Role Summary
The Lead Incident Responder is the senior technical IC on CREST's EMEA/India region. The primary job is investigating customer security incidents — performing log analysis, scoping data exfiltration, leading containment, and running customer calls on complex or hostile cases. This is not a people management role. Regional coordination responsibilities (on-call scheduling, case assignment, shift handoff quality) are part of the job, but the expectation is that this person is in the queue working cases daily. Technical depth and speed under pressure matter more than management experience. The right candidate is an investigator who can also run ops.
Responsibilities
Lead investigations into advanced or high-impact security incidents across Salesforce Core, Marketing Cloud, and Commerce Cloud.
Personally carry a caseload daily — perform log analysis, scope exfiltration, build investigation timelines, and drive containment on active incidents.
Serve as primary technical authority on complex investigations in EMEA/India, coordinating response across internal stakeholders and technical SMEs.
Analyze large and complex datasets (Splunk, SQL, UIP/MonC) to identify indicators of compromise, exfiltration patterns, and attacker TTPs.
Approve and execute strategic containment actions — credential rotation, IP blocks, OAuth revocation, and escalated platform actions — with appropriate stakeholder coordination.
Lead hostile and contentious customer calls, including those involving legal representation or regulatory pressure, and de-escalate independently.
Coordinate EMEA/India regional operations: on-call scheduling, case assignment, and shift handoff quality.
Drive the growing ATO caseload, including proactive notification workflows and containment actions.
Engineer net-new DSEC/Asgard detections for newly identified TTPs and validate detection coverage.
Write and maintain CAN reports that are accurate, complete, and defensible.
Review and provide structured written feedback on Grade 6/7 case work; mentor junior responders on advanced investigation techniques.
Assist customers with regulatory notification obligations (DORA, GDPR) — provide accurate, legally defensible guidance without requiring escalation on standard obligations.
Develop and refine investigative processes, detection logic, and mitigation strategies.
Support CREST's AI-first initiatives — leverage automated agents for triage, documentation, and investigation workflows.
Collaborate with Threat Intelligence, Detection Engineering, and Legal on incident handling and cross-functional initiatives.
Required Qualifications
8+ years of experience in security incident response, with consistent hands-on technical case work throughout career progression.
Currently performing investigations — not purely managing or coordinating. Must demonstrate recent, direct case work and log analysis.
Expertise handling Account Takeover, credential compromise, data exfiltration, API abuse, and connected app exploitation incidents.
Deep technical knowledge in systems, networks, cloud security, and forensic techniques.
Expert log analysis skills — Splunk/SQL including complex multi-source joins, regex parsing, and custom correlation — performed independently without assistance.
Demonstrated composure and leadership in high-pressure incident scenarios with multiple concurrent investigations.
Strong familiarity with Salesforce products and ecosystems, or comparable multi-tenant SaaS platforms.
Ability to lead customer calls and communicate complex technical findings to non-technical audiences clearly and confidently.
Strong understanding of regional and global compliance standards (GDPR, PCI-DSS, DORA).
Experience mentoring or developing junior analysts in an operational security environment.
Proven ability to lead cross-functional investigations and deliver clear outcomes.
Desired Qualifications
Salesforce Admin certified.
3–5 years of experience in a lead or senior incident response role within a large, global organization.
Experience with e-commerce security or cloud-native environments (AWS, GCP, Azure).
Experience with complex forensic cases involving large datasets or unusual data sources.
Hands-on experience with AI/automation tooling in security operations — automated triage, detection tuning, or agentic workflows.
Advanced certifications (SANS GCFA, GNFA, GCIH, OSCP, or equivalent).
Familiarity with Marketing Cloud and Commerce Cloud log analysis and incident patterns.
Prior experience coordinating regional on-call rotations and shift handoff processes.
Based on 1,606 disclosed Security salaries on RoleSuite, the role pays a median of $143K/year, with most offers between $114K and $184K (10th–90th percentile: $93K–$216K).
See the full Security salary breakdown →