The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Senior Cybersecurity Support Analyst (L3)
3-5 years in a senior roleSkills to master
- Mastering complex incident investigations, independently leading smaller projects, and consistently mentoring junior team members. You'd be proving you can handle the hard stuff and guide others.
You're ready to move on when
- Consistently resolving complex, multi-stage incidents with minimal oversight.
- Proactively identifying and proposing improvements to existing playbooks and processes.
- Receiving positive feedback from mentees and demonstrating strong technical leadership.
- Successfully presenting technical findings to mid-level management.
- 2
Incident Response Specialist (from another organisation)
5-8 years in a dedicated IR roleSkills to master
- Bringing in deep expertise in specific incident types (e.g., ransomware, APTs) or forensic techniques. You'd need to quickly adapt to our tools and processes.
You're ready to move on when
- Demonstrable experience leading major incident responses in previous roles.
- Strong command of industry-standard IR frameworks and methodologies.
- Ability to quickly onboard onto new tech stacks and organisational structures.
- Excellent communication skills for cross-functional and international collaboration.
- 3
SOC Lead / Team Lead (from another organisation)
3-6 years leading a small SOC teamSkills to master
- Translating team leadership experience into our specific incident response context, focusing on process optimisation and strategic input. You'd be proving you can lead and build.
You're ready to move on when
- Proven ability to manage and motivate a technical team.
- Experience with performance metrics and reporting for security operations.
- Strong understanding of security tooling and how to optimise their use.
- A track record of driving process improvements and increasing team efficiency.