• Hands-on knowledge of enterprise security technologies including SIEM, EDR/XDR and SOAR platforms.
• Experience with Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Defender XDR, Splunk or similar enterprise security tooling.
• Strong understanding of security frameworks including ISO 27001, NIST CSF, Cyber Essentials Plus and NIS2.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills with the ability to engage both technical and senior business audiences.
• Experience driving operational improvements through automation, process optimisation and service maturity.

Desirable -

• Active SC Clearance.
• Recently lapsed SC Clearance.
• CISSP, CISM, GIAC, GCIH, GCIA or equivalent security certifications.
• Experience managing outsourced SOC or MSSP providers.
• Exposure to Azure security technologies and cloud security operations.

Whats on Offer -

You'll be joining an organisation where cyber security is a strategic priority, giving you the opportunity to shape and mature an established SOC while working alongside experienced security professionals on complex, business-critical environments.

If youre an experienced SOC leader looking for your next challenge within a highly regulated environment, we'd love to hear from you.