Director-Level Cyber Security Leader

Kunal Hatode

Senior Security Architect - Cisco EMEA

26 years of technical, commercial, and operational leadership across MSSP, enterprise consulting, and managed service environments, specialising in intelligence-led SOC transformation, governance, and cyber operations strategy.

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About Me

Director-level cyber security leadership across SOC transformation, managed services, strategic consulting, and executive stakeholder engagement.

I am a director-level Cyber Security leader with 26 years of technical, commercial, and operational management experience across MSSP, enterprise consulting, and managed service environments.


I specialise in the strategic leadership, transformation, and operational governance of intelligence-led Security Operations Centres, having built, reformed, and directed multi-tenant SOC functions serving Tier 1 banks, government ministries, national military, and critical national infrastructure operators across EMEA.


My focus is translating complex cyber risk into measurable business outcomes through detection engineering, incident lifecycle leadership, operational governance, and C-suite advisory engagement.

26+
Years Experience
15+
SOCs Reformed
15+
Certifications
3
Major Awards

Core Competencies

Executive capabilities spanning intelligence-led SOC operations, service governance, strategic transformation, and AI-enabled security innovation.

Intelligence-Led SOC Operations
Strategic leadership of multi-tenant SOC transformation, governance, and operating models
Incident Lifecycle Management
Detection, triage, escalation, response, and post-incident governance in high-pressure environments
Security Platform Governance
Detection optimisation, coverage uplift, and workflow automation across complex security operations environments
NIST, MITRE & ISO 27001 Alignment
Framework-led security operations maturity, assessment, and service design
Leadership, Org Design & Succession Planning
Building high-performance teams, developing senior talent, and scaling delivery organisations
AI Agent Design & Intelligent Automation
Applying AI-assisted engineering and intelligent automation to improve security operations outcomes

Professional Experience

A progressive career across cyber operations leadership, MSSP delivery, strategic consulting, and service transformation roles.

Senior Security Architect - CX Security Centre of Excellence

CISCO
Jul 2019 - Present
Led end-to-end SOC governance, transformation, and operational vendor-agnostic design engagements across EMEA, holding strategic accountability for outcomes delivered to Tier 1 enterprises, government ministries, national military, and critical national infrastructure operators.
Owned SOC service strategy, architecture, and implementation governance aligned to NIST CSF, MITRE ATT&CK, ISO 27001, and ITIL-based service management
Provided security platform advisory across multiple customer environments, improving detection coverage, use case libraries, and automation workflows
Content author and SME for Cisco Cyber Academy and author of the Cisco Security Operations Use Case Framework
Led transformation engagements for national military, oil and gas, government, telecom, and banking organisations across EMEA

Senior Manager, Managing Consultant & EMEA Practice Lead - Security Operations

NTT Security
Jun 2016 - Jun 2019
Held operational accountability for multi-tenant Advanced SOC services delivered simultaneously to a Tier 1 UK bank, Tier 1 Irish bank, European payment processor, and multinational hydrocarbon company within a boutique MSSP model. Led an organisation of 45 with 5 direct reports, succession planning, and organisational design responsibility.
Designed and delivered tailored SOC solutions embedding MITRE ATT&CK detection mapping, threat intelligence integration, and ITIL-aligned incident and change management processes
Governed SLA performance across all SOC client portfolios and implemented analyst performance frameworks to improve operational consistency
Deployed and optimised security operations platforms for multi-client detection, correlation, reporting, and automation-driven triage reduction
Built two Advanced SOCs from scratch and led the strategic reformation of over fifteen SOC environments

Global Product Leader - Cyber Security

Easynet (Formerly MDNX)
Aug 2014 - May 2016
Role specifically created to consolidate existing security services and introduce a new Cyber Security focused service line globally. Built a Security Operations Centre and was responsible for hiring all levels of SOC personnel, setting management directives & enforcing operational standards.
Built SOC from scratch for Consumer Credit reporting agency referenced by HMRC
Pioneered closure of two major Security Audit Risks in banking environment within 12 months
Global Product Leader for comprehensive Security portfolio including DDoS Mitigation, IDPS, and broader cyber defence capabilities

Head of Pre-sales

MDNX
Nov 2012 - Aug 2014
Built, managed and grew existing Pre-sales team whilst looking after MDNX's key high value customers. Maintained near to 85% overall win rate. Player Manager managing a team of twelve Presales advisors and consultants.
Achieved 85% win rate across all engagements
Managed team of 12 Pre-sales advisors and consultants
Created and practiced Pre-sales processes grounded on BSI 9001 standards

Product Manager - Cloud Services

Daisy Group PLC (Formerly Vialtus Solutions/Pipex Business)
Feb 2012 - Jun 2012
Cloud Product manager for Datacentre services including Cloud IaaS, Cloud SaaS, Co-location, Dedicated server hosting, Domain name service, and online-offsite backup. Reintroduced three Go-to-market Cloud products.

Pre-sales Consultant

Daisy Group PLC (Formerly Vialtus Solutions/Pipex Business)
Feb 2008 - Feb 2012
Lead Architect for customer centric Internet, MPLS and Cloud requirements. Lead financial evaluator of solution costing, bill of materials and human resourcing. Member of Cloud steering committee.

Client Portfolio

Trusted by leading organizations across multiple industries - from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies and prestigious brands.

Lead Technical Architect & Financial Analyst

WAN & Security Architecture

Accor Hotels Anglian Water
Bargain Booze
BHS
Brawn GP – Honda F1 Cath Kidston Civica Clugston Costcutters
Dairy Farmers
Greggs Guinness Partnership Hilson Moran
Medica
Mondial Insurance
Moss Bros
Nochex
Red Bull Racing Royal British Legion Vision Express Volkswagen Wales & West Utilities

Lead Technical Architect & Financial Analyst

Cloud & Security Architecture

British Museum Cineworld Disney Fulham FC Hobby Craft
Holidaybreak
Internova
Kellogg's Littlewoods Manchester Airport NHS Dudley Racing Post RNLI Swinton Insurance Trinity Mirror Group

Operational Lead & Managing Consultant

Security Engineering and Operations

Equifax Toyota Belgium Aston Martin European Space Agency Tullow Oil Morrisons Royal Bank of Scotland Central Bank of Malaysia Worldpay Permanent TSB Saudi Telecom Company Ziraat Bank Rosneft Qatar Ministry of Interior Turkey Ministry of Energy Telefonica Tele2 Three UK

Certifications & Qualifications

Continuous learning and professional development across cybersecurity, cloud, and enterprise technologies.

2025
GIAC Security Operations Manager
GSOM
2021
SABSA Chartered Security Architect
Foundation Certificate
2021
Mitre ATT&CK Security Operations Center Assessment
SOC Certification
2021
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
AZ-900
2017
Certified Information Systems Security Professional
CISSP
2016
Qualys Certified Specialist
Vulnerability Management
2016
Skybox Certified Sales & Technical Security Professional
SCSC & STSP
2015
Palo Alto Systems Engineer Foundation & Associate
PSE Platform
2015
Palo Alto Accredited Configuration Engineer
ACE 6.1
2014
Palo Alto Accredited Configuration Engineer
ACE 6.0
2011
VMware Technical Sales Professional
VTSP 4
2011
NetApp Accredited Storage Architect Professional
NASAP
2001
Cisco Certified Network Associate
CCNA
2000
Microsoft Certified System Engineer
MCSE+i

Get In Touch

Ready to discuss cybersecurity challenges or explore potential collaboration opportunities? Let's connect.

Email
[email protected]
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/kue
Portfolio
kunal.hatode.com
Location
Basingstoke, UK
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