Skills

Communication Leadership Incident Response Firewalls Endpoint Security

Job Specifications

SOC Analyst

Location: Stoke-on-Trent (on-site)

Salary: From £30,000- £55,000 + 40% shift allowance

Clearance: DV required (UK Sole National)

Job Description:

Exceptional opportunity for experienced Security Analysts, including Service Leavers and Veterans stepping into mid-level cyber roles

We are seeking a highly capable Tier 2 SOC Analyst to take a lead role within our 24x7 Security Operations Centre. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced cybersecurity professional — or for a Service Leaver with strong practical cyber, communications, intelligence or security operations experience — to step into a position with real technical ownership.

About the Role:

You will take charge of medium to high-severity incidents, lead investigations, support containment and remediation efforts, and act as an escalation point for Tier 1 analysts. You will also contribute to detection engineering, threat hunting, SIEM improvements and continuous SOC maturity initiatives.

This is a hands-on, impactful role where your decisions directly improve the organisation’s security posture.

What You will Be Doing:

Leading triage, investigation and classification of security events
Taking ownership of incident containment, recovery and root cause analysis
Acting as a technical escalation point for junior analysts
Conducting threat intelligence analysis and sharing insights
Tuning SIEM rules, improving detection capability and reducing false positives
Supporting onboarding of new data sources and improving correlation logic
Leading post-incident reviews, reporting and service review summaries
Supporting vulnerability lifecycle management, remediation guidance and patch validation
Contributing to continuous improvement, automation, MITRE ATT&CK mapping and threat modelling

What We are Looking For:

1–5 years’ SOC experience or similar operational cyber background
Strong hands-on experience with SIEM platforms (LogRhythm, Elastic, Sentinel etc.)
Ability to manage and resolve complex incidents end-to-end
Solid understanding of network protocols, firewalls, IDS/IPS and endpoint security
Strong analytical mindset and clear written and verbal communication
Interest or experience in scripting/automation is highly beneficial
Certifications such as Security+, CEH, CISSP, CCSP, BTL1/2 are desirable but not essential.

Why this is a great role for Service Leavers

This role suits ex-military individuals with experience in:

Defensive cyber
Communications / CIS
Intelligence analysis
Security operations
Technical leadership
Incident response environments

Your ability to stay calm under pressure, interpret complex information quickly and lead others makes you particularly well suited to this Tier 2 environment.

You will have the chance to mentor junior analysts, influence security strategy and work in a structured, operationally mature team where your experience will be valued and respected.

About the Company

NexGen Associates Ltd offers a comprehensive range of services, blending deep industry expertise with influential connections. This enables us to maintain a leading position in recruitment across the Technology, Defence, Security and Government sectors. We proudly collaborate with leading organisations across the UK and we have recently expanded beyond Defence and Security into the Commercial sectors. Our mission is to support Service Leavers, Veterans, and Veteran Spouses by helping them secure the opportunities they deserv... Know more