Cyber Hunt Specialist

Cyber Hunt Specialist

Dahlgren Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, VA

Salary negotiable (Dependent on experience level) - Full Time with Benefits

Flexible Start-Date – Contingent on contract award

The Cyber Hunt Specialist will provide advanced cybersecurity expertise supporting Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Navy enterprise networks. The successful candidate will lead proactive cyber hunt activities, identify advanced threats, and collaborate with digital forensics, incident response, and threat intelligence teams to enhance the organization’s defensive posture.

This role requires hands-on experience in threat hunting methodologies, incident response frameworks, and adversary behavior analysis, along with a deep understanding of emerging cyber tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

Responsibilities include:

Execute proactive threat hunting operations across complex software and hardware environments to identify, analyze, and mitigate advanced cyber threats.

Apply structured hunt methodologies such as the Cyber Kill Chain, Pyramid of Pain, and Diamond Model to detect, classify, and track adversarial activity.

Provide expert-level support to Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) and Threat Intelligence teams, including assistance in identifying and mitigating advanced actor campaigns and exploits.

Refine and develop telemetry collection, detection logic, and analytics to improve situational awareness and network defense capabilities.

Analyze network traffic, endpoint behavior, and logs to identify indicators of compromise (IOCs) and emerging threats.

Support the development and implementation of cyber hunt playbooks and standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Maintain awareness of current and emerging threat trends, vulnerabilities, and attack techniques through ongoing research and collaboration with the cybersecurity community.

Generate actionable reports and briefings to communicate findings and recommendations to technical and executive stakeholders.

• Five (5) years of professional experience in cyber threat hunting, incident response, or advanced cyber defense operations.
• Demonstrated expertise in adversary TTP analysis, threat hunting frameworks, and network/endpoint telemetry.
• Hands-on experience with common DFIR and threat hunting tools (e.g., ELK, Splunk, Wireshark, Mandiant, CrowdStrike, or SentinelOne).
• Familiarity with scripting or automation for cyber hunt activities (e.g., Python, PowerShell).
• In-depth knowledge of network protocols (TCP/IP), Windows/Linux environments, and security monitoring tools.
• Must possess a DoD 8570 IAT II certification.
• Must have an active T5 clearance