Head of Cyber Defence and Engineering

ASX; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working options

Flexible working arrangements

Job summary

ASX in Sydney is seeking a senior cybersecurity leader to protect and enable Australia's market infrastructure. You will shape strategy, lead a high-performing cyber defence team, and oversee SOC, threat intel, and incident response.

The role emphasizes AI-assisted security, proactive threat hunting, governance, and cross-functional collaboration with technology, risk and business teams. The position offers hybrid working options with a strong focus on delivering a secure, resilient and

Qualifications

• 10+ years in technology with 5+ years in IT leadership and 5+ years specialising in Cyber Security.
• Deep technical mastery in SOC operations, incident response, vulnerability management, threat intelligence and offensive tradecraft.
• Executive translation: able to turn telemetry and risk metrics into business narratives for Executives and the Board.
• AI integration: proven experience embedding agentic AI and automation into security workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead the proactive cyber defence strategy, focusing on minimising attacker dwell time and maximizing business survivability.
• Provide leadership and oversight of Security Operations Centre (SOC), threat detection, monitoring, and incident response.
• Direct specialised engineering functions, leveraging agentic AI to accelerate detection, triage, and response at scale.
• Elevate Threat Intelligence & Proactive Hunting, focusing on critical enterprise risks.
• Drive continuous improvement of cyber defence capabilities, processes and operating models.
• Oversee threat intelligence, hunting and adversary detection activities to identify emerging risks.
• Lead the response to cyber security incidents, coordinating containment and recovery.
• Ensure effective management of cyber defence tooling (SIEM, SOAR, EDR/XDR).
• Develop cyber resilience capabilities, including monitoring, recovery and crisis management.
• Establish metrics and dashboards to measure cyber defence effectiveness for executives.
• Partner with technology, risk and business teams to strengthen cyber controls.
• Manage third-party security operations providers and partnerships.
• Build and mentor a high-performing cyber defence team; foster a proactive security culture.
• Support regulatory, audit and compliance requirements through effective security monitoring and evidence collection.

Skills

Cybersecurity leadership

SOC operations

Threat intelligence

Incident response

AI in security

Executive storytelling

Tools

SIEM

SOAR

EDR/XDR

Attack surface mgmt

Security analytics

Job description

ASX: Powering Australia's financial markets

Why join the ASX?

When you join ASX, you’re joining a company with a strong purpose – to power a stronger economic future by enabling a fair and dynamic marketplace for all.

In your new role, you’ll be part of a leading global securities exchange with a strong brand. We are known for being a trusted market operator and an exciting data hub.

We are more than a securities exchange!

The ASX team brings together talented people from a diverse range of disciplines.

We run critical market infrastructure, with 1 in 3 people employed within technology. Yet we have a unique complexity of roles across a range of disciplines such as operations, program delivery, financial products, investor engagement, risk and compliance.

We’re proud to foster a workplace where diversity is celebrated and inclusion is part of our everyday culture. Our employee-led networks champion LGBTIQ+ inclusion, promote gender equality, accessibility and wellbeing, inspire giving and volunteering, and celebrate cultural and religious events, creating a sense of belonging for all. As an AWEI Bronze employer and member of the Champions of Change Coalition for gender equality, we’re committed to a fair and inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

Your Team

The Cyber Security team protects ASX’s systems, data and critical services through cyber governance, risk management, security engineering, identity security and threat response. The broader Cyber Security purpose is to strengthen cyber resilience and ensure the security, integrity and availability of ASX’s information assets and critical market infrastructure.

Your responsibilities

• Lead the proactive cyber defence strategy, ensuring effective protection against cyber threats and attacks with a focus on minimising attacker dwell time and maximizing business survivability.
• Provide leadership and oversight of Security Operations Centre (SOC), threat detection, monitoring, and incident response functions.
• Direct specialised engineering functions, leveraging agentic AI to accelerate automated detection, triage, and response at scale.
• Elevate Threat Intelligence & Proactive Hunting, focusing on critical enterprise risks and establish an AI-assisted threat hunting function.
• Drive continuous improvement of cyber defence capabilities, technologies, processes, and operating models.
• Oversee threat intelligence, threat hunting, and adversary detection activities to proactively identify emerging risks.
• Lead the response to cyber security incidents, coordinating containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident reviews.
• Ensure effective management of cyber defence tooling, including SIEM, SOAR, EDR/XDR, attack surface management, and security analytics platforms.
• Develop and maintain cyber resilience capabilities, including monitoring, response, recovery, and crisis management preparedness.
• Establish metrics, reporting, and dashboards to measure cyber defence effectiveness and communicate risk to executive stakeholders.
• Partner with technology, risk, and business teams to strengthen cyber controls and reduce organisational cyber risk exposure.
• Manage third-party security operations providers and strategic cyber defence partnerships.
• Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing cyber defence team while fostering a proactive security culture.
• Support regulatory, audit, and compliance requirements through effective security monitoring, incident management, and evidence collection.

Your experience and qualifications

Must have

• Experience: 10+ years in technology with 5+ years in IT leadership and 5+ years specialising in Cyber Security.
• Domain Expertise: Deep technical mastery in SOC operations, incident response, vulnerability management, threat intelligence, and offensive tradecraft (Red/Purple teaming).
• Executive Translation: Strong ability to translate complex threat telemetry, adversary insights, and exposure metrics into strategic business narratives for Executives and the Board.
• AI Integration: Proven background embedding agentic AI, detection-as-code, and automation into modern operational security workflows.

Nice to have

• Experience within financial services, market infrastructure, banking, payments, clearing or other high regulated environments.

We make hiring decisions based on your skills, capabilities and experience, and how you’ll help us to live our values. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all the criteria of this role.

If you need any adjustments during the application or interview process to help you present your best self, please let us know at *******@asx.com.au.

At ASX Group, our diverse workforce is essential to build and maintain a fair and dynamic marketplace. We support flexible working and offer hybrid working options. Even if our roles are advertised as full-time, we encourage you to apply if you are interested in part-time or other flexible working arrangements.

We will arrange for successful candidates to have background checks, including reference and police checks, completed as part of the on-boarding process.

To be considered for this position, candidates must be legally authorised to work in Australia on a permanent basis without any restrictions.