Job Description

About the Opportunity

This position's base reporting location is in Akron, Ohio, and reports to the Supervisor of Threat Hunting.

This position's base reporting location is in Akron, Ohio, and reports to the Supervisor of Threat Hunting.
The Cybersecurity Threat Hunter will contribute to incident response efforts, analyze threat actors' tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), and develop actionable reports for stakeholders. They will leverage expertise in cutting-edge technologies and ethical artificial intelligence to maintain the organization's robust cybersecurity posture. A key focus will be on researching and developing innovative tools, techniques, and processes to strengthen the security ecosystem
This role requires the ability to research attackers' TTPs and build custom profiles and content based on their behaviors, enabling enhanced detection and response capabilities. The Threat Hunter will design custom attacks and security emulations to test and improve organizational defenses while also training staff to bolster overall security readiness. Maintaining a high level of technical knowledge through continuous learning, networking, and professional development is integral to this role
Additionally, this position involves creating and refining SIEM, EDR, and SOAR content, analyzing forensic artifacts to uncover security gaps, and driving collaboration across cross-functional teams to deliver solutions for complex cybersecurity challenges. Strong communication skills, a commitment to FirstEnergy's core values, and an ability to translate technical findings into actionable strategies are essential for success in this role.

Responsibilities Include
• Proactively search for and identify vulnerabilities in the organization's security systems
• Collaborate with the SOC s to convert intelligence into actionable defensive capabilities
• Evaluate intelligence sources and feeds for relevance, accuracy, timeliness, and operational value to reduce unnecessary alerting and noise
• Analyze threat actors' TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) to provide detailed technical reports with a high level of attention to detail for stakeholders, as well as assist in developing related content
• Analyze threat reporting from commercial intelligence platforms, OSINT, government advisories, ISACs, and trusted industry partner
• Research and enrich IOCs, including domains, IP addresses, URLs, file hashes, certificates, and adversary infrastructure
• Monitor geopolitical events, vulnerabilities, cybercriminal activity, and nation-state campaigns for potential organizational impact
• Act as a cybersecurity subject matter expert (SME) to support the SOC, providing consultancy and advice on the delivery of security solutions
• Maintain a high level of expertise in log analysis, malware reverse engineering, memory forensics, network and endpoint telemetry, and behavioral analytics
• Assist with incident response for operational and cybersecurity related issues
• Identify process improvements to further advance security operations
• Improve detections in SIEM, EDR, and SOAR platforms by fine-tuning existing content and developing new custom rules and alerts
• Re-evaluate current controls and make recommendations for best practices based on new information received in an ever-evolving threat landscape
• Research new capabilities from both open and closed sourced technologies to find opportunities to enhance the Security Operation Center (SOC) ecosystem
• Participate with cross-functional team members in issue identification, process impacts and solution development for cybersecurity projects and initiatives
• Educate and influence IT, Cyber Security and Business stakeholders to better understand existing security risks, best practices, and infrastructure designs/changes required to support business and IT strategies securely
• Champions FE's Core Values & Behaviors, through coaching and by personal example
• Assist with metrics, reporting, and other SOC communications
• Process and share information with other FirstEnergy security teams

Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Security, or similar discipline is required with 1 to 3 years of experience
o Industry standard certifications will be considered such as OSCP, GIAC (GCTI, GCIH,
GREM, GCFA), CISSP and HTB CPTS
o A bachelor's degree in another field with 4 years relevant industry experience in cyber/information security will be considered
o In lieu of a degree, 3 years of related experience is required
o Related experience includes but is not limited to: SOC (Security Operations Center) experience, IT Security experience in detection, triage, investigation, and remediation of security incidents within a network
• Understanding of adversarial techniques (i.e., MITRE ATT&CK framework)
• Understanding programming/scripting code (Python, PowerShell, Bash. C#)
• Understanding of both Linux and Windows operating systems
• Demonstrate strong communication skills, both verbal and written
• Demonstrate creative problem solving and solutioning
• Ability to work effectively, independently and within a team environment
• Ability to handle, protect and preserve highly confidential information
• Ability to learn independently and from others
• Ability to find answers effectively using open-sourced information
• Understanding of networking concepts and technologies
• Must be organized and comfortable with ongoing changes in priorities
• Must be able to work independently with minimal supervision

Level Qualifications
II - Qualifications at Level II include all the above, plus a minimum of 3 years professional experience in a cyber related function
• Strong foundation in cyber security
• Ability to create, detect, and enhance security content
• Working knowledge of relevant experience
III - Qualifications at Level III include all the above, plus a minimum of 5 years professional experience in a cyber-related function. Experience and subject matter expert knowledge in at least one major discipline required
• Demonstrable subject matter expert knowledge in Threat Emulation, Threat Hunting, or Threat Intelligence
• Proven ability to mentor and guide others in creating, detecting, and enhancing security content
• In-depth knowledge of relevant work experience

Benefits, Compensation & Workforce Diversity

At FirstEnergy, employees are key to our success. We depend on their talents to meet the challenges of our changing business environment. We are committed to rewarding individual and team efforts through our total rewards philosophy which includes competitive pay plus incentive compensation, a company-sponsored pension plan, 401(k) savings plan with matching employer contribution, a choice of medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, and life insurance programs, as well as skills development training with tuition reimbursement. Please visit our website at www.firstenergycorp.com to learn more about all of our employee rewards programs.

Safety

Safety is a core value for FirstEnergy and is essential to all of our business activities. We ensure employees have the tools, information, and processes to perform their duties in a manner that assures safety for themselves, their co-workers, our customers and the public. Our goals are to provide a safe work environment, to maintain an accident-free, injury-free workplace, and to promote and maintain public safety. To meet these goals, we dedicate ourselves to achieving world-class safety standards.

Position Classification

Exempt

FirstEnergy Human Resources Team