Security Operations Analyst II

AlphaSense · Vancouver · CA$65,000–CA$90,000 (stated in the posting)

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Remote within Canada, able to work in the Pacific time zone

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are hiring Security Operations Analyst II to join our Security Operations team in a fully remote capacity from Canada. This role sits at Tier 1–2 in our operating model — you are past the stage of learning what alerts look like and ready to own triage, perform structured investigations, and contribute to detection quality. You will handle the day-to-day alert queue, investigate escalated or ambiguous cases, handle incidents and work closely with senior analysts and the Security Operations Manager to close coverage gaps.

We expect you to think analytically, document thoroughly, and operate with growing independence. You will be supported by experienced colleagues and a mature toolset, but you are expected to bring real investigative instinct and a curiosity to grow to the role from day one.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Alert Triage & Investigation

• Monitor and triage alerts across endpoint, network, cloud, runtime and identity data sources with accuracy and appropriate urgency
• Perform structured investigations on escalated or ambiguous alerts: pivot across log sources, correlate events, and build a coherent timeline
• Classify alerts correctly — true positive, false positive, or benign — with documented rationale, not just a verdict
• Identify scope and blast radius on confirmed incidents: affected users, systems, and data before escalating or containing
• Escalate to senior analysts with a complete investigation package — context, evidence, timeline, and a hypothesis

Incident Response Support

• Participate in active incident response under senior analyst or manager direction: evidence collection, log pulls, timeline reconstruction
• Execute containment actions — endpoint isolation, account suspension, token revocation — as directed with documented rationale
• Maintain accurate and timely case documentation throughout the incident lifecycle
• Contribute to post-incident timelines and assist with root cause documentation

Cloud & Identity Security Monitoring

• Monitor cloud audit logs and native threat detection findings for suspicious IAM activity, unusual API calls, and access anomalies
• Investigate identity provider events: suspicious logins, MFA bypass attempts, session anomalies, and unauthorized app assignments
• Recognize common cloud-native attack patterns: credential abuse via metadata service, privilege escalation via IAM role assumption, and storage misconfiguration access
• Correlate cloud-side events with endpoint and network telemetry to build a fuller picture of attacker activity

Detection & Quality Improvement

• Flag false positives and noisy detections with enough context for a senior analyst or detection engineer to tune them
• Identify gaps in existing detection coverage based on alert patterns you observe during triage
• Apply knowledge of MITRE ATT&CK to label attacker techniques and communicate findings consistently
• Contribute to runbook accuracy by flagging outdated steps or missing guidance encountered during investigations
• Participate with Detections Engineers to build detections and contribute to automating activity with an Engineering mindset

Documentation & Communication

• Write clear, concise case notes that a colleague could pick up mid-investigation without needing to re-investigate from scratch
• Produce shift handoff summaries that accurately represent open cases, pending actions, and investigation status
• Communicate incident updates to the Security Operations Manager with sufficient clarity to brief upward without re-investigation

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Required

• 2–4+ years of hands-on experience in a SOC, or security operations role with direct alert triage responsibility
• Solid understanding of the MITRE ATT&CK framework — you use it to label and communicate attacker behavior, not just reference it
• Working knowledge of EDR tooling: process tree analysis, behavioral detection review, and basic endpoint artifact interpretation
• Familiarity with SIEM-based investigation: querying logs, correlating events across sources, and building timelines from normalized data
• Understanding of foundational network protocols (TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP/S, TLS) and how attackers abuse them
• Exposure to cloud security monitoring ex. AWS or GCP — including audit log review and IAM-related alert investigation
• Experience investigating identity-based alerts in an enterprise identity provider (e.g., Okta, Entra ID, or equivalent)
• Strong written communication: your case notes are accurate, structured, and useful to someone who wasn’t there

Preferred

• Experience with next-gen EDR platforms (e.g., CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne, or equivalent) beyond basic alert review — RTR, process trees, custom detections
• Hands-on SIEM experience with a cloud-native platform (e.g., Google SecOps/Chronicle, Microsoft Sentinel, or equivalent)
• Exposure to CSPM or cloud security tooling (e.g., Wiz, Prisma Cloud, or equivalent) as an investigation data source
• Familiarity with AWS IR fundamentals: CloudTrail, GuardDuty, VPC Flow Logs, IAM chain analysis
• Understanding of encoding vs. encryption vs. hashing and their relevance to attacker obfuscation techniques
• Experience working alongside or receiving escalations from a managed detection and response (MDR) partner
• Relevant certifications: CompTIA CySA+, Security+, BTL1, GCIH, or equivalent practical security credential

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