Director, Cyber Security in Defence

Cyber Security training courses; Birmingham, West of England; Remote; GBP 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

KPMG in the UK is seeking a senior leader to grow and deliver the Cyber in Defence portfolio. You will own executive client relationships, shape strategies, and drive profitable cyber programmes that strengthen mission resilience.

You'll translate threat context into differentiated propositions, lead major bids, manage delivery at scale, and coach security-cleared teams while upholding trust and accountability across Defence, National Security and the DIB.

Qualifications

• Extensive leadership in UK Defence or national security.
• Proven delivery of complex cyber programmes with senior stakeholders.
• Strong cyber expertise in strategy, architecture or operations.

Responsibilities

• Own senior client relationships and act as trusted adviser to executives.
• Provide delivery accountability for a portfolio of cyber engagements.
• Originate, shape and convert a sustainable cyber pipeline across Defence and DIB.
• Lead major bids from qualification through to mobilisation and delivery at scale.

Skills

Defence leadership

Cyber security

Programme delivery

Stakeholder engagement

Security architecture

Incident response

Cloud security

Mission assurance

Education

NSV clearance eligibility

Job description

Job description

About the team

Our Advisory capability brings our Consulting and Deal Advisory businesses together as one team, combining our expertise and talent. We solve business challenges, helping our clients to realise their growth ambitions, from strategy to transaction and through to transformation.

Technology & Data:

The mission of Technology and Data (T&D) is to create a future where our clients thrive, our business grows, and our people flourish.

By using our multidisciplinary technical teams, Technology and Data collaborates across Advisory to build integrated solutions and bring end to end propositions to our clients, creating value through technology. We support clients across a wide range of challenges within a transformation lifecycle - from setting their strategy, ensuring regulatory compliance, through to transformative implementation.

Our Cyber in Defence team works with organisations responsible for protecting the UK's most sensitive capabilities and critical missions. We bring together cyber specialists, technologists and transformation professionals to advise, build, deliver and manage secure capabilities in complex environments. The team is growing, with an ambition to deepen our impact across Defence, National Security and the wider Defence Industrial Base (DIB). You will join a collaborative senior leadership team, work directly with clients on high-priority challenges, and help shape the next phase of a strategically important business.

About the role

You will lead the growth and delivery of KPMG's Cyber in Defence portfolio, combining credible senior client leadership with hands‑on accountability for originating revenue, converting opportunities and delivering complex cyber programmes that strengthen mission resilience and operational outcomes.

What you’ll be doing

• Own senior client relationships and act as a trusted adviser to executive, digital, technology and security leaders, influencing priorities before formal procurement begins.
• Provide executive accountability for a portfolio of complex cyber engagements, setting direction, resolving delivery risks and ensuring high‑quality outcomes, strong commercial performance and positive client advocacy.
• Translate mission, threat and operational context into differentiated cyber propositions and executable programmes, connecting outcomes to mission assurance, operational resilience and secure‑by‑design principles.
• Originate, shape and convert a sustainable pipeline across UK Defence, National Security and the DIB, taking personal accountability for profitable revenue growth.
• Lead major pursuits from qualification and solution shaping through commercial strategy, bid leadership, negotiation, mobilisation and delivery at scale.
• Apply broad cyber leadership across strategy, resilience, governance and risk, security architecture and engineering, security operations, incident response and identity, bringing in specialists where needed.
• Own engagement economics and make disciplined decisions about scope, resourcing, suppliers, quality, security and risk, including work in classified or otherwise sensitive environments.
• Build, lead and coach high‑performing, security‑cleared teams; support recruitment and succession; and create an inclusive culture based on trust, challenge, accountability and development.
• Strengthen the Cyber in Defence market position…

Skills, knowledge and experience you’ll need

• Substantial leadership experience in UK Defence, National Security, the DIB or an adjacent high‑security sector, with a clear understanding of how clients buy, govern and deliver complex change.
• Proven accountability for delivering complex cyber programmes or services, including commercial management, delivery risk, quality and senior stakeholder engagement.
• Broad and credible cyber security expertise, with depth in one or more relevant areas such as cyber strategy, resilience, security architecture and engineering, security operations, incident response, identity, cloud security or mission assurance.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and partner ecosystems through ambiguity, from early market shaping and solution design to mobilisation and delivery at scale.
• Excellent judgement and communication, with the ability to operate credibly with senior government, military and industry stakeholders and translate technical issues into clear decisions and outcomes.
• A strong track record of originating and converting material revenue in cyber security, technology or digital transformation, supported by senior client relationships and evidence of winning complex work.

Qualifications

• You must be eligible and willing to obtain and maintain the level of UK Government National Security Vetting (NSV) required for the role. Eligibility and residency requirements apply.
• Relevant cyber security, technology, engineering or business qualifications are welcome, but equivalent senior experience will be considered.