At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead global teams in cyber incident management and set strategic standards.
- Company: Join Canopius, a top cyber insurer with a positive culture.
- Benefits: Enjoy hybrid working, competitive salary, and comprehensive health benefits.
- Other info: Diverse and inclusive workplace with excellent career growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment.
- Qualifications: Experience in incident management and strong leadership skills required.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
Canopius is a market‑leading cyber insurer with an established, in‑house Cyber Incident Management Team that supports clients during highly stressful and time‑critical situations. The Global Head of Incident Response is responsible for setting the strategic direction, standards, and operating model for incident management across Canopius globally. This role leads teams across the UK, APAC and North America, ensuring a consistent, high‑quality incident experience for policyholders, aligned to Claims, Underwriting, and the broader cyber strategy. You will balance client service excellence, operational rigour and commercial awareness, while building a high‑performing global team. You will act as the senior owner of incident management practices, vendor engagement and performance, ensuring Canopius delivers a coordinated, empathetic, and effective response to cyber incidents worldwide.
Responsibilities
- Set the global standard for incident management: Define and own global best practices, operating standards, and service expectations for cyber incident response. Ensure consistent delivery against SLAs, service quality measures, and compliance requirements in partnership with Claims and Underwriting. Act as the senior escalation point for complex, sensitive, or high‑severity incidents.
- Lead and develop global teams: Manage and develop Cyber Incident Management teams across the UK, APAC, and North America. Build a cohesive, follow‑the‑sun operating model with strong handovers and clear accountability. Set culture, expectations, and development pathways for incident managers globally.
- Maintain strategic vendor and panel: Collaborate with Procurement team to refine the performance framework for incident response vendors (forensics, legal, PR, IR firms, and specialist advisors). Gather structured feedback from responders and Claims on vendor engagement and outcomes. Partner with Procurement to manage vendor relationships, performance review, and panel evolution.
- Partner with Underwriting, Claims, and Analytics: Understand underwriting requirements and ensure incident insights meaningfully inform risk selection, portfolio management, and product development. Work closely with Claims to ensure smooth coverage confirmation, escalation handling, and claim progression during live incidents. Champion the effective use of incident data to inform analytics, trends, and strategic decision‑making.
- Evolve the Incident Management offering: Lead continuous improvement of playbooks, workflows, and tooling. Ensure lessons learned from real incidents translate into service enhancements and client preparedness initiatives. Support development of client‑facing content, preparedness sessions, and executive simulations.
Skills & Experience
- Proven experience leading teams in incident management, cyber response, claims, or crisis‑driven professional services environments.
- Strong people leadership and global team management experience across multiple regions and time zones.
- Experience managing complex operational services with external vendor ecosystems.
- Cybersecurity experience, particularly managing or overseeing incident response, is highly advantageous (hands‑on technical expertise is not required).
- Strong project and programme management skills, with the ability to bring structure to fast‑moving, high‑pressure situations.
- Clear, confident communicator able to engage credibly with clients, vendors, and senior internal stakeholders.
- Strong understanding of how data and insights can be used to improve service delivery, performance management, and strategic decision‑making.
- High judgment, empathy, and composure under pressure, with a strong service mindset.
Competencies
- Leading Change: Plans, implements and embeds organisational changes across the region and guides stakeholders through changes to processes, technologies, systems, or strategies, ensuring changes are successful and well received.
- Leading Teams: Motivates, guides and empowers others to collectively meet current and future business needs. Sets clear performance expectations and utilises team members’ capacity, skills and potential effectively.
- Stakeholder engagement: Cultivates and maintains positive relationships with relevant internal or external stakeholders, effectively involving and communicating with them to drive collaboration, support, and alignment towards shared goals.
- Collaboration And Teamwork: Works effectively with team, project or other work groups or those outside formal line of authority to accomplish goals. Actively participates as a member of a team; develops and builds cohesive team relations to produce required outputs; possesses knowledge and understanding of colleagues work.
- Adapting To Change: Adjusts thoughts, feelings, and behaviours to handle new, challenging, or complex situations; embracing change as a growth opportunity when working within new work structures, processes, regulations, or requirements.
- Continuous Improvement: Analyses current and future state business requirements and identify strategies to continuously improve products, services or processes. Guide and inspire others to achieve results to enhance efficiency, quality and consistency.
- Innovation: Creates, develops and implements new ideas to enhance new or improved processes, systems, solutions, products or services; tries different and novel ways to deal with problems and opportunities.
- Resilience: The ability to cope with and recover from setbacks, challenges or difficulty. Persevering even under pressure or crisis situations and uses ways that foster strength and growth, often emerging stronger than before.
- Future Focused: Anticipates changes in regulations, technology and client needs, proactively responding to key trends happening in the industry. Thinks about the future through identifying opportunities and obstacles whilst planning effectively.
Our Benefits
We offer all employees a comprehensive benefits package that focuses on their whole wellbeing. This includes hybrid working, a competitive base salary, non‑contributory pension, discretionary bonus, insurances including health (family) and dental cover, and many other benefits to enhance financial, physical, social and psychological health.
About Us
Canopius is a global specialty lines (re)insurer. We are one of the leading insurers in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market with offices in the UK, US, Singapore, Australia and Bermuda. At Canopius we foster a distinctive, positive culture which enables us to bring our whole selves to work to flourish as people, and build a business which delivers profitable, sustainable results. Based in incredible new offices in the heart of the City of London, Canopius operates a flexible, hybrid working model and is committed to providing an environment that challenges employees to be their best and where everyone's unique contributions are recognised, valued and respected.
About Canopius
We are fully committed to equal employment opportunities for all applicants and providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are made regardless of age, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, socio‑economic background, religion or beliefs, marital or caring status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. We encourage and welcome applicants from all diverse backgrounds. We make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and during employment. Please let us know if you require any information in an alternate format or any other reasonable adjustments.
Head of Cyber Incident Management in London employer: Canopius Group
At Canopius, we pride ourselves on fostering a collaborative and inclusive work culture that empowers our employees to thrive. As a Data Governance Analyst, you will benefit from a comprehensive wellbeing package, including hybrid working options, competitive salaries, and a strong commitment to professional development. Our focus on building a data-led culture not only enhances your career growth but also allows you to make a meaningful impact in the insurance industry.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of Cyber Incident Management in London
✨Get Involved in the Cybersecurity Community
Diving into the cybersecurity community is key for landing that full-time gig. Join forums like Reddit's r/cybersecurity or attend local meetups to connect with industry veterans and other job seekers. Networking is everything in this field—don’t just be a passive lurker!
✨Show Off Your Skills with Capture the Flag Competitions
Participate in Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions; these are not just a fun way to boost your skills but also a chance to showcase your talent to potential employers. Many companies, including Canopius Group, love seeing candidates who actively engage in these challenges.
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✨Apply Directly Through Canopius Group
Don’t forget to head straight to our website and check out any openings for cybersecurity roles at Canopius Group. Applying directly can sometimes give you an edge, especially if you can mention that you've been following our work or engaging in the community.
We think you need these skills to ace Head of Cyber Incident Management in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your technical skills:In cybersecurity, it's crucial to highlight your technical prowess. Make sure your CV showcases specific skills like network security, penetration testing, or threat analysis. If you have relevant certifications (like CEH or CISSP), pop those on the front page to grab attention!
Tailor your portfolio for the role:Even for a full-time role, a portfolio can set you apart. If you've worked on any cybersecurity projects—be it CTF challenges, security assessments, or research papers—include these in your application. This demonstrates not just your skills, but also your hands-on experience!
Use real-world examples:When writing your cover letter, don’t just stick to your qualifications. Share real-world examples of how you’ve tackled security issues or vulnerabilities. This gives the hiring team at Canopius Group insight into your practical problem-solving abilities and makes your application memorable.
Demonstrate your passion for cybersecurity:Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving field, so show us that you’re always learning! Mention any recent courses, webinars, or industry events you’ve attended. This not only exhibits your enthusiasm but also signals to Canopius Group that you’re committed to staying ahead in the game.
How to prepare for a job interview at Canopius Group
✨Sharpen Your Technical Skills
For a role in cybersecurity, it’s essential to be up-to-date with the latest tools and techniques. Brush up on your knowledge of firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and vulnerability assessment tools. Be ready to discuss specific scenarios where you’ve applied these skills, as hands-on experience can really set us apart in interviews.
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✨Highlight Your Certifications
Certifications like CompTIA Security+, CISSP, or CEH can give you a significant edge in a full-time role in cybersecurity. Make sure to mention these during your interview and be prepared to discuss what you learned through those certifications and how they relate to the position at Canopius Group.
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Since you’re going for a full-time gig, showing genuine enthusiasm for the field can make all the difference. Share any personal projects, blogs, or communities you’re part of that relate to cybersecurity. This not only showcases your passion but also your commitment to staying engaged in this ever-evolving field.