Cyber Security Analyst

Cyber Security Analyst - £45k -Microsoft Security
Join a growing cyber security team focused on strengthening and securing modern Microsoft environments across a diverse client base. This is a hands-on role suited to a well-rounded Cyber Security Analyst who thrives across threat detection, identity security, and vulnerability management—rather than purely operating in a traditional SOC.
You’ll play a key role in designing, improving, and operating security capabilities across Microsoft Defender and Sentinel, working closely with engineering and infrastructure teams to proactively reduce risk and enhance security maturity.
This role would suit someone operating in a Cyber Security Analyst role or L2 in a SOC who wants to move away from monitoring.  There is plenty of development opportunity in the position and an opportunity in the future to move towards security engineering.

The Role
This position goes beyond alert monitoring, focusing on security improvement, investigation, and engineering within Microsoft’s security stack. You’ll:

• Lead investigations across Microsoft Defender XDR and Sentinel, owning incidents through to resolution
• Develop and optimise detections, analytics rules, and automation within Sentinel
• Proactively identify security gaps, misconfigurations, and emerging threats across Microsoft environments
• Strengthen identity security (Azure AD / Entra ID, MFA, RBAC) and support secure access controls
• Own and evolve vulnerability management processes, prioritising and driving remediation
• Contribute to incident response, digital forensics, and root cause analysis
• Work closely with engineering teams to improve security tooling, integrations, and overall posture
• Support compliance initiatives (e.g. Cyber Essentials / Plus, internal security standards)
• Mentor junior analysts and contribute to best practices and process improvements

What We’re Looking For
We’re looking for a well-rounded Cyber Security Analyst with strong Microsoft security experience and a proactive mindset.

• 3 years+ experience in a Cyber Security position
• Proven experience in a Cyber Security Analyst / Security Engineering / Blue Team role
• Strong hands-on expertise with Microsoft Defender (MDE / M365 Defender) and Microsoft Sentinel
• Ability to build and tune detections using KQL
• Experience across incident response, threat investigation, and security improvement initiatives
• Solid understanding of identity & access management (Azure AD / Entra ID, MFA, RBAC)
• Experience with vulnerability management tools and remediation processes
• Ability to work across both operational security and longer-term improvements
• Confident communicator who can engage with technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Based within commuting distance of Manchester and eligible to work in the UK

Nice to Have

• Microsoft certifications (SC-200, SC-300, SC-900 etc.)
• Experience with Defender suite integrations (Endpoint, Identity, Cloud Apps, Office 365)
• Exposure to automation or scripting (PowerShell, Python)
• Background in digital forensics or incident response frameworks
• Experience supporting compliance frameworks or audits

Benefits

• £45,000 salary
• Predominantly remote with monthly travel to Manchester
• Flexible working hours
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays
• Pension scheme
• Fully funded Microsoft/security certifications
• Clear progression into senior analyst or security engineering pathways
• Collaborative, non-SOC culture with a focus on real security improvement