Head of Security Operations Center (SOC)

Location

Malaysia

Employment Type

Full-Time

Experience Required

10+ Years in Cybersecurity, with at least 5 years leading SOC or Incident Response teams, preferably within Banking/Financial Services.

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Head of Security Operations Center (SOC) to lead and oversee the Bank's cyber defense capabilities. The successful candidate will be responsible for the strategic leadership, governance, and operational excellence of the SOC, ensuring effective threat detection, incident response, threat intelligence, and cyber resilience aligned with regulatory requirements and industry best practices.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Define and execute the SOC strategy, roadmap, and maturity improvement plan.
• Establish and optimize SOC operating models (in-house, hybrid, MSSP).
• Drive continuous improvement across detection, response, threat hunting, automation, and intelligence functions.

SOC Operations & Incident Response

• Lead 24x7 security monitoring and incident response operations.
• Oversee major cyber incident investigations, crisis management, and post-incident reviews.
• Ensure effective detection engineering, threat modeling, and forensic investigation practices.

Threat Intelligence & Threat Hunting

• Lead threat intelligence and threat hunting programs.
• Monitor emerging cyber threats, TTPs, insider threats, and fraud-related activities.
• Integrate threat intelligence into SOC monitoring and response workflows.

Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with Bank Negara RMiT, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, FFIEC, and other regulatory requirements.
• Oversee audit readiness, regulatory reporting, and SOC governance activities.
• Define SOC policies, procedures, KPIs, SLAs, and operational metrics.

Technology & Modernization

• Own SOC technology architecture including SIEM, SOAR, EDR, NDR, Threat Intelligence Platforms, and Cloud Security solutions.
• Drive automation and orchestration initiatives to improve SOC efficiency and reduce MTTD/MTTR.
• Collaborate with Cyber Engineering and IT teams to enhance monitoring and detection capabilities.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Lead and mentor SOC Managers, Incident Responders, Threat Hunters, and Security Analysts.
• Develop talent pipelines, succession planning, and capability-building programs.
• Present cyber risk updates, SOC performance, and threat landscape insights to senior leadership, Risk Committees, and executive stakeholders.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity, Information Security, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 10+ years of cybersecurity experience with at least 5 years managing SOC or Incident Response teams.
• Strong experience in Security Operations, Threat Intelligence, Threat Hunting, and Incident Response.
• Hands-on expertise in SIEM, SOAR, EDR, NDR, Cloud Security, and Security Monitoring technologies.
• Strong understanding of banking regulations, cyber risk management, and security governance.
• Experience managing cyber crises and executive-level stakeholder communications.

Preferred Certifications

• CISSP
• CISM
• CCSP
• GIAC Certifications (GCIA, GCIH, GCTI, GMON, GRID)
• GCFA / GREM

Key Skills

SOC Leadership, Security Operations Center, Incident Response, Threat Intelligence, Threat Hunting, SIEM, SOAR, EDR, NDR, Cybersecurity Operations, Cloud Security, Digital Forensics, Security Governance, Risk Management, Banking Security, Cyber Resilience, MITRE ATT&CK, NIST, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, Bank Negara RMiT.