About the Job<\/p>\n
Location:
\nAddis Abeba<\/p>\n
Department:
\nCISO<\/p>\n
Reports To:
\nChief Information Security Officer<\/p>\n
About Kifiya:
\nKifiya is an AI-powered financial and market infrastructure company advancing inclusive economic growth across Africa. We design and deploy risk decisioning systems, intelligent financial infrastructure, and market linkage platforms that unlock credit, insurance, payments, and capital access for MSMEs and smallholder farmers. We build the AI, data, and financial infrastructure that helps financial institutions serve hard-to-finance segments at scale.<\/p>\n
Business Unit Description<\/p>\n
The CISO Unit safeguards Kifiya\u2019s enterprise systems, AI-driven financial infrastructure, data assets, internal technology stack, and digital transformation programs.
\nThe unit ensures enterprise-wide protection, operational continuity, regulatory compliance, secure architecture design, and automation governance aligned with global best practices and financial sector standards.<\/p>\n
Position Summary<\/p>\n
The Head of Cyber Security leads the operational execution of Kifiya\u2019s enterprise cyber defense program. The role translates the enterprise cyber risk strategy defined by the Chief Information Security Officer into operational security controls, monitoring capabilities, and incident response readiness across the organization\u2019s digital infrastructure.
\nThe Head oversees the Security Operations Center, vulnerability management program, threat detection capabilities, and cyber defense engineering functions. The role ensures the protection of Kifiya\u2019s financial systems, artificial intelligence platforms, cloud environments, data infrastructure, and digital capital market systems.
\nThis position also ensures the implementation of Zero Trust security architecture, secure development of lifecycle integration, identity security enforcement, and continuous threat monitoring across the enterprise technology ecosystem.<\/p>\n
Key Responsibilities
\nCyber Security Operations Leadership<\/p>\n
Lead the enterprise cyber defense capability responsible for protecting financial infrastructure, artificial intelligence systems, cloud environments, and enterprise applications.
\nOversee the Security Operations Center responsible for real time monitoring, threat detection, and incident triage.
\nEnsure continuous monitoring coverage across all critical enterprise systems, applications, and infrastructure.
\nDefine and enforce operational cyber defense procedures and escalation protocols.
\nEnsure operational readiness to detect and respond to advanced persistent threats targeting financial technology infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Threat Detection and Incident Response<\/p>\n
Establish detection capabilities across network, cloud, endpoint, and application layers.
\nOversee investigation and response to cyber incidents including malware, phishing, credential compromise, data exfiltration attempts, and infrastructure intrusion.
\nCoordinate cross functional response during cyber security incidents impacting enterprise operations.
\nEnsure post incident forensic analysis and lessons learned documentation.
\nMaintain incident response readiness through simulation exercises and red team testing.<\/p>\n
Vulnerability and Exposure Management<\/p>\n
Establish enterprise wide vulnerability scanning and exposure assessment program.
\nOversee vulnerability remediation across infrastructure, applications, and cloud environments.
\nDefine vulnerability prioritization frameworks based on enterprise risk exposure.
\nEnsure remediation of critical vulnerabilities within defined service level thresholds.
\nTrack vulnerability remediation performance and report exposure metrics to the CISO.<\/p>\n
Infrastructure and Cloud Security Enforcement<\/p>\n
Ensure implementation of enterprise security controls across cloud platforms, networks, and server infrastructure.
\nOversee security configuration of firewalls, web application firewalls, endpoint protection platforms, and intrusion detection systems.
\nEnsure secure deployment and configuration of cloud environments supporting financial and artificial intelligence platforms.
\nValidate infrastructure security compliance with enterprise architecture standards.<\/p>\n
Identity and Access Security<\/p>\n
Ensure enforcement of Identity and Access Management controls across all enterprise systems.
\nEnsure mandatory multi factor authentication across critical platforms and privileged access accounts.
\nMonitor identity governance frameworks to prevent unauthorized system access.
\nEnsure continuous monitoring of identity compromise risks and suspicious authentication patterns.<\/p>\n
Secure Software Development Integration<\/p>\n
Ensure integration of security controls into the software development lifecycle.
\nEnsure application security testing processes are embedded within development pipelines.
\nDefine application vulnerability remediation protocols.
\nWork closely with engineering teams to prevent security vulnerabilities within production systems.<\/p>\n
Security Monitoring and Intelligence<\/p>\n
Oversee enterprise threat intelligence monitoring to identify emerging threats targeting financial platforms and artificial intelligence systems.
\nEnsure integration of threat intelligence feeds into detection systems.
\nMonitor indicators of compromise across enterprise infrastructure.
\nContinuously improve detection rules and threat hunting capabilities.<\/p>\n
Security Metrics and Operational Reporting<\/p>\n
Define cyber security operational performance indicators.
\nReport cyber defense performance metrics to the CISO.
\nMaintain operational visibility of security incidents, vulnerabilities, and threat activity.
\nProduce regular security posture reports for executive review.<\/p>\n
Security Program Implementation<\/p>\n
Implement enterprise cyber security initiatives defined by the CISO.
\nSupport internal and external cyber security audits.
\nEnsure implementation of enterprise cyber security policies and standards.
\nCoordinate security remediation programs across technology teams.<\/p>\n
Key Outputs<\/p>\n
Cyber Defense Operations
\nVulnerability and Exposure Management
\nIdentity and Infrastructure Protection
\nSecurity Monitoring and Threat Intelligence
\nCyber Security Governance<\/p>\n
About You<\/p>\n
Qualifications and Experience<\/p>\n
Bachelor\u2019s or Master\u2019s degree in Cybersecurity, Information Security, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
\nMinimum ten to twelve years of cybersecurity experience including leadership of security operations or cyber defense teams.
\nExperience securing financial services platforms, fintech infrastructure, or regulated digital financial environments.
\nExperience managing Security Operations Center capabilities and incident response teams.
\nExperience implementing Zero Trust architecture, cloud security controls, and secure development lifecycle practices.
\nProfessional certifications such as CISSP, CISM, or equivalent are preferred.<\/p>\n
Core Competencies<\/p>\n
Cyber security operations management
\nThreat detection and incident response
\nVulnerability management frameworks
\nCloud and infrastructure security
\nIdentity and Access Management
\nSecurity monitoring platforms
\nSecure development lifecycle integration
\nThreat intelligence analysis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_promoted":"","_job_location":"","_application":"","_company_name":"Kifiya Financial Technologies","_company_website":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_filled":0,"_featured":0,"_remote_position":0,"_job_salary":"","_job_salary_currency":"","_job_salary_unit":""},"job_listing_region":[11],"job-categories":[],"job-types":[12],"class_list":{"0":"post-2452","1":"job_listing","2":"type-job_listing","3":"status-publish","4":"hentry","5":"job_listing_region-ethiopia","7":"job-type-full-time"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobs.dataaxisnode.com\/ethiopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/job-listings\/2452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobs.dataaxisnode.com\/ethiopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/job-listings"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobs.dataaxisnode.com\/ethiopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/job_listing"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobs.dataaxisnode.com\/ethiopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobs.dataaxisnode.com\/ethiopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"job_listing_region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobs.dataaxisnode.com\/ethiopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/job_listing_region?post=2452"},{"taxonomy":"job_listing_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobs.dataaxisnode.com\/ethiopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/job-categories?post=2452"},{"taxonomy":"job_listing_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobs.dataaxisnode.com\/ethiopia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/job-types?post=2452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}