Head of Security Incident Management

Head of Security Incident Management Overview

WPP is seeking a Head of Security Incident Management to lead and mature its global Security Incident Management capabilities. This role is crucial for providing strategic, operational, and technical leadership throughout the incident response lifecycle. Reporting to the Director of Operational Security, the successful candidate will oversee the Security Incident Management function, ensuring that security incidents are managed effectively and in compliance with WPP policies and regulatory obligations.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end Security Incident Management capability across WPP.
• Lead and develop a team of Security Incident Management Leads, Senior Security Incident Responders, and Security Incident Responders.
• Establish the strategic direction for incident response, aligned with Operational Security objectives and the ASO roadmap.
• Maintain accountability for managing critical and major security incidents, acting as the senior escalation authority for Sev1 and Sev2 incidents.
• Ensure effective governance, communication, decision-making, and stakeholder engagement throughout the incident lifecycle.
• Provide executive-level updates during significant cybersecurity incidents and crisis situations.
• Define and manage the Security Incident Management strategy, roadmap, and maturity objectives.
• Develop a globally consistent incident response operating model.
• Establish and maintain incident response frameworks, methodologies, and standards.
• Drive the adoption of intelligence-led and threat-informed response capabilities.
• Ensure incident management processes support regulatory, legal, client, and contractual obligations.
• Collaborate with Security Architecture, Security Technology & Visibility, Threat Intelligence, Detection Engineering, and Automation functions to enhance response capabilities.
• Lead the transformation of Security Incident Management into an automation-first capability.
• Coordinate strategic responses during major cyber incidents and engage with external partners as needed.
• Ensure effective recovery and organizational improvement following major incidents.
• Own Security Incident Management policies, standards, procedures, and documentation.
• Chair incident review and service improvement forums.
• Define and manage Security Incident Management KPIs, KRIs, SLAs, and operational metrics.

Requirements

• Extensive experience leading enterprise-scale Security Incident Management or Incident Response functions.
• Demonstrable experience directing major cybersecurity incidents and crisis response activities.
• Strong understanding of modern incident response methodologies and governance frameworks.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary cybersecurity teams in large organizations.
• Deep technical understanding of SIEM, SOAR, EDR/XDR, and cloud security.
• Experience in defining operational metrics and continuous improvement programs.
• Ability to communicate effectively with various stakeholders.
• Proven experience in building operational security capabilities.

Benefits

• A culture that fosters extraordinary work and creativity.
• Opportunities to influence and complete large-scale projects.
• Engaging and challenging work with a team of creative problem solvers.

This position operates on a hybrid working model, with teams in the office approximately four days a week. WPP is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a culture of respect and inclusivity.

Degree Requirement: Not Specified

Visa Sponsorship May be