Cybersecurity Post-Merger Integration Director — Consulting

The mandate

The defined problem is unequal control coverage during a merger: identities, logging, incident command, recovery and supplier oversight remain split while systems begin to connect. The gap creates immediate regulated exposure.

The deliverable is a combined-risk baseline, day-one control bridge, target cyber model, identity and monitoring integration backlog, incident and recovery playbooks, exercised evidence and twelve-month roadmap.

Milestone one is due 31 October 2026 with exposure baseline and bridge controls; milestone two on 15 January 2027 with target model and critical integrations; milestone three on 31 March with two exercises, closed priority gaps and accepted roadmap.

The Integration Risk Committee accepts when all cross-estate trust paths are mapped, critical identities and events have common coverage, two joint exercises meet response targets, internal audit validates evidence and every residual high risk has a board owner.

The client provides architecture, identity, asset, incident, recovery and supplier records from both organisations plus secure tooling access. Each legacy CISO assigns empowered leads and agrees evidence standards in week one.

Why this is external work

Both security organisations are protecting services while negotiating future roles. A neutral integration director can prioritise exposure without favouring either legacy design. Temporary specialist capacity is required through the first joint exercises, not as a permanent security function.

What you will own

• Map cross-estate connectivity, privilege, data and supplier exposure for milestone one.
• Define bridge controls where target-state integration cannot arrive quickly.
• Reconcile severity, evidence and exception taxonomies across both organisations.
• Design target identity, detection, incident and resilience decision rights.
• Sequence critical technical integrations for milestone two.
• Lead one cyber and one recovery exercise across merged teams.
• Deliver milestone-three residual risk, roadmap and audit evidence.

Candidate qualifications

• 22–28 years in financial-services cybersecurity, integration or technology risk.
• Direct cyber leadership through a bank, insurer or payments merger.
• Experience bridging identity, monitoring, incidents and recovery before platform consolidation.
• Evidence of gaining internal-audit acceptance for transitional controls.
• Strong facilitation across two legacy leadership teams.
• Independence from managed-security and integration vendors.

Non-negotiables

• No managed-service or integration resale tied to the plan.
• Director leads both joint exercises onsite in Mumbai.
• Legacy-team evidence assessed against one agreed standard.
• High risks cannot be closed solely through future roadmap intent.

1. 49 words maximum. Which regulated cyber integration did you lead, and what transitional control prevented the largest exposure?
2. 49 words maximum. How would you establish one severity and evidence standard across legacy teams?
3. 49 words maximum. Which identity, connectivity and incident inputs must both CISOs provide in week one?