Head of Cybersecurity

Our Mission: To Be Bold and Impactful

At Emesent, we build autonomous robotics, LiDAR mapping, and spatial data technologies that are transforming the way industries understand and interact with the physical world. Founded in 2018 with deep roots in Australia’s globally recognised CSIRO, Emesent has become a global leader in drone autonomy and mobile mapping solutions.

With a rapidly growing international customer base and expanding product portfolio across hardware, desktop software, and cloud platforms, we are entering an exciting new phase of growth and we’re looking for leaders who want to help shape what comes next.

The Opportunity

The Head of Cybersecurity will own Emesent’s cybersecurity posture, program definition, and certification evidence as a senior individual contributor. This role brings together existing cybersecurity activities into a coherent, organisation-wide program covering both enterprise and product domains. This is a new role, reporting to the EVP Product & Engineering, alongside Director of Engineering, Director of IT, Director of Product, Senior Manager of Quality, and Senior Manager of Project Management. The opportunity is to define what “good” looks like, drive alignment across Engineering, IT, and the rest of the company to uplift maturity over time, and ensure we can evidence it.

This role provides vision, governance, structure, training, assurance, and influence across the company. Responsibility for the implementation sits with other teams reporting to the EVP, meaning there is a single executive sponsoring and driving the uplift across the company. Note that this is not an operational or SOC role.

Key Responsibilities

Cybersecurity Posture Ownership

• Define, maintain, and articulate Emesent’s overall cybersecurity posture
• Provide clear reporting on cybersecurity risk and maturity to executive leadership and the board
• Translate technical and operational security activity into an enterprise-wide view of risk and readiness

Cybersecurity Program Definition

• Define and own the cybersecurity uplift program across product and business systems
• Establish a structured roadmap to improve security maturity across Engineering and IT
• Ensure alignment of security initiatives across all delivery functions
• Drive prioritisation of security uplift activities in partnership with functional leaders

Governance, Risk & Assurance

• Establish cybersecurity governance structures, cadence, and decision forums
• Define control frameworks and evidence requirements across systems and teams
• Own audit readiness, assurance models, and traceability between controls and frameworks
• Coordinate and perform internal and external security assessments and audits

Certification & Regulatory Readiness

• Lead organisational readiness for key cybersecurity frameworks and certifications, including CMMC Level 2, NIST SP 800-171, the Australian ISM, Essential Eight, DISP, and ISO/IEC 27001. 
• Manage relationships with external assessors and certification bodies, both local and international
• Oversee engagement with IRAP, C3PAO, penetration testing, and audit partners
• Ensure Emesent is positioned for Defence procurement and compliance requirements

Technical Influence & Advisory

• Partner closely with Product, Engineering and IT leadership to embed security requirements into system design and delivery
• Provide practical, risk-based guidance to architecture and engineering decisions
• Support teams in making appropriate security trade-offs as part of delivery
• Act as a trusted advisor to technical leaders on cybersecurity matters, across hardware, software (desktop, mobile, cloud), manufacturing, IT infrastructure and business systems

Company Awareness & Capability Building

• Lead company-wide cybersecurity awareness and education, lifting everyday security mindset and risk awareness across all teams
• Build durable security capability through ongoing upskilling and development, so maturity holds as the company scales
• Establish and lead a cross-functional community of cybersecurity focals and specialists, extending reach and ownership beyond a single role

About You

You are a cybersecurity leader who thrives in influence-driven, high-accountability environments.

You are effective because you can:

• Operate without direct authority over delivery teams
• Influence senior engineering and IT leaders through credibility and trust
• Translate complex technical systems into clear security risk and posture
• Engage confidently at both technical and executive/board levels
• Build structure and clarity in environments that are still maturing

You are not a compliance administrator - you are a pragmatic security leader who improves how the company thinks about and manages our actual cybersecurity risk posture.

Experience & Background

Our ideal profile is someone with:

• Background in complex technology and engineering product development across both software and hardware
• Strong people leadership and influencing skills to drive cultural change
• 10 years’ experience in cybersecurity governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) leadership
• Experience in regulated industries, ideally Defence or critical infrastructure
• Proven track record supporting or leading organisations through security certification or audit readiness
• Australian citizenship and eligibility for security clearance

However, we encourage people with some, but not all, of this background to also apply.

Why This Role Matters

This is a foundational leadership role for Emesent’s next stage of growth. It will directly shape our ability to operate in Defence and other regulated markets, and ensure cybersecurity is a clear, evidenced, and trusted capability across the organisation.

You will not just lead the cybersecurity discipline; you will define and lead Emesent’s cybersecurity journey.

The Added Perks

• 9-day fortnight - every second Friday off 

• Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP) - share in Emesent’s success 

• Work alongside a passionate and collaborative team building world-leading technology 

• Genuine learning and development opportunities including LinkedIn Learning access 

• Employee Assistance Program 

• One additional day of leave each year for your work anniversary 

• Novated lease options 

Why Emesent? 

At Emesent, you’ll work on technology that is genuinely shaping the future of how industries capture and understand the physical world. We offer a dynamic, collaborative environment, competitive compensation, and real opportunities for professional growth. Join us in pushing the boundaries of robotics and spatial intelligence.

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