Head of Cyber Architecture

Join NEC XON’s Cybersecurity division and lead the design and evolution of next-generation security architectures that protect critical infrastructure and enable digital resilience across Africa.

All applications (updated CV and mo​tivational letter) to be emailed to [email protected]
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Closing Date: 02 December 2025
Main purpose of the job
  • The Head of Cyber Architecture at NEC XON is responsible for defining, driving, and overseeing the strategic direction of all NEC XON customers.
  • Champion a “security by design” culture, embedding architecture principles into every stage of solution development, delivery, and operations.
  • Act as the bridge between business and technology, translating complex cyber risks into business language for executives while guiding technical teams to implement secure, pragmatic designs.
  • Position NEC XON as a trusted cybersecurity partner in the region by ensuring that client solutions are backed by world-class architecture and governance practices.
Key Responsibilities
  • Ensure architectural clarity: simplify, standardise, and rationalise security design to reduce complexity, improve maintainability, and enhance resilience.
  • Engage directly with NEC XON’s cyber customers to understand their environments, risks, and business drivers, and design architectures tailored to their needs.
  • Act as a trusted advisor to clients, translating security principles into practical, value-driven solutions and guiding them on secure adoption of new technologies.
  • Keep informed on the latest cyber trends, breaches, and technical write-ups.
  • Represent NEC XON’s cybersecurity practice in customer meetings, workshops, and executive briefings, ensuring strong customer relationships and confidence in NEC XON’s expertise.
  • Collaborate with sales and business development teams to position security architecture as a differentiator in proposals, bids, and customer engagements.
  • Involved incident response scenarios to help identify threat avenues and assist with threat response and mitigation.
  • Present security capabilities / run POC with customers on new solutions, capabilities or features.
  • Evolve and maintain architectural standards, frameworks, and reference models (e.g. Zero Trust identity-centric architectures network segmentation).
  • Liaise between engineering/infrastructure, operations (incl. MDR, SOC), product teams, and executive leadership to ensure architecture enables business agility without compromising security.
  • Oversee architecture reviews of third parties / vendors / supply chain and security.
  • Mentor and lead a team of architects and product strategists, fostering a culture of innovation and security excellence.
  • Stay abreast of emerging technologies, threat vectors, industry best practices (ISO / IEC standards, CIS Benchmark, vendor frameworks) and regulatory obligations (e.g. privacy, data protection) and ensure incorporation into architecture.
  • Serve as the final decision maker on the introduction of new cybersecurity solutions and services into NEC XON’s portfolio.
  • Define, own, and drive NEC XON’s cyber product and solution strategy, ensuring alignment with market demands, customer priorities, and business growth objectives.
  • Pilot innovative solutions with select customers to validate capabilities, shape product-market fit, and strengthen NEC XON’s competitive positioning.
  • Develop and maintain a cyber product roadmap, balancing short-term revenue opportunities with long-term strategic differentiation.
  • Stay ahead of global cyber trends, regulatory shifts, and emerging threats to inform portfolio decisions.
  • Drive cross-functional alignment across engineering, MDR/SOC, operations, and executive leadership.
Skills and Experience required
Competencies:
  • Experience with regulatory frameworks and standards ISO 27001/27701, NIST CSF, CIS, GDPR, POPIA (South Africa), PCI DSS, and sector-specific requirements.
  • Familiarity with Operational Technology (OT) and IoT security, particularly in industries NEC XON serves (telecom, energy, critical infrastructure).
  • Knowledge of endpoint, application, and data security, including encryption, DLP, EDR/XDR, and SIEM/SOAR.
  • Deep understanding of cybersecurity architecture principles, including Zero Trust, defense-in-depth, secure network design, and identity-centric security.
  • Proven ability to align cybersecurity architecture with business strategy and outcomes.
  • Knowledge of portfolio management and solution positioning, including differentiation in competitive markets.
  • Knowledge of customer engagement models, including consultative selling, solution co-creation, and executive advisory.
  • Knowledge of financial drivers of cybersecurity solutions (ROI, TCO, cost-benefit analysis).
  • Familiarity with regional and global threat landscapes, particularly relevant to Africa and emerging markets.
  • Knowledge of strategic leadership and change management, enabling the role to influence both NEC XON teams and customer organisations.
  • Understanding of innovation and technology adoption cycles (how to identify when a solution is ready for enterprise-scale deployment).
  • Exceptional verbalisation and communication capabilities — the ability to articulate complex technical knowledge in an authoritative, influential, and business-relevant manner to diverse audiences (executives, boards, customers, partners, and technical teams).
  • Influential leadership presence: commands trust and credibility when presenting NEC XON’s cyber strategy, whether to customers, partners, regulators, or internal executives

Qualifications, Experience and Training:
  • Cloud & Emerging Tech: CCSP, AWS/Azure/GCP security certifications, Kubernetes Security (CKS), or equivalent.
  • Additional vendor-specific certifications (e.g., Cisco, Palo Alto, Fortinet, Microsoft Security, Silverfort, Proofpoint) beneficial.
  • 8+ years in IT, with at least 2+ years in senior leadership roles across security architecture, product strategy, or portfolio management.
  • Demonstrated success as the main decision-maker for adopting and integrating new cybersecurity solutions in large-scale enterprises or MSSP/SI environments.
  • Hands-on background in evaluating, testing, and deploying emerging cybersecurity technologies (AI/ML-driven security, MDR/XDR, identity-centric security, OT/IoT protection, threat intelligence platforms).
  • Proven ability to influence stakeholders and represent an organisation as a thought leader at conferences, forums, and in customer advisory boards.
  • CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) or CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) strongly beneficial.
  • Red Teaming / Offensive Security: OSCP, CREST CRT, Red Team Operator (CRTO), or equivalent certifications beneficial to validate architecture resilience.
  • Present new cybersecurity solutions from a pre-sales perspective in a manner that is technically accurate, commercially relevant, and verbally influential — ensuring customers clearly understand the business value and strategic advantage of NEC XON’s offerings.
Interview process 
Stage 1: Standard Interview (1 Hour)
Stage 2: Technical Interview (1 Hour)
Stage 3: Live Solution Demo (Candidate will be responsible to
Demo a Cyber Solution to the panel) (1.5 Hours)
Stage 4: Peer Review Interview (1.5 Hours)
Stage 5: RFP Proposal (Candidate will be given an RFP and will be responsible for the complete proposal, which will include: (7 Days)
  • Technical Proposal
  • Presentation
  • Costing
All the stages Must be completed.