EVP – International Strategy — Cybersecurity Portfolio

The mandate

An institutionally backed cybersecurity portfolio has pursued international opportunities without common entry gates. Local enthusiasm, customer requests and partner approaches have each triggered investment, but the group cannot consistently show when a market has earned further capital or when it should exit. The investment committee has paused expansion until a new global go-to-market design supplies that discipline.

The EVP – International Strategy will shape decisions across approximately A$2,050 million in annual recurring revenue and lead roughly 850 employees and material partners. The scope combines market strategy, entry sequencing, partnerships, business cases, portfolio governance, cross-border operating choices, strategic intelligence and leadership. Formal accountability runs to the Group Chief Executive or to the executive committee sponsor nominated for international expansion.

The initial portfolio map must compare markets on customer need, threat environment, regulation, sovereignty, channel access, competition, talent, service capability and cash required. Market size alone is an unsafe basis for cybersecurity entry. The executive will distinguish reachable demand from theoretical spend and show what proof can be obtained before fixed infrastructure is committed.

Every entry path needs gates. A distributor, strategic alliance, acquisition, direct team or digital route carries different control, margin and learning. The EVP will define discovery, validation, launch and scale thresholds, along with the evidence and authority required at each stage. Assumptions that fail should stop spend without being reframed as a reason for more time.

The global go-to-market model must balance consistency with local consequence. Product claims, security assurance, pricing principles and risk appetite may be common, while data handling, procurement, language and channel design vary. Decision rights should prevent local teams from promising unsupported capability and central teams from ignoring market facts.

Partnership choice will be treated as an operating design, not an announcement. The role will assess customer access, technical skill, incentives, data exposure, economics and exit rights. Partners need measurable contribution and governance. Concentration should remain visible where one route controls important customers or regulated capability.

Cybersecurity expansion requires trust infrastructure. Certifications, incident processes, data location, support coverage and public-sector eligibility can determine time to revenue. The EVP will put these dependencies into the investment case and sequence them against actual demand. Compliance expenditure should neither precede a credible market thesis nor arrive after commitments are made.

Exit decisions are part of good strategy. Markets that miss adoption, economics or risk thresholds need a controlled path for customers, people, contracts and partners. The leader should be able to recommend closure despite sunk cost or sponsor attachment. Capital released from weak entries must be traceable to stronger opportunities or returned.

One strategy cadence will reconcile market evidence, recurring revenue, cash, customers, talent and controlled risk. Country narratives should not obscure comparable economics. The EVP will maintain downside cases and triggers, giving the board decisions early enough to preserve options.

Why this seat is open

The new role consolidates authority previously distributed across functions and markets. It is classified as urgent because expansion remains paused pending explicit gates. Interim forums preserve existing operations, while the board aims to appoint within six to eight weeks through a confidential external process.

What you will own

• Build a comparable evidence map of international cybersecurity markets.
• Direct strategy affecting approximately A$2,050 million in annual recurring revenue.
• Create discovery, entry, scale and exit gates for capital release.
• Choose direct, partner, alliance or acquisition routes by market.
• Align global go-to-market standards with local regulatory and customer facts.
• Lead approximately 850 employees and partners across the strategic perimeter.
• Govern trust, sovereignty and service dependencies before commitment.
• Recommend timely exits and reallocate capital when assumptions fail.

The first 12 months

The first 90 days should reconstruct existing market cases, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to expansion and assess leadership. Identify sunk commitments, customer obligations and regulatory dependencies. Agree gate definitions, decision rights and a small number of markets for controlled validation.

Between months four and nine, test the selected entry routes, formalise partner economics and stop investment that cannot clear its threshold. Fill critical market or strategy roles and implement comparable reporting. The first value may arise from avoided fixed cost, faster qualified entry, better partner conversion or disciplined exit.

At year end, the portfolio should demonstrate capital-efficient entries, explicit partnership choices and exits executed before value erodes. Performance must remain within 10% of approval, and three quarterly forecasts should align market evidence, customers, cash, capacity and risk. No high-severity cross-border exception should lack a decided owner after 30 days.

What the board will measure

• Market capital released only after defined evidence thresholds are cleared.
• Time and cash required to validate demand before permanent entry.
• Partner contribution, control and economics against agreed cases.
• Exits completed with protected customers, people and contractual obligations.
• Retention above 90% for vital talent and immediate succession for 70% of direct reports.
• International forecasts that expose failed assumptions before additional spend.

The person

You are an EVP Strategy, International Development Head or CSO with 22–28 years in technology or a comparable cross-border enterprise. You have made entry and exit decisions using explicit evidence, not simply prepared recommendations for others.

Your prior accountable P&L, book, budget or portfolio is at least A$1,200 million, and you have led 600 or more people. Examples should demonstrate enterprise authority across functions and markets, with cash, customer or controlled-risk outcomes sustained for two reporting periods.

Experience across software, cloud services, digital platforms, IT services or technology-enabled business services is relevant. You understand cybersecurity trust requirements and can challenge optimistic country cases while maintaining productive relationships with market leaders, partners and sponsors.

Compensation and terms

Base compensation is A$380,000–500,000 plus annual incentive. This permanent Sydney role is onsite, supports international relocation and is not remote. The employer can accommodate a notice period of up to six months.

Confidentiality

The group, candidate markets, partners and investment cases remain confidential. Identifying material follows an initial fit conversation and mutual undertaking; ranges and context are blended so the client cannot be triangulated.