Senior Security Engineer Job Details | Ascend Learning, LLC

Ascend Learning is a leading healthcare and learning technology company, and they are seeking a Senior Security Engineer. The role involves providing technical security leadership, overseeing SOC operations, and ensuring compliance with industry and regulatory standards.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborates with the Information Security Manager, Technology Engineers, IT Compliance, and cross-functional stakeholders to align security operations and controls with business objectives
• Functions as the Ascend Learning Internal SOC Lead and liaison between the organization and one or more managed security service providers (MSSPs)
• Oversee daily SOC operations, ensuring alerts, detections, and incident tickets are triaged and resolved within defined SLAs and in accordance with approved processes and procedures
• Act as a senior incident responder, participating in the Information Security on‑call rotation and responding to after‑hours security incidents and threat alerts
• Lead and coordinate security incident response efforts, facilitating incident calls and driving effective collaboration across technology, infrastructure, and third‑party teams
• Provides technology security expertise and recommendations on strategies and tools for key programs and issues
• Works directly with internal technology teams and external partners to communicate, prioritize, and execute security initiatives
• Continuously improve SOC effectiveness by refining processes, enhancing detections, automating manual tasks, and identifying operational efficiencies
• Assists with the implementation, configuration and operations of various security tools as required

Requirements:

• High school diploma or GED required
• 6+ years of professional experience in cybersecurity, network security, and/or infrastructure engineering
• Incident Handler–focused certification (e.g., GCIH or equivalent) required
• 5+ years of experience providing security incident support, managing or supporting SOC operations or managed SOC relationships, and improving detection and response capabilities
• 3+ years of hands‑on experience working with threat intelligence, including analysis and operational integration
• 3+ years of operational experience in network security
• 3+ years of experience administering SIEM, EDR/XDR, or SOAR (Splunk, Google SecOps, Cortex XSOAR, TORQ, CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne, etc.)
• Demonstrated success developing, operating, leading and implementing security solutions and functions
• Experience leading one or more security operations domains (e.g., incident response, detection engineering, threat intelligence, network security)
• Experience streamlining processes, automating manual tasks and using technical and non-technical solutions to solve complex problems
• Self‑motivated, adaptable, and capable of operating effectively in a fast‑paced, evolving security environment
• Demonstrated ability to remain calm under pressure while managing time‑sensitive incidents and competing priorities
• Strong leadership presence with excellent verbal and written communication skills; comfortable leading incident response efforts and cross‑team coordination
• Proactive mindset with the ability to anticipate risks, identify gaps, and implement practical solutions
• Willingness and ability to flex between strategic leadership and hands‑on technical execution as needed
• Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field or equivalent professional experience