Splunk Detection Engineer

Boston Government Services, LLC. (BGS) is seeking a Splunk Detection Engineer to support our clients.

BGS is an engineering, technology, and security firm helping to advance missions of national importance for government programs, national laboratories, national security facilities, nuclear operations, and complex commercial projects. We support clients at every stage, from strategic planning and program management to the execution of project management, procurement, supply chain management, quality, safety, security, nuclear and systems engineering and technical activities. We strive to attract and retain the best talent because it delivers the best results and "Delivery Certainty" for our clients. Our capabilities are based on our experience in complex, secure, and highly regulated environments. We leverage our expertise and capabilities to provide mission-driven integrated services, systems, and solutions tuned to our clients' mission needs, challenges, requirements, expected results, and strategic direction.

We are passionate about our culture! At BGS, we hire people who will bring their whole self to work each day because we value operating with openness and inclusivity, welcoming and respecting all. BGS cares for each employee's well-being by offering a comprehensive benefit package and providing a culture of exciting work, excellence, and fun.

If you align with BGS' company values and culture, we would love for you to explore opportunities to join our growing team by checking out the job description below!

Duties/Responsibilities Include:

• Integrate new data sources, which may include databases, APIs, files, etc. This may involve setting standards and working with IT administrators to update their configurations
• Validating and creating appropriate configurations for CIM compliant logs
• Processing requests from cybersecurity analysts for new detections within Splunk Enterprise Security
• Analyzing existing logs to identify poorly formatted logs and potential gaps when implementing new detections
• Adding and maintaining threat feeds within Splunk Enterprise Security
• Monitoring the performance of and tuning detections
• Managing asset and identity inventory within Splunk Enterprise Security
• Creating and maintaining new Splunk apps
• Recommending additions or changes to Splunk or its data models to meet detection needs
• Developing searches, reports, and other functionalities for cyber-based use-cases, including active response, intrusion detection, vulnerability management, and related use cases
• Assisting users with creating and optimizing searches and dashboards and mentoring others in good development of said resources.
• Attend online/Teams meetings with team and others as appropriate
• Work with team to provide status on current task, suggest improvements, discuss implementation, etc.

Expectation/Deliverables:

A candidate is expected to:

• Capture business requirements and implement the requirements
• Analyze data and perform initial planning to address identified issues
• Assist with the creation of playbooks to address identified issues from analysts
• Seek to understand the intention of detections and corresponding playbooks
• Provide basic feedback on existing playbooks and detections
• Identify telemetry quality and visibility issues (SIEM parsing/normalization, EDR/XDR sensor health, asset/identity tagging).

An improved candidate would also:

• Provide advanced recommendations to address gaps in logging and detections based on an analysis of threats and data
• Create detailed and thorough testing plans to ensure higher chance of accurate detections
• Produce clear metrics and reports (FP rate, backlog) for technical and executive audiences

An excellent candidate would also:

• Create advanced use cases for detections based on an analysis of threats and data, including sample criteria to identify the behavior and mapping detections to MITRE Telecommunication & CK
• Drive continuous improvements to existing processes or tooling
• Perform quality reviews and improve detections and actions
• Coach, guide, teach others on the team in use of Enterprise Security

Requirements:

• Significant experience with Splunk and Splunk Enterprise Security
• Significant experience with event logging solutions (e.g., Splunk Universal Forwarder, syslog, Cribl)
• Experience with ticketing/case management.
• Experience with Git pipelines
• Familiarity with using Linux CLI
• Ability to craft queries using common languages; comfort with regex, JSON and APIs; basic scripting in Python/PowerShell/Bash.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills both with stakeholders, peers, and internal customers; able to operate under pressure in a shift or on-call environment.
• Considerable knowledge using and administering Splunk.
• Staying up to date with the latest cybersecurity threats, vulnerabilities, and best practices.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Meticulous attention to detail to ensure thorough assessments and accurate reporting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to effectively convey findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work collaboratively with other cybersecurity professionals, IT staff, and external vendors.
• Experience and skill in conducting audits or reviews of technical systems.
• Experience working in a government environment.
• Experience working in a distributed IT environment.
• Ability to qualify for HSPD-12 card for use in two-factor authentication.
• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Successful drug screening.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong grasp of TCP/IP, OSI model, and common protocols (HTTP, DNS, SMTP). Windows/Linux/macOS fundamentals; Active Directory/Azure AD concepts; basic cloud logging.
• Experience in system and network administration.
• Relevant cybersecurity experience including investigations and data analysis.
• Experience with SOAR tools and automation development.
• Experience using identity security/management tools (e.g., Entra ID, Active Directory, Shibboleth, CrowdStrike Identity Protection).
• Cloud security experience (e.g., CloudTrail/GuardDuty, Azure Defender/M365, GCP Security Command Center).

Relevant certifications (nice to have):

Security+, CySA+, SSCP; Microsoft SC-200/AZ-500; Splunk Core/Enterprise Security (Splunk Enterprise Security Certified Admin; Splunk Core Certified Consultant; Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analyst; Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer; Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin; Splunk Enterprise Certified Architect); GIAC (GCIH, GCIA, GCFA, GCTI); cloud provider security certs.

Location/Work Arrangement:

• This position is remote.

Benefits:

BGS offers a competitive total compensation package to eligible employees. Benefits include Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Paid Vacation, 401K, Long and Short-Term Disability.

EEO:

BGS is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.

Exclusive Agreement Disclaimer:

BGS has standing contracts with federal agencies throughout the United States. We require an affirmative exclusive agreement to represent all candidates to our clients. By submitting this application, you are consenting to allow BGS to represent you as a candidate for the role in which you are applying.