Head of Security Operations

Altera•San Jose, CA

About The Position

About the Role For decades, Altera has been at the forefront of programmable logic innovation. Our technologies empower customers worldwide to build industry‑defining solutions, and we are committed to becoming the #1 FPGA company globally. We are seeking a Head of Security Operations to lead Altera’s security operations, detection engineering, and response capabilities. This senior leadership role is responsible for managing a team of analysts and engineers, driving the maturity of Altera’s security program, and ensuring the resilience, integrity, and protection of Altera’s global infrastructure and data. Department Description Altera’s IT Security organization is responsible for: Incident response and digital forensics Threat hunting and event analysis Security policy, standards, and governance Risk assessments and advisory Security architecture and engineering support Threat detection, monitoring, and forensic capabilities Security awareness and education Endpoint, network, and cloud security As Senior Manager, Head - Security Operations, you will lead the teams that design, monitor, and protect Altera’s network environments across on‑premises, cloud, and hybrid infrastructures. What You Will Do The Senior Manager oversees enterprise-wide security operations, drives strategic improvements, and leads teams responsible for defending Altera’s global Security.

Requirements

8+ years of information security experience with a focus on security, including 3+ years in a leadership or management role.
Demonstrated success building and leading high‑performing security teams.
Experience owning and maturing network security or SOC program.
Deep knowledge of network security architecture, segmentation, firewalls, IDS/IPS, VPN, proxies, and Zero Trust.
Experience with tools for Firewalls, NDR, SIEM, and EDR
Strong understanding of network protocols, packet analysis, and threat detection methodologies.
Experience with cloud network security (Azure, AWS).
Proficiency in incident response management and escalation handling.
Ability to define operational processes, runbooks, and governance workflows.
Expertise in risk assessments, control design, and audit readiness.
Excellent executive‑level communication skills.
Ability to translate technical concepts into business‑aligned recommendations.
Strong stakeholder management across technical and non‑technical teams.
Deep expertise with firewalls, IDS/IPS, segmentation, Zero Trust, and hybrid cloud networking.
Experience with SIEM (e.g., Microsoft Sentinel), NDR platforms, and EDR tools.
Strong understanding of packet analysis, network protocols, and threat detection.
Experience with Azure or AWS cloud security controls.

Nice To Haves

Proficiency with automation (Python, KQL) is a plus.
Experience with automation/scripting (Python, KQL) preferred.

Responsibilities

Own and mature Altera’s security strategy, roadmap, and operational execution.
Lead a team of senior security analysts and engineers, providing direction, coaching, and professional development.
Drive adoption of Zero Trust, micro‑segmentation, and modern secure network design principles.
Define KPIs, metrics, and reporting frameworks for network security performance.
Oversee secure network architecture reviews for datacenter, campus, cloud, WAN, remote access, and hybrid environments.
Evaluate new technologies, NDR, IDS/IPS platforms, and firewall capabilities to improve detection and resilience.
Partner with network engineering, cloud, and product security teams to embed security into designs and operations.
Ensure standardized configurations, hardening, and network security controls across global environments.
Lead and oversee investigations involving network intrusions, advanced malware, privilege misuse, and exfiltration attempts.
Ensure robust visibility, telemetry collection, and tuning across SIEM, NDR, firewalls, and network logs.
Direct major incident response actions, coordinating with executive stakeholders as needed.
Review and approve incident summaries, after‑action reports, and remediation plans.
Oversee risk assessments for new systems, cloud services, and network architecture changes.
Lead development and governance of network security policies, standards, and technical guidelines.
Ensure alignment with industry frameworks such as NIST CSF, NIST 800‑53 and ISO 27001.
Build and maintain compliance with regulatory and audit requirements.
Act as the primary liaison for network security with Legal, Privacy, Risk, IT, Cloud, DevOps, and Product Security teams.
Provide executive‑level briefings on threats, vulnerabilities, incidents, and program maturity.
Collaborate with engineering leaders to ensure secure implementation of products, tools, and IT projects.
Provide strategic direction and vision for network security at the enterprise level.
Lead cross-functional crisis response during major incidents.
Inspire, mentor, and grow next‑generation security leaders.
Build a culture of accountability, continuous learning, and operational excellence.