Practice Director - Application Security

About this role

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.
At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.
We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.

The Practice Director - Application Security leads the growth, performance, and ongoing development of AHEAD’s Application Security practice. This leader is accountable for building executive client relationships, creating and advancing sales opportunities, shaping services and go-to-market strategy, and developing a high-performing team. The role partners closely with AHEAD sales teams and other practices to bring clients integrated security solutions that address business and technology risk.

The position is weighted approximately70% toward sales and practice managementand30% toward delivery leadership. The Director brings deep expertise in application security, DevSecOps, cloud-native security, and secure software delivery, and applies that expertise to advise clients, differentiate AHEAD’s offerings, and ensure successful outcomes on selected strategic engagements.

Role Allocation

• 70% — Sales and practice management:Revenue growth, pipeline development, client relationships, solution and proposal development, service portfolio and go-to-market leadership, team development, and practice operations.

• 30% — Delivery leadership:Executive client advisory, engagement oversight, delivery quality, risk management, and selective hands-on or lead delivery for strategic engagements.

Key Responsibilities

Sales and Practice Management — 70%

• Build and execute the Application Security practice growth strategy, translating market needs and AHEAD priorities into a focused portfolio of services and go-to-market plans.

• Develop trusted relationships with client executives and technology leaders; identify business priorities, security challenges, and opportunities to expand AHEAD’s impact.

• Partner with sales specialists to qualify, shape, and advance opportunities from discovery through proposal, negotiation, and transition to delivery.

• Lead client discovery, visioning, and solution-design sessions; communicate the business value, approach, scope, outcomes, assumptions, and investment for proposed services.

• Own or contribute to opportunity plans, pipeline development, forecasts, and practice growth objectives in coordination with AHEAD sales and practice leadership.

• Create, refine, and commercialize differentiated Application Security offerings, including new services related to AI Application Security and AI-DLC, as well as program assessments and roadmaps, secure SDLC and DevSecOps enablement, application and API security, threat modeling, ASPM, and software supply-chain security.

• Drive new partnerships with industry-leading AI development and security technology partners.

• Identify opportunities to combine Application Security services with cloud, infrastructure, data, AI, and other AHEAD capabilities to deliver integrated client outcomes.

• Guide service positioning, packaging, repeatability, and supporting sales materials; ensure offerings remain aligned with client needs and current technology and market trends.

• Build and develop the practice team through hiring, talent development, coaching, mentoring, and succession planning; foster collaboration across delivery and sales teams.

• Direct practice capacity and resource planning in partnership with delivery leaders, balancing team capability, client demand, utilization, and quality.

• Establish a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, knowledge sharing, and strong client service. Support consistent operating practices and financial performance for the practice.

• Represent AHEAD through executive briefings, industry events, partner and client engagements, and thought leadership.

Delivery Leadership — 30%

• Provide executive oversight and delivery leadership for selected strategic or complex Application Security engagements, ensuring work meets agreed scope, quality, schedule, and business outcomes.

• Lead or advise client strategy, roadmap, architecture, and planning workshops covering application security, secure software delivery, cloud-native applications, APIs, and risk prioritization.

• Guide teams delivering application security program assessments and maturity improvements, secure SDLC controls, threat modeling, DevSecOps enablement, application and API security reviews, and remediation planning.

• Ensure recommendations are practical and risk-based, translating technical findings into prioritized actions and clear business implications for technical teams and executive stakeholders.

• Monitor engagement health, milestones, dependencies, risks, and client expectations; intervene to resolve issues and maintain delivery quality.

• Review key deliverables and executive presentations, and coach engagement leaders and practitioners in client communication and delivery excellence.

• Maintain a selective client-delivery role to stay close to client needs, validate service approaches, and bring delivery insight back into the practice portfolio.

Technical and Market Expertise

The successful candidate brings credible, current expertise across Application Security and related cloud security disciplines, including:

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