SOC Engineering Manager

Reading - Hybrid 1 day per week in the office
Permanent £85,000-£90,000 plus benefits

We’re looking for an experienced SOC Engineering Manager to help build the technical foundations of a new Security Operations capability from the ground up. This is a senior, hands-on role for someone who enjoys both building and leading. Initially, you’ll be the first dedicated technical SOC hire, taking ownership of the architecture, platforms, tooling and engineering roadmap. As the function grows, you’ll have the opportunity to recruit and lead the wider SOC engineering team. You’ll work closely with the SOC Manager in a genuine co-leadership model. While they focus primarily on people, process and service delivery, you’ll take ownership of the technical environment. Together, you’ll define priorities, investment decisions, delivery timelines and the operating model for a scalable SOC.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll take responsibility for building and evolving the SOC’s technical capability, including:

• Designing and implementing the SOC architecture, tooling, integrations and engineering standards
• Building and managing SIEM infrastructure, including log ingestion, parsing, normalisation, retention and cost management
• Developing and refining detection capabilities aligned with MITRE ATT&CK, threat intelligence and customer requirements
• Establishing detection testing and validation processes, including purple-team and adversary-emulation exercises
• Deploying and tuning EDR/XDR solutions across endpoint environments
• Implementing and managing MDM/UEM, BYOD controls and remote device management
• Integrating endpoint, identity, cloud, network and application telemetry into SOC platforms
• Supporting and improving IAM, SSO, MFA, PAM, conditional access and secrets management
• Building automation around alert enrichment, investigations, ticketing and containment
• Providing senior technical leadership during complex investigations and major incidents
• Evaluating, selecting and managing security technology vendors and platforms
• Creating the engineering standards, documentation and workflows needed to scale the function
• Recruiting, mentoring and leading future SOC engineering hires as the team develops.