Security Operations Lead - Engine by Starling

At Engine by Starling, we are on a mission to find and work with leading banks all around the world who have the ambition to build rapid growth businesses, on our technology. 

Engine is Starling's software-as-a-service (SaaS) business, the technology that was built to power Starling Bank, and two years ago we split out as a separate business. 

Starling Bank has seen exceptional growth and success, and a large part of that is down to the fact that we have built our own modern technology from the ground up. This SaaS technology platform is now available to banks and financial institutions all around the world, enabling them to benefit from the innovative digital features, and efficient back-office processes that has helped achieve Starling's success.

As a company, everyone is expected to roll up their sleeves to help deliver great outcomes for our clients. We are an engineering led company and we’re looking for someone who will be excited by the potential for Engine’s technology to transform banking in different markets around the world.

Hybrid Working

We have a Hybrid approach to working here at Engine - our preference is that you're located within a commutable distance of one of our offices so that we're able to interact and collaborate in person. 

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Security Operations Lead to join our growing security team. This is a critical role responsible for significantly enhancing our security operations capabilities, working closely with internal stakeholders and external service providers to ensure the robust protection of our assets and data.  

You will play a pivotal role in shaping our security posture, driving continuous improvement, and embedding our security needs and requirements across all operational facets, particularly within our outsourced security services.

What you'll get to do:

Strategic Leadership: 

• Develop and execute the strategy for our Security Operations Center (SOC) and incident response capabilities, aligning with overall business objectives and risk appetite.
• Ensure consistent implementation of Information Security Policies and Standards within Engine.

Service Provider Management: Act as the primary point of contact and lead for managing relationships with external security service providers.  This includes:

• Embedding our security requirements, SLAs, and KPIs into service contracts.
• Regularly reviewing service performance, ensuring adherence to contractual obligations and delivering expected security outcomes.
• Driving the continuous improvement of services, identifying gaps, and ensuring our evolving needs are met.
• Ensuring seamless integration of external services with our internal security processes and tools.

Security Operations Enhancement:

• Lead the development of our security monitoring, detection, and incident response procedures and playbooks, leading to enhanced maturity.
• Work with our service provider to ensure detection rules/logic are appropriate to our needs
• Manage and optimize the utilization of security tools and technologies, including SIEM, EDR, SOAR, and vulnerability scanners, while guaranteeing the proper intake of telemetry data into the SIEM system.
• Drive the automation of security tasks and workflows to improve efficiency and effectiveness to meet our growing certification and compliance needs.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive incident response plans, ensuring regular testing and readiness.
• Lead incident response efforts during major security incidents, coordinating internal and external teams.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting on security posture, incidents, and operational metrics to leadership.

Team Collaboration & Mentorship:

• Collaborate closely with internal shared services, engineering, and business units to integrate security best practices..Work closely with shared services, engineering, and business units to incorporate security best practices.

Threat Intelligence:

• Stay abreast of the latest security threats, vulnerabilities, and industry trends.
• Integrate threat intelligence into our security operations to proactively identify and mitigate risks.

Risk Management & Compliance:  Identify , assess, and mitigate cyber security risks, ensuring alignment with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards.

Requirements

Essential

• Minimum of 8-10 years of experience working within Security Operations, with at least 3 years in a leadership or lead role managing security operations, preferably with experience overseeing MSSPs/external providers.
• Deep understanding and hands-on experience with a broad range of security technologies including SIEM, EDR, XDR, cloud security, vulnerability management tools, and incident response platforms.
• Strong practical experience in leading and managing security incidents from detection to resolution, including forensics and post-incident analysis.
• Proven ability to lead and manage the full lifecycle of security incidents, encompassing detection, resolution, forensics, and post-incident analysis.
• Demonstrable knowledge of industry standards such as ISO27001, PCI DSS and 3DS and NIST.
• Knowledge of relevant regulations such as GDPR, NIS2  and DORA.

Desired

• Relevant industry certifications such as CISSP, CISM, GCIH, GCIA, CEH, or equivalent.
• Experience in threat contextualisation and applying threat intelligence to all ingested services.

Interview process

Interviewing is a two way process and we want you to have the time and opportunity to get to know us, as much as we are getting to know you! Our interviews are conversational and we want to get the best from you, so come with questions and be curious. In general you can expect the below, following a chat with one of our Talent Team:

• Stage 1 - 45 mins with BISO
• Stage 2 - 60 min with Peers
• Stage 3 - Final with CTO

Benefits

• 33 days holiday (including public holidays, which you can take when it works best for you)
• An extra day’s holiday for your birthday
• Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
• 16 hours paid volunteering time a year
• Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme
• Life insurance at 4x your salary & group income protection
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton
• Generous family-friendly policies
• Incentives refer a friend scheme
• Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
• Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing

About Us

You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren’t sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway. We’re on a mission to radically reshape banking – and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we’re proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.

Engine by Starling is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Engine by Starling are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. 

When you provide us with this information, you are doing so at your own consent, with full knowledge that we will process this personal data in accordance with our Privacy Notice. By submitting your application, you agree that Engine by Starling and Starling Bank will collect your personal data for recruiting and related purposes. Our Privacy Notice explains what personal information we will process, where we will process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over our use of your personal information.