Head of Product Security

M-KOPA; City Of London; Remote; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A global fintech company is seeking a leader for its Application Security and Threat Intelligence teams. You will drive strategies to protect the platform that enables financial inclusion for millions, focusing on proactive defense and collaboration across teams. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in vulnerability research and a track record in leading successful security functions.

Benefits

Professional development programs

Family-friendly policies

Flexible working arrangements

Wellbeing support

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience in product/application security with proven expertise.
• Demonstrated success in leading high-performing security teams.
• Proven track record building threat intelligence programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead Application Security and Threat Intelligence teams.
• Drive comprehensive security strategies for the platform.
• Oversee threat modeling and vulnerability research efforts.

Skills

Vulnerability Research

Penetration Testing

Security Architecture

Threat Intelligence

Android Security

Android security

Hardware hacking

Tools

n8n

Security Automation Platforms

Job description

Lead our Application Security and Threat Intelligence teams while driving comprehensive security strategies that protect M-KOPA's platform and enable secure product development at scale.

The Impact

Your leadership will directly protect the platform that serves over 7 million customers who have accessed more than $2 billion in credit. We've already helped transform lives across an entire continent - now we need you to secure the systems and products that make that transformation possible. It's your chance to be part of something that's literally transforming lives across an entire continent🌍

The Opportunity

🎯 Mission-driven security: Protect the platform enabling financial inclusion for millions of Every Day Earners across Africa

🏆 Global recognition: Join a company named by TIME 100 as one of the world's most influential and by the Financial Times as Africa's fastest-growing for 4 consecutive years (2022-2025)

🚀 Scale challenges: Lead security for a platform processing over 1.5 million payments daily across 5 markets

🌱 Environmental impact: We're carbon-negative, having displaced over 2.1 million tonnes of emissions

What You'll Do

At M-KOPA, you'll lead both Application Security and Threat Intelligence teams while driving comprehensive security strategies that align with business objectives. Our security teams own their solutions end-to-end, from threat modelling and vulnerability research to production monitoring and incident response. Join us in combining cutting‑edge security practices with purpose‑driven leadership that makes digital and financial inclusion possible across Africa.

Team Leadership:

• Lead Application Security and Threat Intelligence teams
• Build and scale specialised security capabilities
• Mentor talented security professionals

Technical Focus:

• Offensive security including hardware hacking and Android exploitation
• Threat intelligence collection and automation
• Vulnerability research and penetration testing
• Security workflow automation using platforms like n8n

Strategic Responsibilities:

• Threat modelling and risk assessments
• Red team exercise coordination
• Executive partnership and security-to-business translation

Our Security Approach 🔒

• Proactive defence: Combining offensive security research with threat intelligence to stay ahead of emerging risks
• Automation-first: Building automated security workflows and threat intelligence systems for scale
• Business enablement: Translating security requirements into business value and growth opportunities
• Technical excellence: Hands‑on leadership that maintains deep expertise in vulnerability research and exploitation
• Cross-functional influence: Partnering across product, engineering, and executive teams to embed security throughout the organisation

What You Need

You’ll bring exceptional leadership and technical depth to shape security at the intersection of offensive security, threat intelligence, and product development. This role offers unique growth potential through executive visibility, cross‑functional influence, and direct impact on product security at scale.

Required Experience:

• Hands‑on experience in product/application security with proven expertise in vulnerability research, penetration testing, and security architecture
• Experience leading and scaling security teams with demonstrated success building high‑performing Application Security and Threat Intelligence functions
• Proven track record building threat intelligence programmes including automation platforms like n8n and hands‑on experience with Android security and hardware hacking

Location & Benefits

• Fully remote role within UTC -1 to UTC +3 time zones
• Work with diverse teams across UK, Europe, and Africa
• Professional development programmes and coaching partnerships
• Family‑friendly policies and flexible working arrangements
• Wellbeing support and career growth opportunities
• Executive visibility and strategic influence across the organisation

Our Mission 🌍

We create financial inclusion for the traditionally excluded through a fair, flexible, customer‑centric financing model. We strive to drive greater inclusion of women, youth, and low‑income communities.

Our Impact 💚

Our technology has created measurable change:

• Connected 📱: 2.5 million first‑time mobile internet users connected
• Prosperous 💰: 70% of customers use M‑KOPA products for income generation, with 35,000+ livelihoods created for agents
• Green 🌱: 2.155 million tonnes of CO₂ avoided through clean energy products, with over 127,000 circular economy products provided

Ready to lead security teams that protect the platform enabling real‑world financial inclusion?

Why M‑KOPA?

At M‑KOPA, we empower our people to own their careers through diverse development programs, coaching partnerships, and on‑the‑job training. We support individual journeys with family‑friendly policies, prioritize well‑being, and embrace flexibility.

Join us in shaping the future of M‑KOPA as we grow together. Explore more at m-kopa.com.

Recognized four times by the Financial Times as one Africa's fastest growing companies (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025) and by TIME100 Most influential companies in the world 2023 and 2024, we've served over 6 million customers, unlocking $1.5 billion in cumulative credit for the unbanked across Africa.

Important Notice

M-KOPA is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained staff. Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

M-KOPA explicitly prohibits the use of Forced or Child Labour and respects the rights of its employees to agree to terms and conditions of employment voluntarily, without coercion, and freely terminate their employment on appropriate notice. M-KOPA shall ensure that its Employees are of legal working age and shall comply with local laws for youth employment or student work, such as internships or apprenticeships.

M-KOPA does not collect/charge any money as a pre‑employment or post‑employment requirement. This means that we never ask for ‘recruitment fees’, ‘processing fees’, ‘interview fees’, or any other kind of money in exchange for offer letters or interviews at any time during the hiring process.

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Shortlisting and interviews will take place at any stage during the recruitment process. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a suitable candidate is selected before the advertised closing date.