Introducing Paul Clayton, SOC manager

Paul Clayton is a SOC manager at Airbus Protect’s Newport campus. With five years’ experience in the role, he has a wealth of expertise. Some of which he’s passing on to his daughter Heather, who joined Airbus Protect in 2022 as a project controller. 
We sat down with Paul to learn more about his career trajectory – from the military to cybersecurity – and to get his top tips for anyone thinking of applying to our open SOC jobs at Airbus Protect. 
First up, we have to ask, what’s it like to work alongside a family member? 
Enjoyable. Heather is new to this kind of work, so it’s good that I’m there to offer her a helping hand when she comes across the hundreds of three-word acronyms we use daily. 

There’s a lot of jargon to get to grips with when you start working in cyber. But it’s all part of the challenge – every day in this job is different!
Can you explain your path to becoming a SOC manager?
It started when I was still in the military. In the summer of 2005, I was posted to the UK’s Joint Cyber Unit, which was responsible for the protective monitoring of military networks. I ended up staying for three years to train and work shifts, and for a final year as a shift supervisor. 

After this, I took off my uniform and walked across the Ministry of Defence's Global Operations Security Control Centre (GOSCC) floorplate to join Airbus as a shift analyst – where I [...]