How to hire a security operations manager

How to hire a security operations manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step security operations manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a security operations manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new security operations manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a security operations manager do?

Post a security operations manager job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a security operations manager, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect security operations manager also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents security operations manager salaries for various positions.

   Type of Security Operations Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Security Operations Manager	Top executives devise strategies and policies to ensure that an organization meets its goals. They plan, direct, and coordinate operational activities of companies and organizations.	$15-51
   Head Of Security	The head of security performs overall company security responsibilities, obligations, and duties, such as maintenance responsibilities, performance responsibilities, strategic development responsibilities, and direction responsibilities. They create protocols and policies needed to secure and protect sensitive information... Show more	$41-132
   General Manager Of Operations	General managers of operations are employed to oversee the overall operations of businesses. Their responsibilities include the improvement of the efficiency of the operations and overall management... Show more	$23-79

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Security Operations
   • Incident Response
   • Customer Service
   • SOC
   • Security Systems
   • Security Incidents
   • SIEM
   • Oversight
   • Payroll
   • Security Risk Assessment
   • Field Training
   • Criminal Justice
   • Security Management
   • Security Industry

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage multiple teams of security officers and supervisors to coordinate scheduling, payroll, training, coaching, development and support.
   • Manage high-visibility and mission-critical infrastructure security upgrade projects.
   • Write incident reports and document patrol officer activities.
   • Work with physical security design team to implement design changes and revise infrastructure models with sustainable worldwide applications.
   • Advance operations, CCTV, and alarm software utilization & monitoring.
   • Perform security policy consulting using NIST, ISO, ES-C2M2 and NERC-CIP standards.

   More security operations manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your security operations manager job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A security operations manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a security operations manager in Missouri may be lower than in Virginia, and an entry-level security operations manager usually earns less than a senior-level security operations manager. Additionally, a security operations manager with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average security operations manager salary

   $59,395yearly

   $28.56 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level security operations manager salary

   $32,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average security operations manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Virginia	$94,950	$46
   2	District of Columbia	$90,777	$44
   3	New York	$86,691	$42
   4	California	$85,370	$41
   5	New Jersey	$83,167	$40
   6	Massachusetts	$82,807	$40
   7	Washington	$79,448	$38
   8	Colorado	$69,337	$33
   9	Texas	$67,647	$33
   10	Arizona	$63,945	$31
   11	Wisconsin	$58,560	$28
   12	Michigan	$56,965	$27
   13	North Carolina	$54,663	$26
   14	Illinois	$52,735	$25
   15	Florida	$52,040	$25
   16	Ohio	$51,248	$25
   17	Georgia	$50,475	$24
   18	Indiana	$49,718	$24
   19	Missouri	$43,560	$21

   Average security operations manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$161,075	$77.44	472
   2	Google	$154,472	$74.27	124
   3	CrowdStrike	$147,638	$70.98	5
   4	Citi	$138,655	$66.66	29
   5	Teradata	$137,261	$65.99
   6	Cradlepoint	$134,202	$64.52
   7	NTT Data International L.L.C.	$133,291	$64.08	123
   8	Accenture	$133,197	$64.04	1,620
   9	Cisco	$131,786	$63.36	133
   10	ZeOmega	$131,111	$63.03
   11	American Tower	$130,844	$62.91
   12	Waters	$130,519	$62.75	11
   13	Autodesk	$126,918	$61.02	136
   14	State Street	$125,866	$60.51	18
   15	Booz Allen Hamilton	$120,915	$58.13	38
   16	ClientSolv	$120,803	$58.08
   17	PJT Partners	$114,912	$55.25
   18	MITRE	$114,739	$55.16	18
   19	Techtronic Industries TTI	$113,779	$54.70	14
   20	TASER Self-Defense	$108,657	$52.24	39

4. Writing a security operations manager job description

   A good security operations manager job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a security operations manager job description:

   Security operations manager job description example

   First Quality was founded in 1989 and has grown to be a global, privately held company with over 4,000 employees. Its corporate office is located in Great Neck, New York, with manufacturing facilities and offices located in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, and Canada. First Quality is a diversified family of companies manufacturing consumer products ranging from Absorbent Hygiene (adult incontinence, feminine care, and baby care), Tissue (bath and towel), and Industrial (print and packaging materials), serving institutional and retail markets throughout the world. First Quality focuses on private label and branded product lines.
   
   We are seeking an experienced Security Operations Center Manager for First Quality Enterprises, Inc. Preferred location is near Great Neck, NY, but this position can be worked remotely from the eastern half of the US with regular travel to NY.
   Primary responsibilities include:
   Lead and manage Security Operations CenterPrimarily responsible for security event monitoring, management, and response Ensure incident identification, assessment, quantification, reporting, communication, mitigation, and monitoring Ensure compliance to SLA, process adherence and process improvisation to achieve operational objectives Revise and develop processes to strengthen the current Security Operations Framework, review policies and highlight the challenges in managing SLAsResponsible for team & vendor management, overall use of resources and initiation of corrective action where required for Security Operations CenterManagement, administration & maintenance of security devices under the operations tools Perform threat management, threat modeling, identify threat vectors and develop use cases for security monitoring including red\blue penetrations tests Responsible for integration of standard and non-standard logs in SIEMResponsible for developing, configuring, and maintaining security automation and orchestration IR's and tools.Creation of reports, dashboards, metrics for SOC operations and presentation to Sr. Mgmt.Co-ordination with stakeholders, build and maintain positive working relationships with them
   
   The ideal candidate should possess the following skills:
   Minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in incident detection and response, malware analysis, or cyber forensics Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, or related field with three (3) years of experience in incident detection and response, malware analysis, or cyber forensics. In lieu of a degree, a combination of education/additional experience will be considered.Minimum of at least 2 years of managing a SOC operations team
   
   First Quality is committed to protecting information under the care of First Quality Enterprises commensurate with leading industry standards and applicable regulations. As such, First Quality provides at least annual training regarding data privacy and security to employees who, as a result of their role specifications, may come in to contact with sensitive data.
   
   First Quality is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification, or protected Veteran status.
   First Quality is committed to protecting information under the care of First Quality Enterprises commensurate with leading industry standards and applicable regulations. As such, First Quality provides at least annual training regarding data privacy and security to employees who, as a result of their role specifications, may come in to contact with sensitive data.First Quality is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification, or protected Veteran status.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find security operations managers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your security operations manager job on Zippia to find and recruit security operations manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with security operations manager candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new security operations manager

   Once you've selected the best security operations manager candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new security operations manager. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a security operations manager?