Director of Cyber Defence and Operations

Primary Details
Time Type: Full time

Worker Type: Employee

• Location: Sydney or Melbourne
• Type: Permanent, full time
• Hybrid role, Happy to talk flexible working

The opportunity

• Influential senior cyber role; shape and deliver high-impact security initiatives
• International remit supporting QBE's global operations
• It's Our Moment and Yours Too

Your new role
As Director of Cyber Defence & Operations, you will lead the strategic direction and operational execution of enterprise-wide cybersecurity initiatives. This role is critical in safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of QBE's information assets, ensuring resilience against evolving threats and vulnerabilities.

Reporting to QBE's Chief Digital Security & Resilience Officer, in this role you will be responsible for building and maintaining a robust cyber defence capability, driving awareness and engagement across the business, and securing investment for key initiatives. The role requires strong stakeholder engagement, strategic foresight, a deep understanding of global security frameworks, and leadership skills to lead a geographically dispersed team.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead the development and execution of QBE's Enterprise Information Risk & Security Strategy.
• Oversee delivery of enterprise technology initiatives, ensuring alignment with budget, timelines, and quality standards.
• Manage and investigate security incidents, ensuring timely and effective resolution.
• Build strong relationships with QBE's global business units to ensure expectations around service delivery are met.
• Provide consultancy on information security projects and coordinate risk and compliance requirements.
• Oversee the Security Operations Centre (SOC) to ensure efficient detection, analysis, and response to cybersecurity threats.
• Implement and manage data protection strategies to prevent unauthorized access, disclosure, or loss of sensitive information.
• Manage vendor relationships, ensuring SLAs are met and KPIs tracked.
• Conduct regular vulnerability assessments across QBE's internal and third-party environments.

About You
This is an opportunity for a highly experienced cyber security professional who has ideally worked at the CISO level, or led cyber operations within major global matrixed organisations. You will have worked in regulated environments, ideally financial services.

Ideal skills and experience include:

• Experience with security and risk frameworks such as ISO27001, ISO31000, NIST800, and PCI-DSS.
• Proven track record in a senior information security role.
• Global experience highly regarded.
• Experience working with outsourced service providers.
• Tertiary qualification or extensive equivalent experience in a relevant field.
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills to build effective relationships with QBE's divisions.

About QBE
We can never really predict what's around the corner, but at QBE we're asking the right questions to enable a more resilient future – helping those around us build strength and embrace change to their advantage. We're an international insurer that's building momentum towards realising our vision of becoming the most consistent and innovative risk partner.

And our people will be at the centre of our success. We're proud to work together, and encourage each other enable resilience for our customers, our environment, our economies and our communities. With more than more than 13,000 people working across 27 countries, we're big enough to make a real impact, but small enough to provide a friendly workplace, where people are down-to-earth, passionate and kind.

We believe this is our moment – what if it was yours too? Your career at QBE — let's make it happen

Benefits
We offer a range of benefits to help provide holistic support for your work life, whatever your circumstances. As a QBE employee you will have access to and benefit from:

• 'Hybrid Working' – a mix of working from home and in the office to enhance your work/life balance
• Life Leave, supporting the life events we all experience, leaving your annual leave for rest
• Free holistic wellbeing coaching, nutritional, confidential counselling, financial and legal advice
• 18 weeks' gender-equal flexible leave for all new parents, including paid super
• Voluntary super contributions and company matching
• Income protection insurance & reimbursed Death and Total Permanent Disability insurance premiums
• A range of discounts on insurance products, car hire, hotels, goods and services

Rewards & Recognition
We value our employee's experience with us and are proud to have been recognised for the following awards:

• 2025 Winner of Excellence in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award at the Insurance Business Australia Awards for our program
• 2023 Most Inclusive Workplace at the Australian HR Institute (AHRI) Awards
• 2021 LinkedIn Top Employer & HRD Employer of Choice
• 2020 Best Workplace Diversity & Inclusion and Excellence Award for Best Health & Wellbeing at the Australian HR Awards
• Platinum employer on the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) – the definitive national benchmark on LGBTQI+ workplace inclusion
• Ranked in the top ten in the AAGE Top Graduate Employers 2025 for medium sized program as voted by graduates
• Family Friendly Workplace accredited employer since 2021

Apply now
APPLY NOW and let's make it happen
Click APPLY to submit your application. Successful applicants will need to complete work rights, police and credit checks through our online provider as a condition of employment.

QBE recognise the value of diverse perspectives and experience. We are committed to an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and respected for who they are. If we can provide support with access requirements, alternative work arrangements or you would like to connect with one of our networks please contact us at

Skills:
Critical Thinking, Cyber Defense, Cyber Threat Intelligence, Influencing, Information Security, Information Technology Applications, Intentional collaboration, Managing performance, Navigating ambiguity, Risk Management, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Leadership, Strategic Planning, Technology Operations

How to Apply:

To submit your application, click "Apply" and follow the step by step process.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

QBE is an equal opportunity employer and is required to comply with equal employment opportunity legislation in each jurisdiction it operates.