Senior Consulting Director, SOC Advisory

Summary

Join Palo Alto Networks as a Senior Consulting Director and lead the Security Operations Center (SOC) Assessment offering in North America. Oversee a high-performing team, maintain delivery quality, drive revenue, support business development, and advance service innovation. Provide executive oversight and strategic direction for evaluating, maturing, and optimizing security operations. Serve as an executive sponsor on key engagements, guide a team of Directors and consultants, and partner across the organization to refine services and contribute to thought leadership. This strategic leadership role requires deep SOC operations and consulting expertise, experience managing delivery teams, and influencing internal and external stakeholders. You will work cross-functionally to evolve and scale Unit 42’s SOC capabilities, integrating best practices and Palo Alto Networks product offerings. The role involves setting and achieving service line KPIs, including delivery excellence, customer satisfaction, and introducing Palo Alto Networks’ products as solutions to identified risks.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in cybersecurity, with 5+ years leading SOC-related services or operations (e.g. SOC transformation, SOC consulting, etc)
• 7+ years managing consulting delivery teams or security operations teams, ideally at the Director level or higher
• Deep understanding of SOC operations, detection and response workflows, SIEM/SOAR tooling, and threat-informed defense
• Experience conducting SOC assessments, maturity benchmarking, or blue team capability reviews
• Familiarity with relevant frameworks and standards (MITRE ATT&CK, NIST CSF, CIS Controls, etc.)
• Demonstrated success in building, leading, and scaling consulting services
• Strong executive presence and comfort engaging with CISOs, CTOs, and Boards
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a record of influencing clients and internal stakeholders
• Knowledge of Palo Alto Networks products (e.g. Cortex suite) and how they support best in class security operations

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and vision for Unit 42’s global SOC Assessment services, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, customer needs, and emerging threat trends
• Own and drive success across all SOC Assessment service line KPIs, including revenue growth, delivery excellence, utilization, customer satisfaction, and Security Transformation Program (STP) contribution
• Lead the continual maturation and innovation of SOC Assessment methodologies, deliverables, and tooling by integrating industry best practices, threat intelligence, and customer feedback
• Serve as the executive sponsor, strategic advisor and delivery lead for complex, high-impact SOC engagements, ensuring delivery quality, client satisfaction, and long-term value realization
• Deliver strategic guidance to CISOs, CTOs, and executive stakeholders on optimizing detection, response, and security operations capabilities across hybrid and cloud environments
• Embed Palo Alto Networks technologies such as Cortex XDR, XSIAM, and XSOAR into assessment and transformation engagements to drive measurable security outcomes
• Own delivery staffing and capacity planning to ensure the right mix of talent, availability, and expertise across concurrent engagements
• Lead and mentor a high-performing team of Directors and consultants, fostering career growth, technical depth, and leadership capability
• Collaborate with GTM teams to shape messaging, identify new opportunities, and support the successful closing of SOC Assessment engagements through solutioning and executive engagement
• Lead and contribute to complex scoping and quoting efforts, ensuring accurate effort estimates, appropriate resourcing, and alignment to customer goals
• Build and nurture trusted advisor relationships with key customers, especially Unit 42 retainer accounts, to drive repeat business and long-term strategic value
• Represent Unit 42 as a SOC subject matter expert at key industry events, roundtables, webinars, and forums to enhance thought leadership and market credibility
• Author and contribute to whitepapers, blogs, and internal enablement materials to advance the team’s knowledge and influence in the SOC domain
• Champion a culture of excellence, innovation, and collaboration, fostering a positive and inclusive environment that attracts, retains, and develops top talent
• Act as the internal voice of the SOC Assessment service line, collaborating across product, sales, and delivery teams to influence service roadmap, product alignment, and market positioning
• Continuously monitor the evolving security operations landscape, including adversary techniques, SOC tooling trends, and customer challenges, to evolve service offerings and maintain relevance

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s Degree or cybersecurity certifications (CISSP, CISM, GIAC, etc.) preferred

Benefits

The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus