EVP – Sustainability and Transition — Cybersecurity Portfolio

The mandate

A listed cybersecurity portfolio has published transition commitments that remain separate from the decisions that allocate capital. Cloud architecture, supplier selection, offices, travel, hardware and product design all affect delivery, yet investment cases rarely price transition consequences or verify claimed improvement. A margin recovery programme makes that separation untenable: the board needs credible economics rather than parallel reporting.

The EVP – Sustainability and Transition will influence approximately A$1,850 million in annual recurring revenue and lead about 300 employees and material partners. The remit covers transition strategy, operational emissions, supplier standards, product and customer propositions, reporting, assurance, capital integration, governance and capability. Reporting accountability rests with the Group Chief Executive or the executive committee sponsor appointed to oversee transition.

The first responsibility is a decision-useful baseline. Energy and emissions data should be reconciled by source, boundary, ownership and estimation quality across cloud, suppliers and operations. The executive will identify where reported movement reflects real operating change, contractual instruments, business mix or methodology. Uncertainty needs disclosure rather than false precision.

Transition commitments must become capital criteria. Material proposals should show energy, carbon, resilience, customer, cash and regulatory effects under more than one scenario. The EVP will not own every investment, but will define evidence and challenge assumptions before approval. A lower-impact choice that weakens security or customer service is not automatically sustainable.

Cybersecurity creates distinctive trade-offs. Data retention, redundancy, continuous monitoring and rapid recovery can consume resources while protecting customers and critical systems. The role must understand these obligations and find design, workload and supplier changes that reduce waste without compromising protection. Simplistic intensity targets could reward the wrong engineering behaviour.

Supplier transition is central because material impact may sit outside direct control. Cloud providers, hardware makers, data centres and specialist services need comparable evidence, contractual expectations and improvement plans. Procurement should distinguish credible operational progress from declarations. Concentration, cost and exit feasibility remain part of the decision.

Customer propositions need integrity. Some buyers require evidence about product footprint, hosting, resilience or transition alignment. Claims must be supportable at the product and service level, with clear methodology and limitations. Commercial teams should not transform enterprise commitments into unsupported product promises.

Delivery governance will connect actions to owners, funding and verification. Projects need a baseline, mechanism, milestone and benefit test. Reported completion is insufficient if consumption, supplier behaviour or customer outcome does not change. Independent assurance should focus on material judgement and operating evidence rather than document volume.

Margin recovery creates opportunities and tension. Cloud efficiency, hardware life, supplier terms and reduced waste can improve both transition and cost outcomes. Other commitments may require investment or alter timing. The EVP will make those differences visible, preventing all sustainability activity from being presented as immediate saving.

Why this seat is open

The position is newly created for the next operating model and does not replace an incumbent. A planned four-to-six-month search will place the appointee before the coming capital and talent cycle. Current leaders retain their responsibilities until the remit is activated.

What you will own

• Establish a controlled transition baseline with visible uncertainty.
• Influence capital choices across approximately A$1,850 million of annual recurring revenue.
• Integrate transition, security, customer and cash effects in investment cases.
• Govern material cloud, hardware and supplier transition dependencies.
• Ensure customer-facing claims follow supportable product evidence.
• Lead approximately 300 employees and partners.
• Tie initiatives to operating mechanisms and independently assured outcomes.
• Reconcile margin recovery with credible long-term transition commitments.

The first 12 months

The first 90 days should verify boundaries and data, meet the 30 stakeholders closest to capital decisions and assess leaders. Review major commitments and investment cases, identify unsupported claims and agree evidence thresholds with the board before the next planning gate.

Months four to nine should embed transition analysis into capital governance, contract selected suppliers to measurable action and launch priority operating changes. Strengthen assurance and product evidence. Early results may include reduced cloud consumption, avoided hardware, better supplier terms or withdrawal of an unsafe claim.

After twelve months, transition economics, delivery governance and auditable progress should be board credible. The approved case needs to land within 10%, supported by three forecasts aligning operational change, cash, customers, suppliers and people. Severe evidence gaps must reach decision or verified closure within 30 days.

What the board will measure

• Baselines reconciled by boundary, method, data owner and uncertainty.
• Capital decisions incorporating quantified transition and security trade-offs.
• Actual consumption or supplier behaviour changed by funded initiatives.
• Product and customer claims supported by current evidence.
• More than 90% retention of essential talent and ready succession for 70% of direct reports.
• Assurance focused on material operating outcomes and judgement.

The person

You are an EVP Sustainability, Transition Director or Strategy Leader with 18–22 years in technology or an adjacent complex enterprise. You have embedded transition commitments into capital allocation and can demonstrate outcomes in cash, customers or controlled risk.

Your accountable P&L, book, budget or portfolio has been at least A$1,050 million, and you have led 200 or more people. Examples should show the trade-off you framed, the decision made and evidence maintained for two reporting periods.

You understand cloud and supplier economics, sustainability assurance and cybersecurity obligations. The role requires enterprise authority across functions and markets, along with the judgement to reject both unsupported green claims and superficially cheap options that weaken resilience.

Compensation and terms

Base salary is A$380,000–500,000 plus annual incentive. The permanent Sydney position is onsite, with international relocation supported and no remote arrangement. Notice of up to six months can be managed.

Confidentiality

The group, commitments, supplier evidence and capital cases are confidential. Identifying material will follow mutual relevance under formal confidentiality; all published circumstances and values have been blended.