Head of Security

Head of Security – Driving Enterprise Security Excellence at Salla

As the **Head of Security** at Salla, you will serve as the **chief security architect and strategic leader**, shaping a robust security framework that safeguards our cutting-edge platform, employees, and merchant ecosystem. This pivotal role demands a visionary approach to security—transforming risk mitigation into a **competitive differentiator** while ensuring compliance, resilience, and operational agility. You will lead end-to-end security initiatives, collaborate with executive leadership, and align security strategies with Salla’s ambitious growth trajectory, including preparations for a public listing.

In this dynamic environment, you will **own the security vision**, fostering a culture of proactive risk management while balancing innovation with stringent controls. Your expertise will be instrumental in guiding Salla through regulatory landscapes, audits, and partnerships, ensuring seamless trust and security for stakeholders—from internal teams to external auditors, regulators, and customers.

Key Strategic Responsibilities

Your leadership will span **all critical security domains**, ensuring a cohesive and future-proof security posture:

• Security Strategy & Executive Advocacy
  - Develop and refine Salla’s **enterprise security strategy**, roadmap, and operating model, aligning with cloud, network, endpoint, physical, and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) priorities.
  - Serve as the **principal security advisor** to the executive team and Board, translating complex cyber risks into actionable insights and investment priorities.
  - Define and optimize the **security budget, headcount plan, and tooling portfolio**, driving measurable ROI through data-driven decision-making.
  - Establish **KPIs, OKRs, and metrics-driven reporting** to monitor security effectiveness, ensuring transparency for leadership and audit committees.
• Cloud Security Leadership
  - Lead **cloud security initiatives** across AWS (preferred), including landing-zone hardening, network segmentation, secrets management, and workload protection.
  - Govern **Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) security**, container/Kubernetes security (image scanning, admission control, runtime protection), and CI/CD pipeline integrity.
  - Implement **Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)** and continuous compliance against industry benchmarks (CIS, NIST, etc.), embedding security guardrails without hindering engineering velocity.
  - Collaborate with **SRE and Platform Engineering** to enforce secure-by-default practices that protect innovation while maintaining rigorous controls.
• Network & Edge Security
  - Oversee **network security architecture**, including edge protection, DDoS mitigation, web application firewalls, segmentation, and zero-trust network access.
  - Govern the **CDN and edge security stack**, bot management, rate limiting, and origin lockdown for high-traffic, merchant-facing services.
  - Ensure **secure connectivity**, private networking, VPN, and DNS security to fortify data integrity and availability.
• Endpoint & Mobile Security
  - Lead **endpoint protection** for corporate and engineering fleets, encompassing EDR/XDR, device hardening, mobile device management (MDM), and disk encryption.
  - Execute a **continuous vulnerability and patch management program** with clear SLAs for remediation.
  - Define and enforce **endpoint baselines** and data loss prevention (DLP) controls to mitigate insider and external threats.
• Physical & Facility Security
  - Own **physical security** for Salla’s offices in Makkah and other locations, including access control, CCTV, visitor management, and environmental monitoring.
  - Align **logical and physical access policies**, governing sensitive areas and equipment while coordinating with Facilities, HR, and local authorities.
  - Lead **on-site incident response** and safety protocols, ensuring compliance with regional and corporate standards.
• Identity & Access Management (Zero Trust)
  - Drive **IAM strategy** across cloud and corporate systems, advocating for single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), privileged access management (PAM), and least-privilege enforcement.
  - Automate **joiner/mover/leaver workflows** and conduct periodic access recertification to minimize unnecessary exposure.
  - Accelerate adoption of a **mature zero-trust architecture**, reducing attack surfaces and enhancing operational resilience.
• Security Operations & Incident Response
  - Build and scale the **security operations center (SOC)**, integrating SIEM, detection engineering, threat intelligence, and continuous monitoring.
  - Own the **incident response lifecycle**, from preparation and detection to containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident reviews (blameless culture).
  - Lead **tabletop exercises, red/blue teaming, and breach-readiness drills**, maintaining up-to-date crisis-communication and breach-notification playbooks.
  - Foster a **proactive threat-hunting culture** to preemptively identify and neutralize emerging threats.
• Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC)
  - Oversee the **GRC function** and enterprise risk register, driving the risk assessment and treatment lifecycle.
  - Lead **certification and audit programs** for critical frameworks, including **ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS**, with alignment to regional standards (e.g., NCA Essentials).
  - Ensure **compliance-driven security controls** that balance regulatory demands with business agility, reducing audit friction and operational overhead.

This role is **exclusively open to Saudi Nationals**, reflecting Salla’s commitment to fostering local talent while delivering world-class security leadership. If you are a **strategic security visionary** with a passion for driving innovation in cybersecurity, we invite you to join us in shaping Salla’s security future.