Senior Lead Cyber Defense Engineer

About Lumen

Lumen connects the world. We are igniting business growth by connecting people, data and applications – quickly, securely, and effortlessly. Together, we are building a culture and company from the people up – committed to teamwork, trust and transparency. People power progress.

We’re looking for top-tier talent and offer the flexibility you need to thrive and deliver lasting impact. Join us as we digitally connect the world and shape the future.

The Senior Lead Cyber Defense Engineer drives rapid tooling and infrastructure development to support Lumen’s incident response mission. You’ll build custom automation, integrate diverse security data sources, and deploy on‑demand environments that accelerate investigations and threat hunting. This role blends engineering and IR expertise — turning urgent investigative needs into practical solutions without waiting for detailed requirements. You’ll work closely with Cyber Defense, Threat Intelligence, and Cloud teams to deliver high‑velocity, high‑impact capabilities that strengthen Lumen’s security posture.

This is a remote position open to candidates based anywhere in the U.S.

• Develop custom tooling to support active incident response engagements

• Build and maintain infrastructure for log analysis, forensics, and threat hunting

• Create automation for evidence collection, parsing, and correlation

• Write scripts to process large datasets (logs, network captures, memory dumps)

• Stand up ad-hoc environments (VMs, containers, cloud resources) as investigations require

• Integrate with SIEMs, EDR platforms, and threat intelligence feeds

• Document tools sufficiently for team use while maintaining development velocity

• 3+ years development experience (Python, Go, Bash, Rust, or similar)

• 2+ years in incident response, SOC, or security operations

• Comfortable building solutions without detailed requirements

• Log analysis and parsing (ELK, Splunk, or custom)

• Cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP/Azure) - IaC a plus

• Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes basics)

• Forensic artifacts (Windows/Linux/Mac)

• Network traffic analysis

• Ability to context-switch rapidly between projects

• Strong debugging and troubleshooting instincts

• DFIR certifications (GCIH, GCFA, GNFA)

• Experience with memory forensics (Volatility)

• Malware analysis or reverse engineering exposure

• Familiarity with MITRE ATT&CK framework

• Prior MSSP, consulting, or in-house IR team experience

• You’ve built a tool at 2 AM during an active incident because nothing else did what you needed

• You can pick up a new API or data format in hours, not days

• You find IR investigations genuinely interesting, not just the coding part

This information reflects the anticipated base salary range for this position based on current national data. Minimums and maximums may vary based on location. Individual pay is based on skills, experience and other relevant factors.

Location Based Pay Ranges:

$129,639 - $172,852 in these states: AL, AR, AZ, FL, GA, IA, , IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, WI, WV, and WY.

$136,121 - $181,494 in these states: CO, HI, MI, MN, NC, NH, NV, OR, and RI.

$142,603 - $190,137 in these states: AK, CA, CT, DC, DE, IL, MA, MD, NJ, NY, TX, VA, and WA.

Lumen offers a comprehensive package featuring a broad range of Health, Life, Voluntary Lifestyle benefits and other perks that enhance your physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing. We're able to answer any additional questions you may have about our bonus structure (short-term incentives, long-term incentives and/or sales compensation) as you move through the selection process.

Learn more about Lumen's:

• Benefits ()

• Bonus Structure

#LI-Remote

Requisition #: 341186

If you are selected for a position, there will be a background screen, which may include checks for criminal records and/or motor vehicle reports and/or drug screening, depending on the position requirements. For more information on these checks, please refer to the Post Offer section of our FAQ page () . Job-related concerns…