Director of Security Engineering & Operations

Director of Security Engineering & Operations Location: Warsaw, Poland Are you a strategic security leader who combines deep technical expertise with the ability to influence engineering culture and drive security innovation? We’re partnering with a fast-growing technology business looking for a Director of Security Engineering & Operations to take ownership of its technical security strategy across its products, data platforms, AI capabilities and corporate environment. This is an opportunity to shape and scale a security programme within a product-led organisation, working closely with the CISO and senior Engineering, Product and IT leaders to embed security into the development lifecycle and protect critical data and systems. The Role As Director of Security Engineering & Operations, you’ll lead the evolution of security engineering, application security, cloud security and detection and response capabilities. You’ll balance strategic leadership with strong technical understanding, building a security function that enables engineering teams to innovate securely without unnecessary friction. Key responsibilities include: - Security Strategy: Define and execute the technical security roadmap across web applications, data platforms, pipelines and corporate infrastructure. - Application Security: Drive Secure SDLC adoption, threat modelling, CI/CD security, vulnerability management and software supply chain risk reduction. - Data & AI Security: Strengthen data protection, access governance, secrets management and pipeline integrity, while shaping the secure adoption of AI, LLMs and agentic workflows. - Security Operations: Own the strategic relationship with the outsourced 24/7 SOC, improve SIEM capabilities and strengthen incident response, detection and recovery processes. - Cloud & Infrastructure Security: Enhance security across cloud environments, IAM, Kubernetes, containers and cloud-native technologies. - Team Leadership: Lead application and infrastructure security engineering teams, develop technical capability and establish clear ownership, KPIs and accountability. - Stakeholder Influence: Partner with senior Product, Engineering, Data and IT leaders to integrate security into business and technology decisions. What We’re Looking For We’re looking for an experienced security leader who can build, transform and mature security programmes within a product-led technology environment. You’ll ideally bring: - Proven experience leading security engineering, application security or security operations teams. - Strong expertise in application security, including OWASP, API security, SAST, DAST and threat modelling. - Experience embedding security into software development lifecycles, CI/CD pipelines and engineering workflows. - A solid understanding of data security, cloud data warehouses, data pipelines and software supply chain risks. - Strong cloud security knowledge across IAM, Kubernetes, containers and cloud-native security tooling. - An understanding of AI and LLM security risks, controls and governance. - Experience managing outsourced SOC providers, penetration testing partners and external security vendors. - The ability to communicate technical risk effectively to both engineering teams and executive stakeholders. - A collaborative leadership style, with the credibility to influence engineers, build trust and drive meaningful change. What Success Looks Like In your first 12 months, you’ll establish a unified security engineering roadmap, improve secure development practices across engineering, strengthen threat detection and incident response, and build a high-performing team with clear accountability. Above all, you’ll help create an environment where security is embedded from the outset, developers take ownership of remediation, and teams can innovate confidently. Why Consider This Opportunity? - A senior leadership position with direct exposure to the CISO and technology leadership. - The opportunity to shape security strategy across complex data products and emerging AI capabilities. - The autonomy to mature security engineering and operations in a growing technology environment. - The chance to build trusted partnerships across engineering, product, data and IT. - A collaborative, impact-driven culture that values ownership, customer understanding and continuous improvement. Interested in finding out more? If you’re a security engineering leader ready to influence technical strategy, develop high-performing teams and help shape the future of secure, AI-enabled technology, I’d love to hear from you. 📩 Get in touch for a confidential conversation.