Senior Director – Cyber Security / Chief Cyber Security Officer (CCSO)- UAE- National

Role Overview

The Senior Director – Cybersecurity / Chief Cybersecurity Officer (CCSO) will lead the enterprise-wide cybersecurity strategy, governance, and execution, with a strong emphasis on Red Team operations, offensive security, and threat simulation. This role requires a proven leader who can balance proactive defence measures with strategic risk management, ensuring resilience against advanced persistent threats (APTs), cybercrime, and nation-state attacks.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership
• Define, implement, and continuously evolve the organisation’s cybersecurity vision, roadmap, and operating model.
• Serve as the principal advisor to senior leadership and the Board on all cybersecurity-related matters.
• Red Team & Offensive Security
• Establish and lead a world-class Red Team to conduct advanced adversarial simulations, penetration testing, and social engineering campaigns.
• Provide actionable insights from simulated attacks to strengthen defences across infrastructure, cloud, applications, and endpoints.
• Security Operations & Threat Management
• Oversee Security Operations Center (SOC), Threat Intelligence, Incident Response, and Forensics functions.
• Ensure timely detection, analysis, and mitigation of threats and vulnerabilities.
• Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC)
• Develop and enforce cybersecurity policies, frameworks, and compliance standards (e.g., ISO 27001, NIST, GDPR, PCI-DSS).
• Ensure regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Partner with technology, risk, compliance, and business leaders to align security strategies with enterprise objectives.
• Lead executive and board-level reporting on cyber risk posture.
• Team Development
• Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing team of cybersecurity professionals, including Red Team, Blue Team, and Purple Team members.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and proactive defense.

Qualifications & Experience

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science, Information Security, Cybersecurity, or related field.
• Experience:
• 15+ years in cybersecurity with at least 7 years in a senior leadership role.
• Proven expertise in Red Team operations, offensive security testing, and adversary simulation.
• Strong background in incident response, cyber threat intelligence, and penetration testing.
• Experience in regulated industries (finance, telecom, government, energy) is highly preferred.
• Certifications (Preferred):
• Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP), Offensive Security Certified Expert (OSCE), GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN), GIAC Red Teaming (GRT), CISSP, CISM, CISA.

Key Skills

• Advanced knowledge of attack vectors, TTPs (MITRE ATTACK), malware analysis, and exploitation frameworks.
• Strong understanding of cloud security (AWS, Azure, GCP), zero-trust architecture, and identity & access management.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to translate technical threats into executive-level business risk.

Why Join Us?

• Opportunity to define and lead a global cybersecurity strategy.
• Direct influence at the C-suite and Board level.
• Work with cutting-edge security technologies and a highly skilled Red Team.