Lead Specialist - IT

Open 21d

Role Overview

We are seeking a Senior / Lead Specialist – Enterprise Information Security & Operations to lead and continuously strengthen the security, governance, and operational resilience of enterprise IT, identity, cloud, and business application platforms. This is a hands-on leadership role spanning security engineering, SecOps/IR, enterprise application management, IAM/PAM operations, IT policies & processes and compliance, ensuring business continuity, a strong security posture, and audit readiness across the organization.

The role requires demonstrated experience across Microsoft 365, Azure/Entra ID, enterprise SaaS applications, IAM/PAM, cloud security, ITSM (ITIL) processes, and regulatory compliance (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2, privacy laws). You will work cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Sales & Marketing, Legal, Compliance etc. and executive stakeholders to translate risk into actionable controls and measurable outcomes.


Key Responsibilities

1. Enterprise Information Security Operations & Governance

  • Lead enterprise-wide security operations and governance across cloud, identity, endpoints, email, networks, and enterprise applications.

  • Design, implement, and continuously improve security controls aligned to Zero Trust and Defense-in-Depth, including secure configuration standards and continuous control monitoring where applicable.

  • Own the incident response (IR) lifecycle for security events, coordinating triage, investigation, containment, eradication, and root cause analysis (RCA) with internal teams, drive corrective and preventive actions.

  • Own Security monitoring using SIEM/SOAR and EDR/XDR capabilities (e.g., Microsoft Defender), including alert triage, use-case tuning, and continuous improvement of detection coverage.

  • Drive vulnerability and patch governance in partnership with IT and Engineering (prioritization, remediation SLAs, risk acceptance, and reporting).

  • Maintain a strong security-by-design posture across IT and business application landscapes.


2. Enterprise Application Management & Security

  • Own security and operational oversight of enterprise SaaS and business-critical applications (e.g., ERP/Finance, CRM, HRIS, Sales & Marketing tools, collaboration and analytics platforms) across departments.

  • Lead application onboarding, access governance, and lifecycle management, ensuring least privilege and segregation of duties.

  • Review and approve third-party integrations, OAuth permissions, APIs, and service accounts.

  • Partner with application owners to ensure:

    • Secure configuration baselines

    • Logging, monitoring, and audit trails

    • Vendor risk and compliance alignment


3. Identity, Access & Privileged Access Management (IAM/PAM)

  • Participate in IAM strategy and operations across Entra ID (Azure AD) and integrated enterprise platforms, including identity lifecycle (joiner/mover/leaver) governance.

  • Own RBAC models, Conditional Access, MFA, access reviews, and privileged access controls (e.g., PIM/PAM, break-glass accounts, just-in-time access) to enforce least privilege and segregation of duties.


4. Microsoft 365, Cloud & Infrastructure Security

  • Provide security leadership for Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive) and Azure workloads.

  • Oversee:

    • Email security, mail flow integrity, and threat protection

    • Endpoint and device security (Intune, Defender)

    • Secure DNS, web traffic, CDN, and firewall services (e.g., Cloudflare)

  • Implement and govern information protection controls across Microsoft 365 (e.g., DLP and data classification/labeling) and support secure collaboration and external sharing.

  • Ensure cloud resources follow secure architecture patterns, centralized logging/telemetry, and monitoring standards to support detection, forensics, and audit requirements.


5. Risk Management, Compliance & Audit

  • Own enterprise risk management processes covering IT, cloud, and applications.

  • Lead internal and external audits including ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, and customer assurance/audit requests.

  • Maintain audit-ready documentation, evidence repositories, and control mappings.

  • Drive remediation programs and closure of findings using KPI-driven tracking.


6. IT Operations, ITSM & Process Excellence

  • Partner with IT Operations teams to ensure secure and reliable service delivery across regions.

  • Embed security controls into ITIL-aligned ITSM processes (Change, Incident, Problem, Access, Asset).

  • Define and monitor SLAs, KPIs, and operational risk indicators.

  • Drive standardization, automation, and documentation to scale enterprise operations.


Required Skills & Experience

Technical & Domain Expertise

  • 12+ years of experience in enterprise IT security operations, cybersecurity, and governance.

  • Strong hands-on experience with:

    • Microsoft 365, Azure / Entra ID

    • IAM/PAM, RBAC, access reviews, Conditional Access, MFA

    • Enterprise SaaS and application security (SSO/SAML/OIDC, OAuth, service accounts)

    • Web and edge security (WAF/CDN/DNS, TLS, secure headers; e.g., Cloudflare)

    • ITSM/service governance (ITIL; change, incident, problem, access, asset)

    • Security operations tooling (SIEM/SOAR), detection engineering, and incident response workflows

    • Endpoint security (EDR/XDR) and device management (e.g., Defender for Endpoint, Intune)

    • Information protection (DLP, data classification/labeling; CASB concepts where applicable)

  • Experience with cloud and security platforms (e.g., Azure Security, Defender etc.).

Risk, Compliance & Privacy

  • Proven experience delivering and operating controls aligned to:

    • ISO 27001, SOC 2

    • GDPR, DPDP Act, privacy-by-design

  • Strong audit management and evidence-handling capability.

  • Creation IT policies and procedures, implementations and monitoring

Leadership & Soft Skills

  • Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.

  • Ability to balance hands-on execution with strategic leadership.

  • Ability to handle IR process till closure and manage stakeholders during the whole process.

  • Excellent documentation, analytical thinking, and training delivery capability

  • Willingness to participate and support a 24x7 production environment as needed.


Preferred Qualifications

  • Graduate/Postgraduate degree with obtained skills in Computer Science, Information Security, or equivalent experience.

  • ISO 27001 Lead Auditor / Implementer

  • ITIL v4 Foundation

  • Microsoft Azure certification(s) (e.g., AZ-104, AZ-500, SC-200/SC-300) or equivalent experience.

  • Security certifications (preferred): CISSP, CISM, CCSP, GIAC, or relevant Microsoft Security certifications.


Success Metrics

  • Stable and secure enterprise IT and application environment

  • Consistent clean audit outcomes with zero repeat findings

  • Reduced identity and privileged access risk

  • High stakeholder confidence in security and IT operations

  • Scalable, documented, and automation-driven governance processes

  • IT policies and procedures creation and implementation

  • Internal IT audits and continuous improvements