The Principal Incident Response Engineer leads proactive and reactive incident response engagements and training, reviews incident response plans, and guides customers in cyber incident management.
About Us
Sophos is a cybersecurity leader defending 600,000 organizations globally with an AI-driven platform and expert-led services. Sophos meets organizations wherever they are in their security maturity and grows with them to defeat cyberattacks. Its solutions combine machine learning, automation, and real-time threat intelligence with frontline human expertise from Sophos X-Ops to deliver advanced, 24/7 threat monitoring, detection, and response.
Sophos offers industry-leading managed detection and response (MDR) alongside a comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity technologies — including endpoint, network, email, and cloud security, extended detection and response (XDR), identity threat detection and response (ITDR), and next-gen SIEM. Together with expert advisory services, these capabilities help organizations proactively reduce risk and respond faster, with the visibility and scalability needed to stay ahead of evolving threats.
Sophos goes to market with a global partner ecosystem, including Managed Service Providers (MSPs), Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), resellers and distributors, marketplace integrations, and cyber risk partners, giving organizations the flexibility to choose trusted relationships when securing their business. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.
As a Principal Incident Response & Readiness Consultant, you will serve as a trusted advisor, leading both proactive and emergency engagements with enterprise customers. Leveraging your comprehensive expertise in cybersecurity, you will help organizations prepare for and respond to cyber incidents, combining strategic readiness consulting with direct guidance through complex cyber incidents.
What You Will Do
- Readiness
- Conduct comprehensive reviews of incident response plans, identifying gaps and developing tailored strategies to strengthen organizational preparedness.
- Design and deliver customized incident response playbooks to address specific threats and operational needs.
- Facilitate training sessions on incident response fundamentals to build customer capabilities.
- Lead workshops, tabletop exercises, drills, and functional simulations to evaluate and improve readiness.
- Provide strategic guidance to customers on integrating readiness into broader security programs.
- Contribute to the development of readiness methodologies and internal knowledge sharing.
- Incident Response
- Serve as a subject matter expert in digital forensics and incident response (DFIR).
- Lead large-scale, complex investigations involving host, network, and cloud artifacts to determine the nature, scope, and root cause of cyber incidents.
- Collaborate and coordinate with cross-functional incident response teams.
- Guide containment, remediation, and recovery efforts to secure environments post-incident.
- Maintain a professional, calming, and authoritative presence during high-pressure incidents.
- Brief senior leadership and technical teams on findings, risks, and recommendations.
- Support the development of incident response methodologies and contribute to internal capability building.
- Participate in a 24x7 emergency response rotation which includes weekends.
What You Will Bring
- Comprehensive experience in both readiness and incident response.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to lead and mentor cross-functional teams.
- Excellent communication skills, including executive briefings.
- Proven ability to manage high-stakes engagements.
- Experience with forensic tools and techniques (e.g., EDR, log analysis, malware analysis).
- Familiarity with enterprise environments including Windows, Linux, Azure, AWS, and M365.
- Strong understanding of attacker Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) and modern detection and response strategies.
- Willingness to travel up to 20%, including on short notice, to support on-site customer engagements.
- 12–15 years of experience in cybersecurity or related fields, with a focus on incident response and readiness.
- Demonstrated ability to lead high-profile incidents and readiness initiatives.
- Relevant certifications (e.g., GIAC, CISSP, CISM, or similar) are a plus but not required; proven impact and expertise are primary qualifiers.
Education and Experience
In Canada, the base salary for this role ranges from $161,000 to $268,000. In addition to base salary, we offer additional compensation including bonus eligibility and a comprehensive benefits package. A candidate’s specific pay within this range will depend on a variety of factors, including job-related skills, training, location, experience, relevant education, certifications, and other business and organizational needs.
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Ready to Join Us?
At Sophos, we believe in the power of diverse perspectives to fuel innovation. Research shows that candidates sometimes hesitate to apply if they don't check every box in a job description. We challenge that notion. Your unique experiences and skills might be exactly what we need to enhance our team. Don't let a checklist hold you back – we encourage you to apply.
What's Great About Sophos?
· Sophos operates a remote-first working model, making remote work the primary option for most employees. However, some roles may necessitate a hybrid approach. While we are a remote first organization, applicants must have legal authorization to work in the jurisdiction where the position is posted, without requiring employer sponsorship.
· Our people – we innovate and create, all of which are accompanied by a great sense of fun and team spirit
· Employee-led diversity and inclusion networks that build community and provide education and advocacy
· Annual charity and fundraising initiatives and volunteer days for employees to support local communities
· Global employee sustainability initiatives to reduce our environmental footprint
· Global fitness and trivia competitions to keep our bodies and minds sharp
· Global wellbeing days for employees to relax and recharge
· Monthly wellbeing webinars and training to support employee health and wellbeing
Our Commitment To You
We’re proud of the diverse and inclusive environment we have at Sophos, and we’re committed to ensuring equality of opportunity. We believe that diversity, combined with excellence, builds a better Sophos, so we encourage applicants who can contribute to the diversity of our team. All applicants will be treated in a fair and equal manner and in accordance with the law regardless of gender, sex, gender reassignment, marital status, race, religion or belief, color, age, military veteran status, disability, pregnancy, maternity or sexual orientation. We want to give you every opportunity to show us your best self, so if there are any adjustments we could make to the recruitment and selection process to support you, please let us know.
Data Protection
If you choose to explore an opportunity, and subsequently share your CV or other personal details with Sophos, these details will be held by Sophos for 12 months in accordance with our Privacy Policy and used by our recruitment team to contact you regarding this or other relevant opportunities at Sophos. If you would like Sophos to delete or update your details at any time, please follow the steps set out in the Privacy Policy describing your individual rights. For more information on Sophos’ data protection practices, please consult our Privacy Policy Cybersecurity as a Service Delivered | Sophos
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