SOC Detection Engineer - 6 Month Initial Contract - Hybrid in Multiple UK Locations - Inside IR35
Role Overview
A Senior SOC Detection Engineer responsible for designing, developing, and continuously improving threat-led detection capabilities across a large enterprise. The role translates cyber threat intelligence, red team findings, and incident learnings into high-fidelity detection logic, owning the full detection content life cycle from threat analysis through to tuning, optimisation, and retirement. This is a specialist detection engineering role and is not focused on day-to-day SIEM administration or platform operations.
Key Responsibilities
Design, develop, and maintain threat-led detection content aligned to MITRE ATT&CK and organisational threat models, translating threat intelligence, hunting findings, and red/purple team outcomes into effective detections.
Develop behavioural, risk-based, and correlated detections across endpoint, identity, cloud, network, email, and application telemetry, continuously tuning and optimising logic to reduce false positives.
Assess detection coverage, identify telemetry and visibility gaps, and define requirements for improved monitoring across the enterprise security estate.
Validate detections through attack simulation, purple teaming, and adversary emulation exercises, maintaining detection content documentation, version control, and Detection-as-Code practices.
Develop automation to support detection testing, validation, reporting, and life cycle management, including AI-enabled hypothesis generation and automated rule creation pipelines.
Top 5 Skills
Threat-led detection engineering - 8+ years in detection engineering, threat hunting, or security operations, with demonstrable experience creating behavioural detections for sophisticated adversaries aligned to MITRE ATT&CK, including full detection life cycle management.
SIEM & EDR platform expertise - Proven experience developing enterprise-scale detections within platforms such as Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk, Elastic, or Chronicle, alongside endpoint telemetry from Microsoft Defender, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, or equivalent EDR/XDR platforms.
Detection analytics & automation - Strong proficiency in KQL, SPL, Sigma, Python, and PowerShell for detection logic development, data correlation, Detection-as-Code practices, and automation of SOC analyst activities.
Threat analysis & adversary tradecraft - Deep knowledge of threat intelligence, adversary TTP analysis, attack path analysis, and threat hunting methodologies, with strong understanding of attacker tradecraft and common attack techniques.
Security domain breadth - Solid knowledge across Identity & Access Management, Active Directory, Cloud Security, Endpoint Security, Network Security, and Email Security, with experience supporting purple team and adversary emulation activities.
Contract Details
Rate: £425- £475 per day Inside IR35
Location: Hybrid in one of Leamington Spa, Manchester or Warrington (2/3x a week)