Emerging Tech & Cyber Innovation Lead

Role Purpose 

Reporting directly to the Senior Manager – Emerging Tech & Cyber Innovation, the Emerging Tech Lead looks to the future to refine and shape the global Vodafone security posture with respect to Vodafone’s Software Engineering and Cloud security strategy. Your mission is to spearhead a variety of technical initiatives, crafting pioneering architectures, applications and solutions that safeguard every facet of Vodafone’s IT systems. Collaborating closely with internal Cyber teams as well as across the business, you will stay ahead of the curve to support the identification of emerging technologies, threats and trends particularly in the areas of Software Engineering and Cloud. 

You will lead a growing team of Cyber Security Software Developers, Engineers and Cloud Architects to design and develop innovative working prototypes that solve our stakeholders’ Cyber-specific problems. You will hold deep dive architecture and design reviews to ensure stakeholders understand the vision and the value of the product being built. You will lead with on-going, hands-on technical expertise and knowledge of Software Engineering best practice and improve the security of our CI/CD toolchain, including testing and QA, and to increase efficiency using the latest technologies for coding practice such as AI-enabled tooling. You will formalise the process of publishing high-quality, technical papers for both internal and external audiences, as well as internal technical documentation including architectural blueprints, best practice, guidance and reference architectures.  

You are expected to have a good understanding the latest research, vulnerability disclosures and policy topics with both Software Engineering and Cloud Architectures especially where they might have an impact on Vodafone and its customers, across all markets. You will work with Vodafone’s major strategic Public, Private & Hybrid Cloud programmes, supporting the planning of controls to counter emerging threats and address evolving technology. You will have a deep understanding of at least one Cloud Service Provider platform (AWS, Azure, GCP). 

You will work to understand and improve security in various technologies and with our global vendors. The role provides a sense of balance across the wider Cyber Security team to ensure security controls are implemented, and to support each other, and measured to demonstrate risk reduction and prepare Vodafone customers for the evolving threat landscape. 

Key accountabilities and decision ownership : 

Impact on the business: This role will be responsible for ensuring that Vodafone’s Emerging Tech and Cyber Innovation roadmap supports the business objectives. The security architecture strategy and roadmap are critical components of the overall strategy to protect the global Vodafone brand and our customers. 

Leadership and teamwork: The role holder will be one of a team of Security Architects delivering world-class cost-effective security solutions into the Vodafone business. They will also be expected to lead security solution design projects and to highlight and clearly articulate risk mitigation requirements to the business. The ability to lead and influence security strategy at a senior technical level is paramount, but the role holder should be business focussed, with the clear objective of security being a business enabler and a strong capability to communicate the security risk.   

Innovation and change: The role holder will be responsible for driving a perception change from security from being seen as an inhibiter, to it being seen as a business differentiator.  

Customers, supplier and third parties: The individual will work heavily with all stakeholders to forge a community within Vodafone to promote secure by design.  

Who you are

Core competencies, knowledge and experience: 

Track record of software development expertise - designing and building secure applications from beginning to end of the software development lifecycle  

Ability to demonstrate expert knowledge of multiple coding languages and frameworks e.g. Python, Javascript, C, C++, REST APIs, shell scripting 

Expert knowledge of application security risks and threats and use of threat modelling and intelligence frameworks e.g. MITRE ATT&CK, STIX 

Expert knowledge of security architectures, technologies, standards and industry guidelines, especially those applicable to DevSecOps and Cloud 

Expert knowledge of securing applications for an enterprise in key public and private/hybrid cloud vendors e.g. AWS, Azure, Google, VMware, Oracle, RedHat.  

Demonstrable experience and proven track record, in designing and deploying security features for a global organisation’s IT infrastructure and applications. 

Excellent communication capabilities to provide rapid and concise summaries of complex scenarios and communicate security risk in business terms and the ability to interact effectively with senior internal and external stakeholders. 

Recognised to be able to become a (L6 Technical Career Path). 

Consultancy Skills delivered in culturally aware global corporate environments. 

Ability and willingness to lead teams as well as be an independent single contributor. 

Must have technical / professional qualifications:  

Master’s degree in a relevant field e.g. IT, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Security, Telecoms. 

Solid years of hands-on, practical experience of developing products from ideation through to live production 

Experience with the secure application development lifecycle and security in CI/CD pipelines 

Agile software development methodologies and incorporation of security in agile ways of working 

Desired: 

Cryptography and Key Management. 

Security as a service offerings (identity management & cloud monitoring) 

What's in it for you

Discretionary yearly bonus: 20%
Company car: company funded car of £580 per month + private fuel or cash alternative of £630
per month.
Annual leave: 28 days + bank holidays + the opportunity to buy/sell/carry over 5 days/year
Charity days: 5 days/year
Maternity leave: 52 weeks out of which 39 weeks are fully paid + 13 weeks half pay and 6 months - working 4 days, getting paid 5
Private pension: You can contribute up to 5% of your basic pay with 2:1 matching from Vodafone up to 10%.
Access to: private medical, private dental, free health assessments, share save scheme
Additional discounts: Vodafone retail, gym, cinema, cycle to work, season ticket loan

Who we are

You may have already heard of Vodafone - We're a leading Telecommunications company in Europe and Africa. But what you might not know is that we are continuously investing in new technologies to improve the lives of millions of customers, businesses and people around the world, creating a better future for everyone.

As part of our global family, whether that's Vodafone, Vodacom or _VOIS, you'll feel a sense of pride and purpose as you contribute to our culture of innovation. We pursue equality of opportunity and inclusion for all candidates through our employment policies and practices. We recognise and celebrate the importance of diversity and inclusivity in our workspace and we do not tolerate any form of discrimination especially related to but not limited to race, colour, age, veteran status, gender identification, sexual orientation, pregnancy, ethnicity, disability, religion, political affiliation, trade union membership, nationality, indigenous status, medical condition, HIV status, social origin, cultural background, social, or marital status.

Together we can.

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