Director, Cybersecurity

The role is based in Chennai, India. Be part of a creative, solution-oriented team where together we can achieve greatness and make a real impact. Your potential is our inspiration.

Where You’ll Make a Difference

Infrastructure Security:

• Own the security architecture for IFF's enterprise infrastructure — network, cloud (multi-cloud / hybrid), endpoint, identity, and data center environments.
• Define and maintain security reference architectures, standards, and design patterns that embed zero-trust principles and defense-in-depth across the estate.
• Lead the engineering and lifecycle of core security controls (e.g., network segmentation, firewalls, secure connectivity, cloud security posture, privileged access, and endpoint protection).
• Partner with infrastructure, cloud, and platform teams to secure new and existing services, ensuring security requirements are integrated into design and deployment.
• Drive continuous improvement of the control environment based on threat intelligence, assessments, and audit and regulatory findings.

OT Security:

• Lead the security strategy and architecture for Operational Technology (OT), industrial control systems (ICS/SCADA), and plant-floor networks across IFF's global manufacturing sites.
• Establish and govern IT/OT convergence security standards, network segmentation, and secure remote access for plant environments.
• Build and maintain OT asset visibility, threat detection, and vulnerability management capabilities in partnership with plant operations and engineering teams.
• Align OT security to recognized frameworks (e.g., IEC 62443, NIST CSF) and embed safety- and availability-aware controls suited to production environments.
• Partner with site leadership to drive OT security awareness, incident readiness, and resilience across manufacturing operations.

Vulnerability Management:

• Own the enterprise vulnerability management program — the strategy, architecture, and operating model for continuous identification, prioritization, and remediation of vulnerabilities across infrastructure, cloud, endpoints, and applications.
• Define risk-based prioritization standards — leveraging CVSS, EPSS, threat intelligence, and asset criticality — to focus remediation on the exposures that pose the greatest risk to IFF.
• Lead the engineering and lifecycle of vulnerability scanning, attack surface management, and remediation-tracking capabilities, with clear service-level targets and metrics.
• Partner with infrastructure, cloud, application, and plant operations teams to drive timely remediation and to embed vulnerability management into build-and-operate processes.
• Report on vulnerability posture, remediation performance, and risk reduction to the CISO, DTS leadership, and governance and audit stakeholders.

Leadership & Strategy:

• Lead, develop, and grow a globally distributed team of security architects, engineers, and specialist partners; set direction, priorities, and performance standards.
• Translate enterprise and manufacturing risk into a clear, multi-year security architecture roadmap aligned to IFF's business strategy.
• Serve as a senior advisor to the CISO and to DTS and business leaders on infrastructure, OT, and vulnerability management risk and investment.
• Manage budget, vendors, and strategic partners for the architecture domains, ensuring value, quality, and delivery.
• Champion a security-by-design culture and represent Cybersecurity Architecture in governance, audit, and regulatory engagements.

What Makes You the Right Fit

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

• 12+ years of progressive cybersecurity experience with deep expertise in security architecture and engineering, including 5+ years of experience leading technical teams across globally distributed and remote environments.
• Expertise in infrastructure security, OT/ICS security, and vulnerability management, with advanced knowledge in at least two of these domains.
• Strong understanding of cloud security (Azure and/or AWS), network security, identity and access management, and zero-trust architectures.
• Experience designing, implementing, and aligning security programs with frameworks such as NIST CSF, ISO 27001, and IEC 62443.
• Proven ability to communicate complex security risks to technical and non-technical audiences and influence stakeholders across a global, matrixed organization.
• Experience securing OT environments within manufacturing, chemical, process industry, or similar operational settings.
• Hands-on experience leading enterprise vulnerability management or attack surface management programs.
• Relevant industry certifications such as CISSP, CISM, SABSA, GICSP, or Azure/AWS Security certifications, and/or experience working within a regulated multinational organization.

How Would You Stand Out?

• Proven success leading globally distributed cybersecurity teams.
• Deep expertise in designing secure architectures for complex enterprise and manufacturing environments.
• Ability to translate business and operational risks into pragmatic security solutions.
• Strong executive presence with a track record of influencing senior stakeholders and driving security-by-design practices.

Why Choose Us?

• Work in a global organization that values innovation and sustainability.
• Hybrid work model offering flexibility and balance.
• Opportunities for professional growth and development.

We are a global leader in taste, scent, and nutrition, offering our customers a broader range of natural solutions and accelerating our growth strategy. At IFF, we believe that your uniqueness unleashes our potential. We value the diverse mosaic of the ethnicity, national origin, race, age, sex, or veteran status. We strive for an inclusive workplace that allows each of our colleagues to bring their authentic self to work regardless of their religion, gender identity & expression, sexual orientation, or disability.

Visit IFF.com/careers/workplace-diversity-and-inclusion to learn more