Head of Cyber Exposure & Assurance (all humans)

Make a difference in the financial life of millions of people: At Erste Digital you are co-creating the digital future, in which better financial health is possible. #believeinyourself

We are part of Erste Group – the largest banking group in Central and Eastern Europe with more than 2,500 branches and over 45,000 employees. Our more than 2,000 IT experts and enthusiasts are the bank's Digital Muscle.

Help shape the next generation of Cyber & Information Security at Erste Digital

We are evolving our security organization around clear missions, accountable services and stronger collaboration across domains. As Head of Department, you will shape the capability together with your teams and peers rather than inherit a fixed organizational blueprint. You will be accountable for outcomes, people leadership, service maturity and cross-Group value.

Your Mission

Shape the capabilities that make cyber exposure visible, help stakeholders choose appropriate security treatments and provide evidence that protections work against realistic attack techniques.

What you will shape and be accountable for

• Set direction for exposure discovery, prioritization, monitoring, security advisory and validation activities.

• Turn large volumes of technical findings combined with compliance gaps and architectural debt into context, priorities and practical remediation guidance for technology owners.

• Help stakeholders choose appropriate treatment when security trade-offs, exceptions or residual exposure require explicit management judgement.

• Use offensive testing and responsible disclosure to validate controls through realistic testing and feed evidence back into architecture and operations.

• Build trusted relationships with business & technology owners and help teams move from findings to practical remediation rather than simply reporting weaknesses.

Group first - Built to scale beyond one entity

• Think Group First: design every capability so it can be consumed across the Group where feasible, or at minimum produce reusable blueprints, patterns, standards and lessons that create value beyond Erste Digital.

• Seek alignment with Group Security and relevant entities before creating local-only solutions where a shared approach is realistic.

• Balance local delivery responsibility with the ambition to simplify, standardize and scale security capabilities across the Group.

What success looks like

• Technology owners receive prioritized, actionable exposure information instead of unfiltered finding lists.

• Complex security questions are supported by clear options, trade-offs and transparent residual exposure.

• Important controls and services are regularly validated through realistic testing and external disclosure channels.

• Exposure and assurance approaches can be reused by Group entities, with common blueprints, prioritization models and testing patterns.

Who benefits from your work

Technology owners, product teams, management, sourcing teams, assurance functions and Group entities benefit from clearer priorities, better-informed choices and credible evidence that protections are effective.

What you bring

• Leadership experience in vulnerability/exposure management, security assurance, advisory, offensive security or a comparable security domain.

• Broad technical understanding and the ability to distinguish material security issues from noise.

• Ability to communicate complex findings and trade-offs in a way that supports sound judgement without unnecessary alarmism.

• Confidence working with technical specialists, management and control functions while keeping accountability clear.

• Ability to navigate ambiguity, build alignment across organizational boundaries and turn strategic intent into concrete delivery.

Leadership approach we value

We are looking for leaders who combine high standards with trust, candour and genuine interest in helping others succeed.

• Servant leader: create clarity, remove obstacles and give people the space and trust to do their best work.

• High standards, genuine support: set clear expectations, follow through on commitments and help people reach them.

• Honest and elevating: give direct, respectful feedback, make achievements visible and create opportunities for others to grow and be recognized.

• Expert without micromanaging: bring enough subject-matter depth to ask the right questions, coach and exercise sound judgement, while trusting specialists to own the technical detail.

• Delivery oriented and willing to address difficult topics: turn concepts into measurable outcomes, exercise sound judgement when needed, address difficult topics early and question established approaches when they no longer serve the mission.

Click here to learn more about our Leadership Dimensions.

Why this role

• You will have the opportunity to shape a major security capability, influence how we work across Erste Digital and the Group, and build an environment where strong specialists can take ownership, grow and deliver visible outcomes.

• Employee benefits – Benefit from special conditions for financial services and insurances, supermarkets, clothing stores and many more.

• Employee Referral Program – Become a talent scout for career opportunities in IT. We are rewarding every successful referral for Erste Digital

• A competitive and performance-related salary dependent on your professional and personal qualifications is granted - the minimum wage for this position in accordance with the respective collective agreement is EUR 85.000,-- gross per year. But this is just a formality, we are more than happy to discuss your actual expectations.
  

In your motivational letter, please include the following two perspectives:
Briefly describe one concrete example of how you would make a local security capability valuable for the wider Group - as a shared service, blueprint, pattern or standard.
Reflect on one aspect of this role description you would deliberately challenge or refine, including why.

We look forward to receiving your application by 16. October. First-round interviews are planned for early November.

You do not need to match every point perfectly to be a strong candidate. If the mission resonates with you and you believe you can grow into parts of the scope, we encourage you to apply.

The way we are

Erste Group considers the diversity of its employees as key to innovation and success. As employer we are proud to offer everyone equal chances, irrespective of age, skin colour, religious belief, gender, sexual orientation or origin.