Information Security Lead, Africa at Unilever

Job Requisition ID: R-62916

Role Purpose

• This Information Security Lead role supports the BISO in securing Unilever’s business in Africa.
• This includes cyber risk assessment across the region, including for third parties, representing to the regional businesses our central security services, applying those services to determine gaps in the regional security posture, consulting on appropriate risk mitigation approaches, managing the regional security exceptions, cyber incident response in the region, and elevating and reporting into the central Cyber Security function.
• These activities will be conducted with a ‘Risk Based’ approach to help individual businesses manage cyber risk in their area.

Role Summary

• A vacancy exists for the Information Security Lead (ISL) for Africa within Unilever’s cyber function.
• The successful candidate will be responsible for the Africa region achieving and maintaining Cyber Security objectives, standards, awareness, and compliance, defined using a ‘Risk Based’ approach.
• This leadership position will report to the regional Business Information Security Lead (BISO).

Key areas under this role delivered by the ISL team include:

• Cyber security solution engineering and risk advisory across Unilever businesses, assuring appropriate risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and reporting.
• Ensuring the deployment and running of security tooling in Africa, in conjunction with the Tech & Ops team.
• Ensuring the Security Operations Centers (SOC) have full visibility across the ecosystem and actively participate in incident response at the direction of the Head of Incident Response.
• Developing and delivering risk reports for Africa.
• Tailoring cyber training and awareness in Africa in alignment and partnership with the Cyber Training and Awareness Lead.
• Leading cyber cultural transformation across Africa in line with our Security Strategy and Transformation program.
• Maintaining and effectively directing the timely closure of security exceptions in businesses while reporting status to the Governance, Risk, Assurance and Compliance (GRAC) team.
• Providing standards and controls feedback, based on local implementation requirements to the GRAC team to help shape global policies and standards.
• Partner with the BISO for Supply Chain and BISO for R&D to ensure appropriate cyber risk mitigation for those functional areas within their region of responsibility.
• Testing business continuity planning (BCP) and disaster recovery (DR) in the region.
• The position calls for a strategic individual with strong communication and influencing skills, who can roll their sleeves up tactically to understand business operations, digital transformation, cloud, applications, information technology (IT), operational technology (OT), internet of things (IoT) and Cybersecurity.
• This leader will utilize her/his knowledge and experience to assist with the implementation of an effective global cyber security program that ensures the overall cyber security posture of the company is aligned with business needs and balanced to protect in the evolving threat landscape.
• This role supports the Global CISO in building strong relationships with internal leaders and senior executives, along with the other senior Cyber Security leadership team, on matters of cyber security and cyber risk, to foster the execution of cyber security as a business enabler.

Main Accountabilities

• Responsible for cyber security solution engineering and advisory across Unilever businesses in Africa.
• Responsible for ensuring SOC visibility across Africa.
• Responsible for cyber risk reporting within Africa to the CISO and to the business leaders.
• Responsible for tailoring and delivering cyber training and awareness across Africa.
• Responsible for encouraging and leading the cyber champions network participation across Africa.
• Responsible for leading cyber cultural transformation efforts across Africa.
• Responsible for maintaining and effectively directing timely closure of security exceptions in businesses across Africa.
• Responsible for providing standards and controls feedback based on local implementation requirements/restrictions in order to refine global policies, standards and controls requirements.
• Partner with corporate audit for planned cyber security audit review across their region of responsibility.
• Identify, categorize and risk assess third parties for cyber security implications across their region of responsibility.
• Attract, develop, and lead a team of Information Security Leads and subject matter experts across the region, as planned for in the central cyber security budget and headcount plan.

Key Skills and Relevant Experience
Skills:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and able to be understood by both technical and non-technical personnel.
• Proven ability to lead and motivate a senior team.
• The ability to lead through accountability with delegated responsibilities.
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities and multiple tasks.
• Stakeholder management and interpersonal skills at both a technical and non-technical level.
• Outstanding influencing ability.
• Ability to work in a collaborative environment.
• Outstanding critical reasoning and problem-solving skills – sticking to the problem until it is resolved.
• Customer-orientated, whether responding to queries or delivering new services.
• Skills in Programme and Project Management.

Experience:

• The role holder will have practical experience in Cyber Security.
• Experience of leading major programs across a global organization.
• Experience and proven track record in Cyber Security.
• Experience in providing thought leadership, and driving a complex change agenda, and an ability to challenge the “status quo”.
• Excellent strategic and operational business awareness, with a deep understanding of the key drivers, levers, issues and constraints of digital businesses.
• Experience within a customer focused environment.
• Knowledge of the applications or the technical landscape within the domain and experience of delivering Cyber Security projects to its demands.

Behaviors:

• Candidates would be required to demonstrate the Unilever Standards of Leadership & live the Values through showing the following behaviors:
• Agility – Flexes leadership style and plans to meet changing situations with urgency. Learns from the past, envisions the future, has a healthy dissatisfaction with the status quo.
• Talent Catalyst – Develops and magnifies the power of people. Creates an inclusive climate, empowering everyone to be at their best. Investing in people, coaching individuals, and teams to realize their full potential. Continually inspires powerful collaboration.
• Passion for High Performance – Inspires the energy needed to win, generating intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed.