JOB SUMMARY : Assistant Vice President - Cyber Security Strategy & Governance
Leading at Cognizant
This is a Leadership role at Cognizant. We believe how you lead is as important as what you deliver. Cognizant leaders at every level: Drive our business strategy and inspire teams around our future. Live the leadership behaviors, leading themselves, others and the business. Uphold our Values, role modeling them in every action and decision. Nurture our people and culture, creating a workplace where all can thrive.
At Cognizant, leadership transcends titles and is embodied in actions and behaviors. We empower our leaders at every level to drive business strategy, inspire teams, uphold our values, and foster an inclusive culture.
About the role
As an Assistant Vice President - Cyber Security Strategy & Governance, you will make an impact by defining and executing enterprise cyber security strategy, strengthening secure architectures, mitigating cyber risks, and enabling regulatory compliance for a global organization. You will be a valued member of the Cyber Security / Cloud Infrastructure & Security team and work collaboratively with business stakeholders, technology teams, product engineering, operations, security operations, compliance, audit teams, and clients.
In this role, you will:
- Drive enterprise cyber security strategy by defining clear objectives, aligning security initiatives with business priorities, and ensuring consistent adoption of security practices across technology and process domains.
- Oversee the design and implementation of application, infrastructure, and cloud security architectures to reduce threat exposure while enabling reliable and scalable business operations.
- Lead cyber risk assessments, vulnerability reviews, remediation prioritization, and risk reduction tracking to improve organizational resilience.
- Coordinate incident detection and response with security operations teams to support timely investigation, effective containment, and structured root cause analysis for significant security events.
- Develop and maintain security policies, procedures, governance frameworks, controls, standards, audit evidence, and remediation commitments to support regulatory obligations and stakeholder expectations.
- Consistently demonstrate the Cognizant Way to Lead, which means operating with Personal Leadership (building trust, collaboration, and inclusion), Organizational Leadership (driving vision and purpose, demonstrating a strategic and enterprise mindset, and creating and communicating a bold direction that inspires purpose), and Business Leadership (exemplifying client focus, managing ambiguity with accountability and results, and operating with financial acumen).
What you need to have to be considered
- 16 to 18 years of enterprise cyber security experience, including responsibility for strategy, governance, and hands-on oversight of complex security environments in large organizations.
- Deep knowledge of identity and access management, network and infrastructure security, application security, cloud security, vulnerability management, and data protection practices.
- Strong understanding of cyber risk management, control frameworks, regulatory requirements, and pragmatic security solution design that balances protection needs with business agility.
- Proven experience with incident response and threat management, including planning, simulation exercises, real-world event support, and structured stakeholder communication.
- Experience working with cross-functional technology, compliance, product engineering, operations, and business teams to translate technical security topics into clear and actionable guidance for nontechnical stakeholders.
- Experience reviewing and improving security architectures at scale, including cloud migrations and digital transformation programs, to securely enable strategic initiatives.
- Embodiment of the Cognizant Way to Lead: Leading Self, Leading Others, and Leading the Business.
- The embodiment of Cognizant’s Values: Work as One, Dare to Innovate, Raise the Bar, Do the Right Thing, and Own It.
These will help you succeed
- Advanced education in information security, cyber security, computer science, engineering, or related discipline.
- Exposure to global delivery models and regional regulatory requirements across diverse operational contexts.
- Experience enabling effective cyber security governance in hybrid work environments with distributed teams.
- Ability to define security posture metrics, consolidate information from multiple sources, and present meaningful insights for senior management investment decisions.
Experience governing third-party cyber risks by defining security expectations, reviewing assessment results, and monitoring ongoing performance across extended ecosystems.
Work model - Hybrid
We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring X days a week in a client or Cognizant office in [Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Pune]. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance though our various wellbeing programs.
The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.
We're excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don't hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Think about your transferable experiences and unique skills that make you stand out as someone who can bring new and exciting things to this role.
Work Location – Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Pune
About Cognizant:
Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) is an AI Builder and technology services provider, bridging the gap between AI investment and enterprise value by building full-stack AI solutions for our clients. Our deep industry, process and engineering expertise enables us to build an organization’s unique context into technology systems that amplify human potential, drive tangible outcomes and keep global enterprises ahead in a fast-changing world. See how at cognizant.ai or @cognizant.
Additional employment information
Compensation information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.
Language requirements vary depending on roles, but we ask that all candidates have basic English proficiency for company-wide communications purposes. For roles based in Quebec, professional English proficiency is required, as you’ll deliver services to and collaborate with stakeholders outside the province who may not speak French.
Cognizant is an equal opportunity employer. Your application and candidacy will not be considered based on race, color, sex, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial or local laws.
If you have a disability that requires reasonable accommodation to search for a job opening or submit an application, please email [email protected] with your request and contact information.
