This is a long-term engagement until 31/03/2027, based in London on a hybrid model (around 60% on site), and would suit someone who already has strong SOC/incident response experience and is looking to take the next step in a critical national environment.Why this role stands outLength and stability: Contract to March 2027, offering rare long-term security in the contracting market.Day rate: Up to £650-700 (umbrella) inside IR35.Mission-critical work: Protects key government digital services and internal infrastructure.Career development: Mentor and line manage apprentice analysts, strengthening your leadership profile.The role - Associate Security AnalystAs part of the Cyber Defence team, you will be central to detecting, investigating and responding to cyber threats and incidents affecting high-profile services.Triage and investigate security alerts and user reports.Analyse systems, files, network traffic and cloud environments to determine the nature and scope of incidents.Support and implement containment, eradication and recovery actions.Help coordinate incidents and contribute to post-incident reviews and lessons learned.Identify and support continuous improvements to incident investigation and response processes.Work closely with other Cyber Defence functions and contribute to playbooks, plans and knowledge base articles.Act as an escalation point and provide coaching and line management for apprentice security analysts.Participate in an out-of-hours on-call rota, as ..... full job details .....