Security Operations Lead

Description

**Brennan. Where true performance thrives.** At Brennan, we believe that *how* technology is delivered is every bit as important as *what* the technology is. We focus on creating real and relevant value for customers with solutions that fit their specific needs and always reflect their true interests. It’s a claim backed by our **True Performance System** – a way of working engineered to get us closer, and deliver better, for our customers and their actual experience of technology. **Why join Brennan** True performance for our customers starts with a true belief in our people. It’s why we’ve structured our business to help our teams, and their talents, shine bright. It's why we’ve created a workplace where people of all backgrounds, beliefs and experiences are welcomed and empowered. And it’s why we’ve built an organisation where real innovation makes a genuine impact and generates true rewards for our team members. **True rewards** In addition to competitive remuneration, Brennan offers extensive benefits, including: * Training and certification bonuses * Culture Awards that recognise excellence * Brennan Daredevils – our annual, all\-expenses paid trip awarded to our top performers and outstanding contributors * Vibrant, fun social activities * Discounted hardware and software * An environment that embraces learning and development **The Role:** * Develop and grow the Security Operations team so that it delivers consistent, high\-quality outcomes for the customers, day in and day out. * Responsible for the day\-to\-day leadership of the Security Operations team, the operational health of the services they deliver, and the ongoing development of team members. * Work closely with the Head of Cyber Operations, peer leaders across the Cybersecurity Practice, and Service Delivery Managers to ensure customer SLAs are met, escalations are handled well, and the team is set up to succeed. **Role Responsibilities:** **People Leadership \& Development:** * Lead, coach and develop the Security Operations team – setting clear expectations, giving regular feedback, and holding team members accountable for their performance and growth. * Run regular one\-to\-ones, performance conversations and development planning for every direct report – making time for people, not just tasks. * Identify capability gaps in the team and build a development plan that closes them – through training, certification pathways, mentoring and exposure to new work. * Build and sustain a culture of psychological safety, ownership and continuous improvement within the team. * Partner with talent acquisition and the Head of Cyber Operations on hiring, onboarding and retention – making sure the team has the right people in the right roles. * Manage poor performance and behavioural issues directly and fairly – with support from the Head of Cyber Operations and People \& Culture. **Operational Leadership:** * Own day\-to\-day operational delivery of Security Operations services – ensuring SLAs, response times and quality standards are consistently met across all customers. * Manage rosters, shift coverage and capacity planning across a 24x7 Security Operations function – balancing service demand with team wellbeing. * Own escalations and major incidents – coordinating the team’s response, communicating with internal and customer stakeholders, and driving incidents to resolution without taking over the technical work yourself. * Track and report on team and service performance – using metrics, dashboards and trend analysis to make informed decisions and surface issues early. * Drive continuous improvement of operational processes, runbooks, automation and tooling – sponsoring the work, not doing it personally. * Maintain alignment with Brennan’s ISO 27001 obligations, customer contractual commitments and the wider Cybersecurity Practice strategy. * Lead through evidence and judgement – not by being the most technical person in the room. Trust your team to do the work and intervene only when leadership is genuinely required. **Service \& Stakeholder Outcomes:** * Build strong working relationships across the Cybersecurity Practice, Service Delivery, Sales and the wider Brennan business – representing the Security Operations team and advocating for what it needs to succeed. * Engage with customers in service reviews, escalations and governance forums – speaking to the performance of the service, not delivering technical consultancy. * Partner with peer leaders across the Cybersecurity Practice (Security Engineering, GRC, Advisory) to ensure smooth handovers, consistent standards and a single experience for the customer. * Stay current on the threat landscape, AI\-driven attack and defence trends, and how regulatory expectations (Essential 8, SOCI, Privacy Act, ISO 27001\) are evolving – so you can make sound decisions for the team and the service. **Key Competencies and Qualifications Required:** * 5\+ years leading technical teams, ideally in a Security Operations, SOC, MDR or managed security services environment. * A working understanding of the modern security stack – EDR/XDR, SIEM/SOAR, identity, email security, cloud and AI\-assisted detection – sufficient to lead the team and represent the service credibly to customers. * Experience running 24x7 operational services to defined SLAs – including rosters, escalation paths, major incident management and continuous service improvement. * Familiarity with industry frameworks such as NIST CSF, MITRE ATT\&CK, Essential 8 and ISO 27001 – enough to set direction and assure the team’s work, not to perform assessments yourself. * People leadership credentials – formal training, coaching qualifications or demonstrated lived experience – combined with industry\-recognised security certifications (CISSP, CISM, SSCP or equivalent) viewed favourably. * Demonstrated experience leading, developing and retaining technical teams – with a track record of growing people, not just delivering work through them. * Discipline to operate at the leadership altitude – resisting the temptation to dive into hands\-on engineering, configuration or consultancy when it is not your job. * Sound judgement on when to step in, when to coach, and when to let a team member work through something themselves – understanding that doing the work for someone is not developing them. * Strong written and verbal communication – able to translate technical performance into business language for executives, customers and SDMs. * Composure under pressure – able to lead the team through major incidents, customer escalations and shifting priorities without losing focus on people. * Commercial awareness – able to balance customer expectations, contractual commitments and team capacity, and to escalate trade\-offs clearly when they arise. * Proactive mindset that champions Brennan’s values in every interaction – with customers, the team and across the business. **Brennan** is an equal opportunity employer.