SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group. Headquartered in Tokyo and with a 400-year history, SMBC Group offers a diverse range of financial services, including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group has more than 130 offices and 80,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) is the holding company of SMBC Group, which is one of the three largest banking groups in Japan. SMFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: SMFG) stock exchanges.

In the Americas, SMBC Group has a presence in the US, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Backed by the capital strength of SMBC Group and the value of its relationships in Asia, the Group offers a range of commercial and investment banking services to its corporate, institutional, and municipal clients. It connects a diverse client base to local markets and the organization’s extensive global network. The Group’s operating companies in the Americas include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., SMBC Rail Services LLC, Manufacturers Bank, JRI America, Inc., SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc., Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A., and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd.

Role Description

The role is part of a dynamic team which specializes in detecting, investigating and responding to cyber events which are focused on protecting the SMBC group. As a Cyber Security Automation Team Lead, you will play a pivotal role in enhancing our cybersecurity posture by leading the designing, implementing, and maintaining automated security solutions. Your expertise and delivery will help fortify our defenses against emerging threats and ensure the protection of sensitive financial data within a global banking environment.

The right candidate will be a cyber security professional with sharp development skills to optimize and automate SOC workflows.

Role Objectives

· Lead and mentor a team of security automation professionals, fostering a culture of innovation, continuous improvement, and accountability.

· Develop and implement automated security solutions to monitor, detect, and respond to cybersecurity threats across the bank's infrastructure.

· Scrum master for security automation team backlog, coordinate and lead sprint planning sessions, daily stand ups and sprint retrospectives to ensure clear communication and efficient workflow.

· Lead by example, ensuring best practice for secure coding standards are followed and actively engaging in the review process to identify improvements, vulnerabilities to maintain the quality and integrity of our security automation tools.

· Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify security requirements and integrate automated security measures into the development and deployment lifecycle.

· Work closely with stakeholders to identify automation opportunities and translating stakeholder requirements into implementable automation solutions.

· Design and maintain security orchestration and automation workflows for incident response, vulnerability management, and compliance monitoring.

· Continuously improve and optimize existing security automation processes to enhance efficiency and accuracy in threat detection and response.

· Lead projects and research to enhance the security automation infrastructure and pipeline, ensuring tools are optimized and built with maintainability and longevity of use at their core.

· Stay up to date with the latest security trends, vulnerabilities, and attack techniques to proactively identify potential risks and recommend mitigation strategies.

· Contribute to the development of custom scripts, tools, and frameworks for security testing, data analysis, and threat intelligence.

· Ensure operational issues with automations are tracked, triaged, and remediated by the team in a timely manner.

· Contribute to the development of tools for monitoring the operational status of security tools and data sources, for reducing number of and time to respond to operational issues.

· Build pipelines, processes, and procedures to facilitate and foster safe and secure automation across the wider security team.

· Participate in security assessments, penetration testing, and red teaming exercises to identify vulnerabilities and assess the effectiveness of security controls.

· Collaborate with internal teams to implement and integrate security tools and technologies that align with the bank's security strategy.

Qualifications and Skills

· Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or related field (Master's preferred).

· Proven experience (4+ years) as a Security Lead or similar role within the financial industry or a comparable environment.

· In-depth knowledge of security principles, practices, and frameworks, including threat modeling, risk assessment, and security architecture.

· Proficiency in programming and scripting languages such as Python, PowerShell, or JavaScript for developing automated security solutions.

· Strong understanding of cloud security principles and experience with securing cloud-based environments (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).

· Familiarity with DevSecOps practices and integrating security into continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines.

· Knowledge of network and system security, including firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, and endpoint security solutions.

· Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

· Hands-on experience with security orchestration and automation tools, such as SOAR platforms (e.g., Service Now SecOps, Demisto, Phantom), to streamline incident response and threat hunting.

Additional Requirements

D&I Commitment

Responsible for fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion, holding leaders accountable for creating an inclusive environment through awareness and practice of equity in recruiting, developing, and promoting diverse talent.

SMBC’s employees participate in a hybrid workforce model that provides employees with an opportunity to work from home, as well as, from an SMBC office. SMBC requires that employees live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Prospective candidates will learn more about their specific hybrid work schedule during their interview process.

We are an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. SMBC provides reasonable accommodations for employees and applicants with disabilities consistent with applicable law. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please let us know at accommodations@smbcgroup.com.