Senior Security Engineer

Location: National – nearest Government hub

Contract: Initial 2.4-month contract, with potential extension

Day Rate: £700 per day

IR35: In scope

Security Clearance: Active SC clearance is mandatory

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Security Engineer to support a leading UK Government organisation's Security Operations function.

With increasing volumes of security alerts and incidents, the organisation is focused on improving automation, analytics, threat detection and incident response. This is an exciting opportunity for a hands-on security professional to play a key role in implementing and optimising Palo Alto Networks XSIAM across a large-scale environment.

You will work closely with existing SOC and security teams, helping to strengthen security monitoring, detection and response capabilities while supporting the organisation in meeting evolving Government security standards.

Key Responsibilities

Implement, configure and manage the Palo Alto Networks XSIAM platform.

Develop and optimise security policies, detection rules and configurations.

Integrate XSIAM with wider security tools, platforms and information systems.

Develop automation and security workflows to reduce manual effort and improve response times.

Monitor and investigate security alerts, incidents and emerging threats.

Support cybersecurity incident response and investigation activities.

Analyse security events to identify threats, trends and opportunities for improvement.

Work with internal teams and external partners to enhance threat intelligence and security awareness.

Provide technical security guidance and advice to IT and business stakeholders.

Keep up to date with emerging threats, technologies and developments across the Palo Alto Networks security ecosystem.

Contribute to the continuous improvement of SOC processes and capabilities.

Produce and present reports covering security incidents, trends, risks and security-control effectiveness to senior stakeholders.

Collaborate with existing MIP and SOC teams to supplement and strengthen internal security capability.

Essential Experience

• Current and valid SC security clearance – mandatory.
• Strong hands-on experience implementing, configuring and managing Palo Alto Networks XSIAM.
• Significant experience within a SOC or equivalent security operations environment.
• Strong experience in security monitoring, alert investigation and incident response.
• Experience developing and maintaining security detection rules, policies and configurations.
• Experience integrating security platforms and tools.
• Experience using automation and analytics to improve security operations.
• Strong understanding of cybersecurity threats, attack techniques and security monitoring principles.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to communicate complex security matters to senior management.

Desirable Experience

• Experience working within Government or public-sector cybersecurity environments.
• Knowledge of the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF).
• Experience with the Minimum Cyber Security Standard (MCSS).
• Experience supporting GovAssure assessments or security monitoring compliance activities.
• Broader experience across the Palo Alto Networks security platform.
• Experience with threat intelligence and security orchestration.
• Experience improving SOC processes through automation, analytics and workflow optimisation.
• Experience working within or alongside large-scale MIP/SOC environments.

Apply Now

If you are a Senior Security Engineer with strong Palo Alto XSIAM, SOC and incident-response experience, and you hold active SC clearance, we would be keen to hear from you.