Head of Web Application Security & Protection

Job description

Job description

Some careers have more impact than others.
If you’re looking for a career where you can make a real impression, join HSBC and discover how valued you’ll be.

We are currently seeking an experienced professional to join our team in the role of Head of Web Application Security & Protection

Business: Cybersecurity

Principal responsibilities 
Our Technology teams work closely with HSBC’s Global Businesses and Markets to design, build and run digital services that allow millions of our customers around the world to bank quickly, simply and securely. We run and manage Technology infrastructure, datacentres and core banking systems that power the world’s leading international bank, with one of the largest technology estates in the industry.

We are looking for a Cybersecurity leader to join us to shape our long-term strategy, and turbo-charge delivery, as the accountable owner for Web Application Security & Protection (WASP) across the bank. This senior role reports directly to the Global Head of Network Security.

- Strategy: Define and maintain our global strategy for WASP, supported by engineers, platform owners, architects and Control Owners, enabling business success, meeting regulatory expectation and best practise, whilst responding to current and likely threat actor evolution.
- Delivery: Own the investment roadmap for WASP and its successful delivery across multiple partners. Ensure the transparent prioritisation of a common backlog to drive risk reduction, simplification and wider strategic needs. Ensure risk-risk trade-offs are managed, particularly risk mitigation and operational needs.
- Innovation: Empower HSBC to successfully navigate cyber risk with innovative, responsive and frictionless technologies and services, both those delivered in-house and from external partners. Foster and empower a culture of innovation, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
- Partnership: Develop with colleagues throughout technology and the business innovative technical solutions that meet both current and future business needs, ensuring the bank’s infrastructure remains scalable and resilient. Drive the shift-left of WASP in partnership with DevOps. Partner with external technology providers and security specialists to integrate best practice and leverage or build cutting-edge tooling.
- Services: define, operate and mature a business service supporting adoption and tuning of protections, as well as being a trusted advisor and point of escalation for technical and business teams managing online services, ensuring security requirements are understood and effectively implemented.
- Oversight: Ensure WASP is overseen end-to-end, robustly and throughout the organisation: from platform acquisition, service deployment through to federated operation. Drive a data-centric approach to observability and assessment, wherever possible supported by automation, measures and analytics. 
- Accountability: Ensure regulatory and risk management outcomes are being maintained or robustly managed. Ownership of High-Risk Audit, Regulator and self-identified issues. Ownership of the capability budget, balancing run and change investment. As a senior leader, contribute to and champion change across both Cybersecurity and Technology, occasionally outside of your primary remit. 
- Talent: Lead, manage, invest in, recruit and inspire a team of highly skilled and performant SMEs across the globe. A culture driven by empowerment, experimentation, learning, partnership and delivery. A place where colleagues thrive, solving meaningful problems that keep the bank and its customers safe.

Requirements

Successful candidates have proven skills and experience similar to the below:
Mindset
• An inquisitive approach, always asking how to achieve goals in a smarter and more effective way.
• An ability and interest to learn and experiment with new approaches to achieve business and cybersecurity outcomes, in different and often challenge contexts.

Effective Leadership
• Possess strong leadership skills to bring out the best in a team. This includes both direct leadership and cross-functional capabilities.
• Experience within fast-moving, complex and demanding corporate environments and able to provide appropriate direction to the team whilst dealing with ambiguity and change.
• Act as a role-model for more junior members of Cybersecurity and Technology.

Mature stakeholder management and communications skills
• Ability to engage with and influence senior peers and leadership.
• Managing, developing and retaining high-performing individuals in different geographies, often remotely.
• Proven ability to collaborate across industry, academia and government to solve complex problems.   
• Ability to prepare concise presentations, reports and updates for senior management.

Deep Technical background 
• Hands-on experience in designing and implementing web application protection strategies, leveraging tools and frameworks to secure and optimise resilient network infrastructures. 
• Robust understanding of common industry cyber security frameworks, standards, and methodologies, including PCI DSS, FFIEC guidelines, CIS and NIST standards.
• Expertise in web application security including implementing application-layer firewalls in a large-scale, complex, and global organisation. Familiarity with leading WAF solutions (e.g. AWS WAF, Akamai Kona, Cloudflare etc). 
• Expertise in API security including hardening, authentication (OAuth, token-based, etc) and gateway security. Understanding of vulnerability scanning tooling and integration with WAFs for automated protection.
• Deep understanding of web application vulnerabilities and attack patterns, include OWASP, CRS and their mitigations, and of cloud environments (e.g., AWS) and associated network security challenges and solutions.
• Awareness of advanced techniques for defending against modern threats, such as bot mitigation, automated attack prevention, and anomaly detection.
• Strong analytical skills to identify and resolve complex problems, often with risk-risk trade-offs.
• Proven experience in technology leadership roles, running high performing technology teams.
• Proven experience working in a large scale, multi-national and technologically diverse environments.
• Prior experience of Financial Institutions is not required. 

Strong Risk and Controls understanding
• Knowledge and exposure of the application of Risk and Control Management and associated frameworks, preferably from a multi-market institution.
• Ability to articulate technical threats, scenarios, controls and risks to both technical and business stakeholders. 

Effective Interpersonal Skills
• Influential, credible and persuasive, active listener, embraces HSBC Values, shows good judgement and demonstrates high level of communication skills to achieve effective stakeholder management.

Some travel will be required.

HSBCTL1/GZ*

About HSBC Technology China

We develop, implement and support software and IT services and processes that allow HSBC to remain at the forefront of high-quality banking systems.

The chosen candidate for this role will be required to undergo enhanced vetting. Subject to local laws, this will require the individual to satisfactorily pass a series of additional checks as part of the recruitment process and on an ongoing basis, if appointed to the role. HSBC Group reserves its position with regard to any steps which it may take in relation to any material adverse findings which arise either when the checks are originally completed, and/or if relevant, on an ongoing basis. For more information about the enhanced vetting for this role please contact the recruiter for this role.

You’ll achieve more when you join HSBC. 

HSBC is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a culture where all employees are valued, respected and opinions count. We take pride in providing a workplace that fosters continuous professional development, flexible working and, opportunities to grow within an inclusive and diverse environment. We encourage applications from all suitably qualified persons irrespective of, but not limited to, their gender or genetic information, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, social status, medical care leave requirements, political affiliation, people with disabilities, color, national origin, veteran status, etc., We consider all applications based on merit and suitability to the role.” 

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