Threat Hunt
US$165,000 – US$200,000 / yr base salary
Posted 19 Aug 2026
Advertised as “Threat Hunt Lead (CBP)”
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Expected experience
- 5+ yrs
- Management level
- People management
- Employment
- Hybrid
- Contract
- Full-time
| Base salary | US$165,000 – US$200,000 / yr |
|---|---|
| Cash bonus | US$10,000 |
| Total comp | US$175,000 – US$210,000 |
CertificationsGCIA, GCIH, CEH
CertificationsGFCA, GREM, GFNA, OSCP, GPEN, GNFA
About Agile Defense At Agile Defense we know that action defines the outcome and new challenges require new solutions. That’s why we always look to the future and embrace change with an unmovable spirit and the courage to build for what comes next. Our vision is to bring adaptive innovation to support our nation's most important missions through the seamless integration of advanced technologies, elite minds, and unparalleled agility—leveraging a foundation of speed, flexibility, and ingenuity to strengthen and protect our nation’s vital interests.
Title: Threat Hunt Lead (CBP) Clearance: Active Top Secret with SCI eligibility, ability to obtain and maintain a CBP Background Investigation (CBP BI) and EOD, active BI strongly preferred. We can begin processing for candidates who do not hold one. Citizenship: U.S. Citizenship required Location: Reston, VA - Hybrid Salary Range: $165,000-200,000 Signing Bonus: $10,000 for candidates with an active CBP BI. Payable after 90 days; standard terms apply. Required Certification(s): GIAC, GCIH or CEH
The Role
U.S. Customs and Border Protection runs continuous operations across more than 300 land, air, and sea ports of entry, plus Border Patrol stations and the Air and Marine Operations Center. The systems behind that mission are watched by automated detection around the clock, and automated detection only catches what it was built to catch. The gap between what a tool flags and what is actually happening in the environment is where a threat hunter works, and on a program supporting continuous federal law enforcement operations, that gap is not theoretical. You lead threat hunting for this program. You will form and test hypotheses about activity the SOC's existing detections might be missing, dig into the environment to confirm or rule them out, and turn what you find into detections other analysts can rely on going forward. You will work closely with the Security Operations Center Manager and hand confirmed findings to the incident response and digital forensics leads. One thing is worth knowing before you apply. Most hunts do not find anything, and that is not failure. A hunt that rules out a hypothesis honestly is doing its job. The people who do well here are comfortable being wrong most of the time in service of being right when it counts.
What Success Looks Like
Objective 1: Find what automated detection misses
- Hunts are grounded in a real hypothesis about adversary behavior, not a general look around for anything unusual.
- Confirmed findings represent activity that existing detections did not catch, which is the actual measure of whether hunting is adding value beyond the SOC's standing tools.