Head of Secure Connectivity (all humans)

Erste Digital GmbH; Österreich; Vor Ort; EUR 77.000 - 94.000; Vollzeit

Benefits dieser Stelle

Employee benefits program

Employee referral program

Zusammenfassung

Erste Digital GmbH is seeking a Head of Department to shape and lead its Cyber & Information Security capabilities within the Erste Group. You will own operational performance of connectivity and protection services and drive security maturity across the organization.

You will collaborate with identity, architecture, detection, incident response and technology operations to ensure resilient services and reduce exposure, while guiding teams and delivering measurable value.

Qualifikationen

• Proven leadership in security operations and program delivery.
• Experience designing and operating secure networks and services.
• Strong understanding of Zero Trust architectures and privileged access.
• Ability to manage incidents, root-cause analyses and preventive improvements.

Aufgaben

• Own the operational performance and evolution of critical connectivity and protection services (VPN, firewall, intrusion prevention, WAF, DDoS, Zero Trust access, privileged access).
• Establish operational excellence across availability, resilience, lifecycle management and change quality.
• Drive transition toward identity-, device- and context-aware access while maintaining service stability.
• Ensure incidents and control failures are handled decisively with clear escalation and learning.

Kenntnisse

Operational leadership

Cyber security

Zero Trust

Incident management

Network security

Tools

VPN

Firewall

WAF

DDoS protection

Jobbeschreibung

Make a difference in the financial life of millions of people: At Erste Digital you are co-creating the digital future, in which better financial health is possible. #believeinyourself

We are part of Erste Group – the largest banking group in Central and Eastern Europe with more than 2,500 branches and over 45,000 employees. Our more than 2,000 IT experts and enthusiasts are the bank's Digital Muscle.

Help shape the next generation of Cyber & Information Security at Erste Digital

We are evolving our security organization around clear missions, accountable services and stronger collaboration across domains. As Head of Department, you will shape the capability together with your teams and peers rather than inherit a fixed organizational blueprint. You will be accountable for outcomes, people leadership, service maturity and cross-Group value.

Your Mission

Shape and be accountable for the operation and evolution of the critical connectivity and protection capabilities that keep Erste Digital securely connected every day - from VPN, firewall, intrusion prevention, WAF and DDoS protection to Zero Trust access and privileged access. The role combines strategic evolution with substantial operational responsibility: ensuring these services are resilient, well operated and continuously improved while reducing implicit trust and unnecessary exposure.

What you will shape and be accountable for

• Own the operational performance and evolution of critical connectivity and protection services, including VPN, firewall, intrusion prevention, WAF, DDoS protection, Zero Trust access and privileged access.

• Establish operational excellence across availability, resilience, lifecycle management, change quality, capacity, recovery readiness and clear service ownership.

• Drive the transition from broad network access toward identity-, device- and context-aware access while maintaining stable service for existing consumers.

• Ensure incidents, control failures and service degradations are handled decisively, with clear escalation, learning and preventive improvement.

• Create strong interfaces with identity, architecture, detection, incident response, exposure management and technology operations so dependencies work under both normal and crisis conditions.

Group first - Built to scale beyond one entity

• Think Group First: design every capability so it can be consumed across the Group where feasible, or at minimum produce reusable blueprints, patterns, standards and lessons that create value beyond Erste Digital.

• Seek alignment with Group Security and relevant entities before creating local-only solutions where a shared approach is realistic.

• Balance local delivery responsibility with the ambition to simplify, standardize and scale security capabilities across the Group.

What success looks like

• High availability and resilient operation of critical connectivity and protection services, with clear ownership and recovery readiness.

• Predictable change and lifecycle management, fewer avoidable disruptions and faster restoration when incidents occur.

• Reusable access, connectivity and privileged-access patterns that can be consumed across products, platforms and Group entities.

• Measurable reduction of broad network trust, standing privilege and unmanaged access paths while maintaining a good user experience.

Who benefits from your work

Employees, administrators, application and platform teams, infrastructure operations, Group entities and customers benefit from connectivity and protection services that are available when needed, resilient under stress, secure by design and straightforward to consume.

In your motivational letter, please include the following two perspectives:

Briefly describe one concrete example of how you would make a local security capability valuable for the wider Group - as a shared service, blueprint, pattern or standard.

Reflect on one aspect of this role description you would deliberately challenge or refine, including why.

Why this role

• This is one of the most operationally critical leadership roles in the CISO organization: the capabilities in your scope sit directly in the path between people, systems, applications and the outside world.

• You will strengthen how essential security services are operated today while shaping their evolution toward Zero Trust and more Group-consumable protection capabilities - with visible impact on resilience, security and user experience.

• Employee benefits – Benefit from special conditions for financial services and insurances, supermarkets, clothing stores and many more.

• Employee Referral Program – Become a talent scout for career opportunities in IT. We are rewarding every successful referral for Erste Digital.

• A competitive and performance-related salary dependent on your professional and personal qualifications is granted - the minimum wage for this position in accordance with the respective collective agreement is EUR 85.000,-- gross per year. But this is just a formality, we are more than happy to discuss your actual expectations.

16. October. First-round interviews are planned for early November.

You do not need to match every point perfectly to be a strong candidate.

The way we are

Erste Group considers the diversity of its employees as key to innovation and success. As employer we are proud to offer everyone equal chances, irrespective of age, skin colour, religious belief, gender, sexual orientation or origin.