Cyber Defense Analyst

As a L2 Response Analyst within the Security Operations Center (SOC), your responsibilities include using defensive measures and information gathered from various sources to identify, analyze, and report cybersecurity events, ensuring the protection of McDonald’s information assets. You play a crucial role in supporting the Incident Response process, responding to crisis situations, and mitigating immediate and potential cyber threats. Your expertise in security operations, event monitoring, and incident response will be key in this role.

The role works directly within Global Cyber Security (GCS), the organization responsible for our Cybersecurity Operations & Incident Response program and critical services, ensuring our leadership makes informed risk‑based decisions.

You will collaborate closely with the Incident Response and Cyber Operations teams, working on long‑term projects to strengthen our security posture. We are moving fast and are adding to our best‑in‑class team and joining McDonald’s means thinking big every day and preparing for a career that will impact the world. We are customer‑obsessed and committed to being leaders in our industry.

• Proficiency in computer networking concepts, protocols, and network security methodologies.
• Strong ability to analyze cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
• Competence in authentication, authorization, and access control methods.
• Proficiency in utilizing intrusion detection methodologies and techniques for detecting host and network‑based intrusions.
• In‑depth knowledge of system and application security threats and vulnerabilities.
• Advanced understanding of network attacks and their relationship to threats and vulnerabilities.
• Proficiency in adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the stages of a cyber attack.
• Proficiency with Windows, MacOS, and/or Linux operating systems.

• Continuously monitor and analyze system activity using security operations tools to identify malicious activity.
• Characterize and analyze network traffic and logs to identify potential threats to McDonald’s assets.
• Analyze network alerts from various sources within the enterprise to determine their root cause.
• Provide timely detection, identification, and analysis of possible attacks and intrusions, differentiating them from benign activities.
• Collaborate with the Incident Response (IR) team, market stakeholders, and SOC to validate security events and provide tuning input.
• Perform event correlation to gain situational awareness and assess the effectiveness of observed attacks.
• Conduct security operations and incident response trend analysis and reporting.
• Assist in constructing signatures for defense network tools in response to new or observed threats.
• Assist in eDiscovery and Forensic investigations.
• Monitor external data sources to stay informed about cyber defense threat conditions.
• Offer cybersecurity recommendations to leadership based on significant threats and vulnerabilities.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to resolve computer security incidents and ensure vulnerability compliance.

• Professional certification such as GIAC, GCIH, GCIA.
• Experience working from Incident Response Playbooks.
• Experience working with case management tools, SOAR, email security solutions, SIEM, and EDR technologies.
• Experience with network/data analysis, packet capture analysis, malware detection, custom intrusion signature development, and advanced information assurance.
• Experience developing automation through scripting languages such as Python.