Director - Cyber Defend and Operate

Grant Thornton; Sydney; On-site; AUD 220,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

9-day fortnight

Flexible working options

Fully funded gym membership

Mental health support

Wellbeing coaching

Job summary

Grant Thornton Australia is seeking a self-starting Director to lead cyber defend and operations, shaping an AI-enabled threat capability for the Australian market. You will draw on global methods while tailoring to local needs, delivering advisory, implementation and managed services to clients.

You’ll own the service roadmap, coach a growing team, and engage executives on detection and response with measurable outcomes.

Qualifications

• Leadership in security operations or similar.
• Experience evolving a cyber defence operating model.
• Experience working with clients or stakeholders outside your organisation.
• Track record of leading and developing teams.
• Deep knowledge of cyber defence operations and metrics.
• Exposure to SOC platforms and tools such as CrowdStrike, Defender, Palo Alto.
• Understanding of how managed detection and response services are positioned and sold.
• Experience working with technology partners or global capability teams.
• Confidence presenting to executives and boards.

Responsibilities

• Lead the local evolution of cyber defend and operations, adapting global capability for the Australian market.
• Advise clients on environment, threat landscape, and risk tolerance; tailor cyber defence models.
• Contribute to advisory recommendations, pathways, and detection engineering.
• Own and shape the service roadmap, onboarding, and customer journey for scale.
• Define how AI-enabled threats and automation influence service design and outcomes.
• Collaborate with a global network to differentiate offerings locally.
• Lead and grow a team of security operations professionals and guide their development.
• Advise executives on detection, response metrics, and risk outcomes.
• Act as senior escalation point for major client incidents and delivery decisions.
• Identify opportunities across advisory, implementation, and managed operations for revenue growth.
• Contribute to service design, partner engagement, and bringing new people into the team.

Skills

Leadership

Client engagement

People development

Cyber security

Communication

Business acumen

Travel flexibility

Tools

CrowdStrike

Microsoft Defender

Palo Alto

Job description

• Full time, permanent role
• Enjoy excellent career progression in a ‘hands‑on’ leadership role
• Work with Partners who are truly invested in your professional development

Grant Thornton Australia is one of Australia’s leading professional services firms, providing audit, tax, and advisory services to a diverse range of clients.

Our culture is underpinned by a commitment to our clients, people and communities, and our promise to ‘Reach for Remarkable’ by providing proven expertise, principled execution, and personalised experience.

In Australia we're proud to support the careers of more than 1,500 remarkable people. Backed by six Australian offices and a global network spanning more than 150 markets, we offer the scale, connections and opportunities to help you shape your future, wherever it takes you.

About this role

We’re shaping the next evolution of our cyber defend and operations capability for an AI‑enabled threat world and looking for a self‑starting, commercially astute Director to help lead it.

Cyber defend and operations is going through a significant evolution as AI changes attacker behaviour, client expectations, operating models and the economics of always‑on cyber defence. This role will help shape a locally relevant, globally connected and differentiated capability that spans advisory, implementation and managed service outcomes. It is for someone who understands what this shift means for customers, go‑to‑market strategy and commercial models, and who can translate that into practical services that clients value.

If you’ve led a cyber defence, security operations or detection and response capability, thought “I’d do this differently next time”, and have the war stories to go with it, this is the role for you.

What you’ll do

• Lead the local evolution of our cyber defend and operations capability, drawing on existing global capability, methods and expertise while adapting them for the Australian market.
• Work directly with clients to understand their environment, threat landscape, operating model and tolerance for risk, then advise on cyber defence and operations models that fit.
• Help shape advisory recommendations, implementation pathways, use case development, detection engineering, triage, response workflows, service improvement and the operating model required to deliver consistently at scale.
• Own and shape the service roadmap, onboarding experience and customer journey, ensuring the capability is scalable, differentiated and practical to deliver.
• Shape how AI‑enabled threats, automation and analyst workflows influence our service design, customer outcomes, go‑to‑market strategy and commercial models.
• Work as part of a global network of cyber defence and operations professionals, drawing on shared capability while developing a locally relevant and differentiated offering.
• Lead and grow a team of security operations professionals, with responsibility for their development and career progression.
• Advise executives and boards on detection and response, translating operational performance, service metrics and risk outcomes into terms they can act on.
• Act as a senior escalation point for major client incidents, service issues and complex delivery decisions.
• Hold senior client relationships, identify opportunities across advisory, implementation and managed operations, and contribute to sales enablement, recurring revenue growth and sustainable service delivery.
• Contribute to how the practice develops, including service design, technology partner engagement and bringing new people through.

What you’ll need

• Experience in a leadership role within a security operations centre, managed detection and response, cyber defence operations, or similar capability, either in‑house or as a service provider.
• Experience materially evolving a cyber defence, detection and response, operating model, team or client‑facing service.
• Experience working with clients or stakeholders outside your own organisation, whether in consulting, service delivery, or as an internal team serving the wider business.
• A track record of leading and developing teams, and a genuine interest in doing it.
• Deep knowledge of what makes cyber defence and operations work, including operating models, detection coverage, response playbooks, escalation pathways, service metrics and continuous improvement.
• Experience with the platforms and tooling behind a modern SOC; exposure to technologies such as CrowdStrike, Microsoft Defender, Palo Alto or similar would be beneficial.
• Commercial awareness and an understanding of how managed detection and response services are positioned, priced, sold, renewed and delivered sustainably.
• Experience working with technology partners, alliances or global capability teams to deliver services at scale.
• Confidence in front of clients, and the ability to explain why cyber matters to people who don’t work in it.
• Comfort working as part of a team. This role suits someone who builds with others rather than around them.
• Australian citizenship or permanent residency.
• Willingness to travel for client work.

Nice to have

• Experience in regulated or critical infrastructure environments, and with obligations under the SOCI Act, APRA CPS 234 or the ISM.
• Experience designing and running cyber incident tabletop exercises or executive‑level cyber crisis simulations.
• Purple team or threat‑led testing experience.
• Certifications such as CISSP, CISM, GCIA, GCIH or equivalent.

If you’re interested in this role but don’t feel that you match every single one of our requirements, we would still love to hear from you and explore the unique skillset and attributes that you can bring to the team.

At Grant Thornton we do things differently because we understand that when you strive for better and care about what you do remarkable things are possible. We’re a dynamic and authentic mix of backgrounds, perspectives and ways of thinking. We’re driven by our shared purpose - we ignite the potential within our people and clients to create enduring success and positively shape the communities around us.

With us, you’ll be exposed to challenging and rewarding opportunities, building your confidence and capabilities at every step. You’ll be supported, motivated and inspired by a team of passionate and caring collaborators and leaders. You’ll be empowered to build a career path that’s tailored to you and encouraged to make a meaningful difference. And we’ll make sure the excellence you deliver and the impact you make is always seen, felt and celebrated.

Remarkable perks that put you first:

• 9-day fortnight with no salary reduction
• Flexible working options available
• Fully funded gym membership
• Mental health support, financial and wellbeing coaching
• And many more!