Sophos2mo ago

Senior Director, Threat Operations

AustraliaRemotePermanentsenior

OperationsSecurityOtherDirectorOperations Director

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Quick Summary

Overview

About Us Sophos is a cybersecurity leader defending 600,000 organizations globally with an AI-driven platform and expert-led services.

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About Us

Sophos is a cybersecurity leader defending 600,000 organizations globally with an AI-driven platform and expert-led services. Sophos meets organizations wherever they are in their security maturity and grows with them to defeat cyberattacks. Its solutions combine machine learning, automation, and real-time threat intelligence with frontline human expertise from Sophos X-Ops to deliver advanced, 24/7 threat monitoring, detection, and response.

Sophos offers industry-leading managed detection and response (MDR) alongside a comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity technologies — including endpoint, network, email, and cloud security, extended detection and response (XDR), identity threat detection and response (ITDR), and next-gen SIEM. Together with expert advisory services, these capabilities help organizations proactively reduce risk and respond faster, with the visibility and scalability needed to stay ahead of evolving threats.

Sophos goes to market with a global partner ecosystem, including Managed Service Providers (MSPs), Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), resellers and distributors, marketplace integrations, and cyber risk partners, giving organizations the flexibility to choose trusted relationships when securing their business. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

Role Summary

Sophos is seeking a highly experienced and dynamic Senior Director of Threat Operations to lead the global strategy, vision, and operational execution of our Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Security Operations functions. This senior leader will be accountable for driving organizational performance, operational excellence, and customer outcomes across a 24x7 global threat response capability.

The Senior Director will partner closely with Product, Engineering, Sales, and executive leadership to evolve Sophos’ MDR service, strengthen our competitive position, and enhance customer trust. This role requires a leader who is both strategic and deeply operational, capable of scaling teams, maturing processes, and guiding transformation across a complex and high growth security business.

Define and execute the global strategy for Threat Operations, ensuring alignment with Sophos’ broader business objectives, product roadmap, and customer commitments.

Lead multiregion SOCs and Threat Ops functions with a focus on operational scale, service reliability, innovation, and measurable customer outcomes.

Own operational OKRs, performance targets, and continuous improvement initiatives across global teams.

Oversee global MDR operational delivery, including threat detection, response, threat hunting, automation, and analyst workflows.

Drive transformation programs that enhance efficiency, tooling, quality, and incident handling maturity.

Partner with Engineering and Product to shape roadmap priorities, requirements, and future service capabilities.

Own capacity modeling, workforce planning, and longterm staffing strategies for a global 24x7x365 operation.

Act as a sponsor for strategic customers, ensuring clarity, trust, and superior support during major incidents and escalations.

Engage with executive leadership (internal and external) to represent Threat Operations, service posture, and strategic initiatives.

Drive customer retention and service expansion in partnership with Sales and Customer Success.

Collaborate deeply with Threat Research and Labs to operationalize advanced detection capabilities.

Influence longterm architecture and design decisions for SOC tools, data pipelines, automation, and telemetry.

Champion security operations best practices across internal teams and customerfacing functions.

Build and scale highperforming global teams, including frontline analysts, leads, managers, directors, and senior technical staff.

Develop leadership bench strength, establish succession plans, and drive a culture of excellence, accountability, and innovation.

Create and maintain a global operational training strategy, including career development frameworks.

Drive established policies, procedures, and standards as a means of producing repeatable outcomes as they relate to Managed Detection and Response goals and objectives

Perform team member assessment, development, and implementation of continuous improvement practices

10+ years of experience in cybersecurity, with 5+ years in senior operational leadership roles (Director/Senior Director or equivalent).

Proven experience leading global SOC/MDR operations at scale across multiple time zones and operational functions.

Strong executive presence with the ability to drive alignment, influence decisions, and communicate effectively with Csuite stakeholders.

Deep understanding of modern attacker tradecraft, detection engineering, threat hunting, and incident response workflows.

Demonstrated success in transforming operational organizations, including service modernization, tooling evolution, automation, and process redesign.

Experience partnering with Product & Engineering to guide roadmap development and service capabilities.

Strong analytical and KPIdriven mindset; proficient in leveraging metrics to drive operational performance.

Preferred

Background influencing or owning budget, P&L elements, or multimilliondollar program portfolios.

Experience in highgrowth SaaS or MDR providers.

Familiarity with frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK, NIST CSF, and cyber defense maturity models.