Vice President, Cyber Operations

Vice President, Cyber Operations - Charlotte, NC or Dallas, TX*Optomi, in partnership with a client in the speciality insurance space, is seeking an accomplished Vice President of Cyber Operations to lead and advance a broad portfolio of cyber defense capabilities across a large enterprise environment.This executive will provide strategic and operational leadership across Security Operations, Incident Response, Threat Intelligence, Threat Management, Detection Engineering, and related Cyber Defense functions. The ideal candidate combines strong cybersecurity operations experience with the ability to lead teams, modernize capabilities, influence senior stakeholders, and continuously improve how an organization detects, understands, and responds to cyber threats.We are particularly interested in leaders who are forward-thinking about artificial intelligence and understand how AI is changing both the threat landscape and the way modern security organizations operate.Key ResponsibilitiesProvide executive leadership across Security Operations and broader Cyber Defense functions.Lead and mature capabilities spanning SecOps, Incident Response, Threat Intelligence, Threat Management, and Detection Engineering.Develop and execute a comprehensive cyber operations strategy aligned with enterprise security and business objectives.Build, mentor, and develop high-performing cybersecurity teams and leaders.Strengthen the organization's ability to identify, investigate, contain, and respond to sophisticated cyber threats.Advance detection engineering and threat-informed defense capabilities to improve visibility and response effectiveness.Drive continuous improvement of security operations processes, technologies, metrics, and operating models.Partner with security engineering, architecture, infrastructure, cloud, risk, and other technology teams to strengthen enterprise defenses.Establish meaningful operational metrics and communicate cyber risk, incidents, trends, and program maturity to executive stakeholders.Evaluate emerging technologies and identify opportunities to improve Cyber Operations through AI, automation, analytics, and orchestration.Help prepare the organization for emerging AI-enabled threats while identifying responsible ways to incorporate AI into security operations.Serve as a senior leader during significant cybersecurity incidents and provide clear communication to technical and executive audiences.Ideal BackgroundSignificant cybersecurity leadership experience within complex enterprise environments.Proven experience leading multiple Cyber Defense or Security Operations disciplines.Strong knowledge of modern SOC/SecOps, Incident Response, Threat Intelligence, Detection Engineering, and Threat Management practices.Experience building, transforming, or maturing cybersecurity programs and operating models.Demonstrated ability to lead cybersecurity teams at scale and develop strong technical leaders.Strong understanding of modern enterprise security technologies, threat detection methodologies, and incident response practices.Ability to operate effectively with senior executives and translate highly technical cybersecurity issues into business risk and priorities.Experience working cross-functionally across infrastructure, cloud, engineering, architecture, risk, and business teams.Strategic mindset combined with enough technical depth to challenge teams, evaluate approaches, and guide major cyber defense decisions.Strong interest in and understanding of AI within cybersecurity, including AI-enabled security operations, automation, emerging AI threats, and the evolving security implications of enterprise AI adoption.What We're Looking ForThe strongest candidates will be leaders who can operate at both the strategic and operational level. This person should be comfortable defining the future direction of Cyber Operations while remaining close enough to the technology, teams, and threat landscape to understand what is working, what needs to change, and where the organization should invest next.We are looking for a leader who can continue evolving a modern Cyber Defense organization rather than simply maintaining existing operations.Candidates with diverse professional backgrounds and leadership experiences are strongly encouraged to apply.*Although this opportunity is remote, the client is targeting candidates located near Dallas or Charlotte to collaborate and meet with other executives at times.