Head of Cyber Security

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today’s changing world.

We work with the companies that are Britain’s economic engine – ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited and high growth businesses that fuel the economy - and directly advise the owners and management teams that lead them.

We’ll broaden your horizons

To ensure our services and applications are fit for the modern market, our IT team collaborates with every department. They develop, they explore and they implement the new ideas helping us to change the future of accounting, tax and business consulting. But, just as importantly, they maintain the tech that keeps us advancing. By testing and adopting the future of financial technical solutions, they find new and exciting ways to drive us forward. And you could too. In an IT role at BDO, you’ll become part of a team that act as the backbone for our business. No matter who you are or what your skillset is, we’ll give you the training and support you need to achieve whatever you put your mind to.

We’ll help you succeed

Leading organisations trust us because of the quality of our advice. That quality grows from a thorough understanding of their business, and that understanding comes from working closely with them and building long-lasting relationships.

You’ll be someone who is both comfortable working pro-actively and managing your own tasks, as well as confident collaborating with others and communicating regularly with senior managers, directors, and BDO’s partners to help businesses effectively. You’ll be encouraged to identify and draw attention to opportunities for enhancing our delivery and providing additional services to organisations we work with.

The Head of Cyber Security role is an integral part of the firm's enterprise focus on technology risk. This position is a senior role within IT, owning the IT Security budget, setting (and subsequent delivery of) technology roadmaps and management of a high-performing team. Reporting into the Chief Technology Officer, and working alongside BDO’s governance, architectural, data and operational technology teams, the position requires a blend of technical, commercial and collaborative skills to set the strategic vision for the IT function and is key in supporting the wider goals of the Information Security Committee. ​

This role will also interact regularly with our Chief Information Security Office who focus on Enterprise Risk, Governance and Information Security. Naturally, this will require a collaborative approach to business risks being managed and translated into technology outcomes. ​

An excellent opportunity to build on great foundations to deliver systematic change whilst working with like-minded and equally motivated individuals. ​

In this role you’ll:

• Own the IT Security Programme and be accountable for the delivery of the critical IT Security projects within it; this would include policies, standards, guidelines, and procedures that are aligned with industry best practices and regulations.​
• Develop and build the IT Security assurance function across areas as diverse as CI|CD build pipelines, cloud security architecture and artificial intelligence.​
• Ensure that appropriate security controls are in place, including physical and logical access controls, encryption, firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention, and anti-virus/anti-malware solutions.​
• Develop and maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders, including business unit leaders, partners, auditors, regulators, and external vendors.​
• Own the IT Security Budget and work with the Chief Technology Officer and Finance Management to aid in budget forecasting.​
• Manage and develop the IT Security team whilst being a figurehead into the business for all technology risk decisions.​
• Stay up-to-date with emerging security technologies, trends, and threats and provide thought leadership to the organization. ​
• Chief liaison with Legal, Commercial and Financial Teams regarding IT Security.​

You’ll be someone with:

• Proven experience of Cybersecurity Leadership​
• Proficient in presenting and public speaking​
• Team Management​ experience (Managed teams of 5+ staff​)
• Stakeholder Communications​ (Executive communications with partners, CFO’s, CIO’s etc.​
• Budgeting​ (Previous experience of managing £2m+ budget​)
• Strategic Planning & Execution​
• Previous experience of delivering programmatic change​
• Broad knowledge across the Cybersecurity Landscape, including, but not limited to:​ SASE/SSE​ (CASB, ​ RBI, ZTNA)​, M365 E5 Security​, Azure / AWS​ (CSPM​ WAF/DDOS/Azure Security)​, Vulnerability Management​ (Tenable​, Nessus,​ Qualys​), Communications Security ​ (O365​ Mimecast/Proofpoint)​ and Endpoint Security​ (Defender ATP, Carbon Black, Crowdstrike etc).​

At BDO, we’ll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development.

We’re in it together

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO’s core values and we’re proud of our distinctive, people-centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we’ll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs.

Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you’ll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value for the companies we work with and satisfying experiences for our colleagues, so we’ve invested in state-of-the-art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO’s people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we’ll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you’ll never stop learning at BDO.

We’re looking forward to the future

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy.

Our success is powered by our people, which is why we’re always finding new ways to invest in you. Across the UK thousands of unique minds continue to come together to help companies we work with to achieve their ambitions

We’ve got a clear purpose, and we’re confident in our future, because we’re adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.