IT Security Head (Banking & Financial Services)

• Lead the end-to-end Security Operations function, including monitoring, threat detection, threat intelligence, and response.
• Manage and optimise the SOC (internal or outsourced), ensuring 24/7 coverage and effective escalation workflows.
• Oversee tuning and continuous improvement of SIEM, IDS/IPS, EDR/XDR, WAF, and other detection technologies.

• Serve as incident commander for security events and coordinate cross-functional response.
• Conduct root cause analysis, containment, eradication, and recovery efforts.
• Build and maintain playbooks for high-severity incidents (e.g., account compromise, malware outbreak, DDoS, data exposure).

• Own the vulnerability management lifecycle, from scanning and prioritisation to remediation oversight.
• Partner with infrastructure and engineering teams to ensure timely patching of systems and applications.
• Lead red/purple team exercises and manage penetration testing engagements.

• Recommend and enforce secure configurations for servers, endpoints, cloud workloads, and networks.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to embed security-by-design into new systems and releases.
• Review and approve high-risk technical changes and architecture modifications.

• Oversee security controls in cloud environments (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), including IAM, logging, network segmentation, encryption, and key management.
• Ensure strong endpoint, perimeter, and application-layer defences across hybrid/cloud setups.

• Develop and implement automation to improve detection, response, and reporting workflows.
• Evaluate new security tools and technologies for operational fit and ROI.
• Build dashboards for operational metrics, threat trends, and remediation performance.

• Lead and develop a technical security operations team; mentor analysts and engineers.
• Work closely with the CISO to align operational priorities with the broader security strategy.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Infrastructure, Product, and Compliance teams to ensure secure service delivery.

Join a leading financial services organization.Manage the full suite security operations function.

• Minimum 8 years of progressive experience in cybersecurity with at least 3 years in a leadership role.
• Deep, hands‑on Security Operations experience in fintech, payments, banking, or other regulated technology environments.
• Strong expertise with SIEM, EDR/XDR, threat intelligence platforms, WAF, IDS/IPS, and log management tools.
• Proven track record in handling high-severity incidents in 24/7 environments.
• Strong understanding of network security, cloud security (AWS/Azure/GCP), secure systems hardening, and endpoint security controls.
• Experience with vulnerability management and security automation.
• Excellent communication and coordination skills when engaging with engineering and business teams.

• CISSP
• CISM
• AWS/Azure security specialty certifications
• ITIL (for operations processes)

The hiring company is a leading financial services organization based in Makati.

• Leadership role with high technical ownership in a fast-growing fintech/payments environment.
• Opportunity to shape and mature a modern Security Operations function.
• Close partnership with the CISO and senior leadership team.
• Competitive compensation, benefits, and career development opportunities.
• Exposure to cloud, high-volume transactional systems and the latest security technologies.