Cyber Defense Operations Lead

3M is hiring a Cyber Defense Operations Lead in Austin, United States. It pays $287k-$351k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on 3M.

Level's read on this job

Level rates this cybersecurity role Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
The listed pay starts 80% above the typical cybersecurity posting on Level.
Tools and skills the posting cites include AI agents, cybersecurity and incident response.
Level classifies it as a lead role.
Level lists 780 other open roles at 3M.

AI in this role

Lead the cyber defense operations function, driving strategy, security monitoring, incident response, and exploring future automation and AI enablement.

ai-agentscybersecurityincident-responsesecurity-operationsdetection-engineering

Job Description:

Cyber Defense Operations Lead

Collaborate with Innovative 3Mers Around the World

Choosing where to start and grow your career has a major impact on your professional and personal life, so it’s equally important you know that the company that you choose to work at, and its leaders, will support and guide you. With a diversity of people, global locations, technologies and products, 3M is a place where you can collaborate with other curious, creative 3Mers.

This position provides an opportunity to transition from other private, public, government or military experience to a 3M career.

The Impact You Will Make in this Role:

As the Cyber Defense Operations Lead, you will lead, mature, and transform the Cyber Defense Operations (CDO) function. Drive CDO strategy execution, security monitoring, incident response coordination, detection engineering, SecOps platform operations, MSSP oversight, operational reporting, leadership development, and the innovation roadmap for security monitoring and incident response.

Key Responsibilities:

Lead the CDO function and establish clear roles, responsibilities, decision rights, escalation paths, service expectations, and operating rhythms.
Oversee monitoring, incident response coordination, detection engineering, SecOps platform operations, and MSSP performance.
Owns the CDO 2-year roadmap from current-state operations to a data-driven, automation-enabled, agentic-ready capabilities.
Represent CDO requirements in SecOps roadmap decisions, including telemetry quality, case management, reporting, cost management, automation, AI enablement, and future agentic workflows.
Partner with IT, cloud, identity, endpoint, legal, privacy, corporate security, enterprise risk, Attack Surface Management, Cyber Threat Intelligence, Digital Investigations, data, and architecture teams.
Build, support and manage the team while building a calm, professional, accountable, documented, and innovation-ready culture.

Your Skills and Expertise:

To set you up for success in this role from day one, 3M requires (at a minimum) the following qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, or technology field (completed and verified prior to start)
Fifteen (15) years of experience in cyber security in a private, public, government or military environment

Additional qualifications that could help you succeed even further in this role include:

Proven management experience in Security Operations, Cyber Defense, Detection Engineering, Incident Response, Architecture or related cyber operations functions.
Strong understanding of SIEM platforms, SOAR, alert management, detection lifecycle management, case management, and incident response workflows.
Experience with cloud security telemetry across AWS, GCP, and/or Azure.
Ability to define and improve cyber data quality, ingestion priorities, normalization, routing, retention, and cost management.
Experience managing MSSPs, security vendors, and cross-functional delivery partners.
Strong written and verbal executive communication skills.
Practical understanding of automation, AI-enabled security operations, and the foundational data and workflow requirements needed to support future agentic SOC capabilities

Work location: Austin, TX - Onsite

Relocation Assistance: Yes

Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H1B status).

Supporting Your Well-being

3M offers many programs to help you live your best life – both physically and financially. To ensure competitive pay and benefits, 3M regularly benchmarks with other companies that are comparable in size and scope.

Chat with Max

For assistance with searching through our current job openings or for more information about all things 3M, visit Max, our virtual recruiting assistant on 3M.com/careers.

Applicable to US Applicants Only:The expected compensation range for this position is $287,281 - $351,122, which includes base pay plus variable incentive pay, if eligible. This range represents a good faith estimate for this position. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may vary based on factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s relevant knowledge, training, skills, work location, and/or experience. In addition, this position may be eligible for a range of benefits (e.g., Medical, Dental & Vision, Health Savings Accounts, Health Care & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Disability Benefits, Life Insurance, Voluntary Benefits, Paid Absences and Retirement Benefits, etc.). Additional information is available at: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/benefits/.

Good Faith Posting Date Range 09/24/2026 To 10/24/2026 Or until filled

All US-based 3M full time employees will need to sign an employee agreement as a condition of employment with 3M. This agreement lays out key terms on using 3M Confidential Information and Trade Secrets. It also has provisions discussing conflicts of interest and how inventions are assigned. Employees that are Job Grade 7 or equivalent and above may also have obligations to not compete against 3M or solicit its employees or customers, both during their employment, and for a period after they leave 3M.

Learn more about 3M’s creative solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @3M.

Responsibilities of this position include that corporate policies, procedures and security standards are complied with while performing assigned duties.

Safety is a core value at 3M. All employees are expected to contribute to a strong Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) culture by following safety policies, identifying hazards, and engaging in continuous improvement.

Pay & Benefits Overview: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/benefits/

3M does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Please note: your application may not be considered if you do not provide your education and work history, either by: 1) uploading a resume, or 2) entering the information into the application fields directly.

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How we rate this

Cyber Defense Operations Lead at 3M rates 20 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Cyber Defense Operations Lead is an open job at 3M.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The listed salary is $287k-$351k a year.
The role is based in US, Texas, Austin.
The job was posted on September 24, 2026.
Seniority: lead.
Applications are handled by 3M. Apply on 3M

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

AI agentsCybersecurityIncident ResponseSecurity OperationsDetection Engineering

Also common in cybersecurity jobs at this level

Python Kubernetes Terraform Java C++LLM

Pay

This job starts at: $287k
Typical cybersecurity job: $160k

This posting starts 80% above the typical cybersecurity job. See cybersecurity jobs

Questions you could be asked

How do you decide when an AI agent can act on its own versus asking for approval first?
Tell me about a project where cybersecurity was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where incident response was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where security operations was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where detection engineering was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: AI agents, Cybersecurity, Incident Response, Security Operations, and Detection Engineering. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.

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