Cybersecurity Incident Response and Penetration Testing Lead
Alexandria, VA
Category: Security
Industry: Government
Reference ID: JN -082026-108227
Date Posted: 08/10/2026
Shortcut: http://careers.eliassen.com/Dx6Ecu
Description:
Hybrid 2-3 days per week on-site in Alexandria, VA. The first 30 days of work will be full-time on-site. in Alexandria, VA
Our client seeks a seasoned leader to direct enterprise cybersecurity incident response and offensive security initiatives. The role will manage CSIRT operations across infrastructure, applications, systems, and cloud, maintain and test incident response plans, and drive continuous improvement through metrics, exercises, and integrated vulnerability management. The position will also lead penetration testing and adversary emulation programs, align procedures with federal and organizational requirements, and deliver executive-ready reporting and remediation guidance.
Due to federal security clearance requirements, applicant must be a United States Citizen or Permanent Resident with an active Public Trust clearance. This is a contract to hire opportunity. Applicants must be willing and able to work on a w2 basis and convert to FTE following contract duration. For our w2 consultants, we offer a great benefits package that includes Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits, 401k with company matching, and life insurance.
Rate: $75.00 to $80.00/hr. w2
Responsibilities:
- Lead and coordinate enterprise cybersecurity incident response activities in support of the Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (CSIRT).
- Manage incident response operations for cybersecurity events affecting enterprise infrastructure, applications, systems, and cloud environments.
- Review, maintain, and update the Enterprise Incident Response Plan and supporting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure alignment with federal and organizational requirements.
- Direct incident response efforts including triage, containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident remediation activities.
- Coordinate with internal stakeholders, third-party vendors, security teams, and leadership during cybersecurity incidents to ensure effective communication and response execution.
- Conduct annual incident response exercises, tabletop events, and testing activities to validate operational readiness and improve response capabilities.
- Perform incident information gathering, analysis, distribution, and stakeholder notification activities in accordance with established response procedures and reporting timelines.
- Develop and publish incident reports, executive summaries, after-action reports, lessons learned, and remediation recommendations following cybersecurity events.
- Lead penetration testing, red team, purple team, adversary emulation, and breach-and-attack simulation activities to assess and improve the organization’s security posture.
- Develop and maintain penetration testing concepts of operations, rules of engagement, test plans, and standard operating procedures.
- Coordinate penetration testing activities including onboarding, active assessments, vulnerability validation, findings analysis, remediation tracking, and patch verification.
- Integrate incident response and penetration testing activities with vulnerability management, threat modeling, continuous monitoring, event detection, and compliance reporting processes.
- Track and report incident response and penetration testing metrics, trends, findings, and remediation activities to cybersecurity leadership and stakeholders.
- Support continuous improvement of incident management, threat detection, and cyber defense capabilities through collaboration with security operations, engineering, and compliance teams.
Experience Requirements:
- US Citizenship required.
- 10+ years in incident response, security operations, or penetration testing.
- 5+ years managing incident response teams.
- Strong knowledge of malware analysis, digital forensics, threat intelligence, and adversary TTPs.
- Certifications: CEH, EC-Council Licensed Penetration Tester, and EC-Council Certified Security Analyst.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.
Education Requirements:
- Master of Science degree in IT, Information Security, or related field.
Skills, experience, and other compensable factors will be considered when determining pay rate. The pay range provided in this posting reflects a W2 hourly rate; other employment options may be available that may result in pay outside of the provided range.
W2 employees of Eliassen Group who are regularly scheduled to work 30 or more hours per week are eligible for the following benefits: medical (choice of 3 plans), dental, vision, pre-tax accounts, other voluntary benefits including life and disability insurance, 401(k) with match, and sick time if required by law in the worked-in state/locality.
If anyone reaches out to you about an open position connected with Eliassen Group, please ensure that you are working directly with us by confirming the following:
· When you work with Eliassen Group, all email communication will come from an Eliassen.com address, never Gmail, Yahoo, etc.
· Eliassen Group will never ask you for personal information (home address, bank account, or check routing number) until you have worked with someone clearly associated with Eliassen Group.
If you have any indication of fraudulent activity, please contact fraud@eliassen.com.
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Eliassen Group is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status, or disability status. Eliassen Group’s Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) is available for inspection by any employee or applicant for employment upon request, during normal business hours of Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm EST. Interested persons should contact Phaedra Wells at pwells@eliassen.com for assistance. It is unlawful in Massachusetts and Maryland to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
Applicants with disabilities that believe they require an accommodation or assistance with a position, please email our HR team at hradmin@eliassen.com. This email inbox is designed exclusively to assist job seekers whose disability prevents them from being able to apply online. Emails sent for other purposes will not receive a response.
Please be advised that a number of fraudulent job postings have been released under the Eliassen Group brand.
Unfortunately, fraudulent job postings can happen. If anyone reaches out to you about an open position connected with Eliassen Group, never provide personal or financial information to anyone who is not clearly associated with Eliassen Group
If anyone seemingly from Eliassen Group has ever requested this personal information in the past or does so in the future, please contact fraud@eliassen.com.
Please ensure that you are working directly with us by confirming the following:
- When you work with Eliassen Group, all email communication will come from an Eliassen.com address, never Gmail, Yahoo, etc.
- Eliassen Group will never ask you for personal information (home address, bank account, or check routing number) until you have worked with someone clearly associated with Eliassen Group, as indicated above