Head of the SOC (Security Operation Center)
You enjoy management, love a challenge and can handle pressure: this job is made for you. Level of education: Bac+5 - Starting salary: €3,500 - Experienced salary: €5,000
Level of education: Bac+5
Employability: High
Starting salary: €3,500
Experienced salary: €5,000
Mobility: Very good
ROME code: M1802
FAP code: M2Z
The job in a nutshell:
The head of the SOC (Security Operation Center) plans and organises the day-to-day operations of the Security Operation Center in order to assess the level of vulnerability and detect suspicious or malicious activity. They set up the service that detects security incidents. They check that the processes for monitoring and managing security events are properly carried out and provide complete and accurate reporting on key indicators. They define and lead the improvement plan for SOC services.
Equivalent titles: head of the security operations centre, head of the cyber defence centre, head of the security incident detection service
Discover the SOC analyst job on video
Duties
The head of the SOC has a wide range of duties, which can be grouped as follows:
Managing operations:
- Plan and organise the day-to-day operations of the SOC
- Provide operational support to security crisis management in the event of major security incidents
- Manage relations with the CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) or CSIRT (Computer Security Incident Response Team) incident response teams, especially in a crisis, to coordinate the various operational security teams
Prevention and detection strategy:
- Define the SOC strategy, ensure technical consistency and take regulatory requirements into account
- Define and implement the SOC tools for collecting events, accessing security platforms, searching for suspicious events, managing alerts and running security incident follow-up workflows
- Feed the detection strategy with an overall view of the nature and level of vulnerability of the information system
- Define detection use cases and integrate them into the detection tools
- Define and set up notification and escalation processes
- Assess and validate the effectiveness of the tools deployed in the SOC and carry out any necessary corrective action plans
- Create synergies with the other security teams by sharing information on identified threats (internally and externally)
Our advice: this job is open to women and men alike. Motivation and the desire to learn are the key qualities for your project to succeed. Do not hold yourself back: you can do it.
What is a SOC?
Day to day, a SOC detects threats, analyses them and responds to them by assessing whether the technical infrastructure complies with the cybersecurity rules and policies that apply within the affected organisation.
This infrastructure requires heavy investment from the company, but it is fundamental. That is why our school has equipped itself with a full-scale SOC that reproduces these activities identically. Our simulator reproduces all the activities listed above and teaches students to detect threats and take action to respond to them. Beyond threat detection, our simulator lets learners create or reproduce attacks on technical infrastructures, in both IT and OT. Finally, the simulator is designed for “blue team” versus “red team” exercises, in particular using the “Capture The Flag” principle.
Find out more about the CSB.SCHOOL SOC
Skills
The head of the SOC must master a broad set of skills to carry out their duties.
Know-how
- Operating system security
- Network and protocol security
- Cyber defence: knowledge of crisis management
- Cyber defence: log analysis (system or application logs)
- Cyber defence: network flow analysis
- Cyber defence: knowledge of event log correlation tools and methods (SIEM)
- Cyber defence: knowledge of security monitoring solutions
- Cyber defence: knowledge of attack and intrusion techniques
- Cyber defence: knowledge of the vulnerabilities of scripting environments
Soft skills
- Team management
- Ability to work across the organisation
- Ability to work in a team
- Ability to handle pressure
- Ability to report and explain to non-technical audiences
- Ethical sense
Salary
Companies that have their own SOC are generally large, so salaries reflect those of large groups and are often higher. A junior head of the SOC earns around €42,000 gross per year, while an experienced one can earn close to €60,000 gross per year.
Which sector to work in?
As more and more companies equip themselves with a SOC, the need for SOC managers keeps growing. Many organisations are looking for heads of SOC, such as:
- Capgemini
- Engie
- Airbus
- Thales
Description of the profession in the ANSSI directory
The head of the SOC must gain a good understanding of the monitoring needs of critical business activities in order to develop application-specific use cases (e.g. monitoring of industrial information systems). The head of the SOC also has to handle a growing number of security incidents and must therefore develop a good understanding of the threats facing their scope.
How to get into the job
Education: Bac+5, specialising in cybersecurity Professional experience: at least 5 years within a SOC
Our Intra-company training
CSB.SCHOOL offers to train your employees and help them develop their skills in the field of cybersecurity. After a thorough study of your needs by our development manager, you will be put in touch with our teaching experts on the identified theme.
Bac+5 Cybersecurity Manager
This programme is designed for positions of responsibility and for highly specific cybersecurity needs. It lets you deepen and refine your knowledge and skills in one of our three specialisations: Industrial (OT), Security Operations Management (SOC) or Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC).
The complete career guide
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Same field jobs
Our school provides training in 21 cybersecurity jobs, from technical to supervising positions, from IT operations to industrial systems security. Here is the list of jobs you will be trained for by attending one of our training programs.