Information Security Operations (SecOps) Lead

Dis-Chem Pharmacies; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Dis-Chem Pharmacies is seeking an Information Security Operations (SecOps) leader to monitor, detect and respond to security events across the technology environment. The role coordinates with external SOC/MSSP partners and internal teams to ensure continuous protection of stores, systems and data.

You will drive secure-by-design practices, oversee incident containment and recovery, and mentor squads on controls and vendor risk. Strong communication with stakeholders is essential.

Qualifications

• Degree in Information Security, IT, Risk Management, or related field, or 7+ years' experience
• 5+ years’ experience in IT security or vendor risk management, preferably in a multi-vendor environment
• Exposure to outsourced service models, SOC/MDR providers, and cloud-hosted solutions

Responsibilities

• Lead daily operation of core security tools (endpoint protection, email security, network monitoring, SIEM/SOC integrations)
• Manage outsourced SOC/MSSP providers, ensuring effective alert triage, escalation, and 24/7 coverage
• Review critical alerts and prioritize response actions; coordinate with platform squads and IT ops to address vulnerabilities and misconfigurations
• Ensure logging, monitoring, and detection coverage across applications, infrastructure, cloud, and retail environments
• Oversee end-to-end cyber incident handling (analysis, containment, recovery) with CISO, Infrastructure, Technology Resilience, and external vendors
• Maintain incident runbooks and ensure readiness for security events affecting stores, IT platforms, digital engagement, and data systems
• Conduct post-incident reviews and drive follow-up actions to reduce recurrence
• Implement and enforce secure configuration baselines for infrastructure, networks, endpoints, and cloud workloads
• Support rollout of security guardrails and 'secure-by-design' patterns within development and integration squads
• Guide security champions within squads and provide practical coaching on controls, tooling, and remediation steps
• Partner with Enterprise Architecture to validate technical designs against CISO standards

Skills

Security Operations

Incident Response

Vendor risk management

Security engineering

Cloud security

Stakeholder management

Education

Degree in Information Security

Tools

SIEM

Endpoint protection

Network monitoring

Email security

Job description

Dis-ChemPharmacies hasanopportunityavailableforanInformation Security Operations (SecOps) to Leadday-to-day security monitoring, detection, and response activities across Dis-Chem’s technology environment. Oversees operation of endpoint, network, and perimeter security tools, and manages outsourced SOC/MSSP partners providing 24/7 monitoring. Coordinates incident handling, containment, and recovery in partnership with Technology Resilience and Infrastructure teams. Ensures consistent application of CISO policies, security engineering standards, and “shift-left” practices across platform squads. Builds execution capability in a small, high-dependency environment with heavy reliance on external vendors

Requirements

• Degree in Information Security, IT, Risk Management, or related field, or 7 + years' experience in similar role
• 5+ years’ experience in IT security or vendor risk management, preferably in a multi-vendor environment
• Exposure to outsourced service models, SOC/MDR providers, and cloud-hostedsolutions.

Responsibilities

Security Operations & Monitoring

• Lead daily operation of core security tools (endpoint protection, email security, network monitoring, SIEM/SOC integrations)
• Manage outsourced SOC/MSSP providers, ensuring effective alert triage, escalation, and 24/7 coverage
• Review critical alerts and prioritize response actions; coordinate with platform squads and IT ops to address vulnerabilities and misconfigurations
• Ensure logging, monitoring, and detection coverage across applications, infrastructure, cloud, and retail environments

Incident Management & Response

• Oversee end-to-end cyber incident handling (analysis, containment, recovery) with CISO, Infrastructure, Technology Resilience, and external vendors
• Maintain incident runbooks and ensure readiness for security events affecting stores, IT platforms, digital engagement, and data systems
• Conduct post-incident reviews and drive follow-up actions to reduce recurrence.

Security Engineering & Execution

• Implement and enforce secure configuration baselines for infrastructure, networks, endpoints, and cloud workloads
• Support rollout of security guardrails and “secure-by-design” patterns within development and integration squads
• Guide security champions within squads and provide practical coaching on controls, tooling, and remediation steps
• Partner with Enterprise Architecture to validate technical designs against CISO standards

Competencies

Domain Expertise

• Strong understanding of third-party risk, vendor security controls, and security assessment methods
• Knowledge of risk domains relevant to retail pharmacy (hosting, data protection, resilience, availability, integrations)
• Familiarity with regulatory and contractual securityrequirements.

Leadership & Commercial Acumen

• Ability to influence vendors and internal stakeholders toward secure-by-design decisions
• Strong negotiation and communication skills to articulate risks and requiredmitigations.

Key Performance Indicators

• Vendors assessed and risk-rated before onboarding
• Remediation closure rate for vendor findings
• Contribution to culture, accountability, engagement, and continuous improvement
• Reduction in vendor-related incidents or outages
• Quality and completeness of vendor risk documentation
• Stakeholder satisfaction with vendor risk process

Dis-Chem Pharmacies is an equal opportunity employer. Dis-Chem’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process aligned to Dis-Chem’s Employment Equity & Transformation Strategy. Dis-Chem actively supports the recruitment of People with Disabilities.