Security Operations Center Operations Lead (m/f/d)

About Us / Who you will join:

130 years of trust, time to shape what's next. Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers - built on over a century of stability, expertise, and financial strength. Allianz Services is where that legacy meets the future. 8,200+ people. Eight countries. Three continents. We deliver specialized services to clients within Allianz Group, powered by AI, advanced analytics, and a mindset that refuses to stand still. From core insurance operations to engineering and consulting services, we reimagine how insurance works. What truly sets us apart are our people and the trusted partnerships we build, anchored in our values of expertise, integrity, and empowerment. We don't support the business. We shape it.

Role Overview:

Allianz Group is developing the Allianz Security Operations Center (ASOC ) as an integrated capability bringing together threat intelligence, travel security, physical security, executive protection, incident response , and crisis management , with the objective of progressively building scalable 24/7 operational capacity for both man-made and natural risks. In a fast-changing and increasingly volatile environment , Allianz considers this capability a strategic imperative requiring concrete action, sustained commitment, and strong operational leadership.

The ASOC will strengthen Allianz Group’s ability to anticipate, monitor, respond to, and recover from disruptions by integrating intelligence and operational capabilities and progressively expanding toward continuous, follow-the-sun coverage. It will protect Allianz personnel, physical assets, business operations, and critical functions through consistent monitoring, analysis, escalation, coordination, and reporting . The ASOC is positioned within Allianz Services and functionally reports into Corporate Security’s Group Protection and Resilience Team.

Reporting to the ASOC Lead, the ASOC Operational Lead will help build and mature the operational response lifecycle , from intake and triage to escalation, coordination, response support, reporting, and after-action improvement. Working closely with the Intelligence Lead, this role turns relevant intelligence and situational awareness into disciplined operational action. The successful candidate will be an experienced operations leader, comfortable working under pressure, and bringing together people, processes , and tools into a reliable ASOC operational capability .

Key responsibilities / You will get to:

- Oversee and coordinate threat and incident management measures , using intelligence assessments and operational priorities to guide action with Operating Entities and Group Functions.
- Develop, manage , and mentor a team of operational officers across multiple hubs, setting clear performance expectations, fostering complementary capabilities, and ensuring consistency and quality across deliverables.
- Develop and improve ASOC threat and incident management processes, including procedures, playbooks, escalation thresholds, standards, performance indicators and quality checks.
- Manage day-to-day ASOC operations, including shift scheduling, incident intake, triage, escalation protocols, stakeholder coordination, and operational reporting.
- Lead the response to threats and incidents, and coordinate crisis response with the crisis management team.
- Work closely with internal stakeholders, including Group Protection & Resilience, Cyber SOC, Communications, real estate, business lines , and local teams.
- Develop a strong understanding of Allianz’s operational exposure and use security assurance findings to support informed and proportionate response decisions.
- Ensure key security systems and operational tools are available, reliable, and fit for purpose, including mass notification systems, emergency response plans, travel security, incident management tools, and related platforms.
- Provide clear operational updates, briefings, situation reports, after-action summaries, and decision-support input to senior leadership during routine operations, major events, and high-pressure incidents.
- Build and maintain trusted relationships with global stakeholders, Operating Entities, Group Functions, vendors, technology partners, emergency response partners, and relevant external stakeholders .
- Run drills, table-top exercises, readiness checks, and preparedness reviews for high-impact events, travel disruptions, major incidents, and crisis scenarios.
- Track, analyze, and report operational KPIs, including incident response times, escalation performance, exercise outcomes, and other relevant performance indicators.
- Identify practical improvements to ASOC processes, tools, and ways of working to improve efficiency, service quality, resilience, and security outcomes.
- Drive transformation toward greater automation and the effective use of AI-enabled workflows to enhance ASOC efficiency, scalability, and effectiveness.
- Safeguard sensitive information and ensure adherence to confidentiality, data protection, operational security, information-sharing, and governance protocols.

Key requirements / What we hope you bring:

- Master’s degree in security management, emergency management, or a related field, and/or equivalent experience gained in corporate security, government or comparable operational security environments.
- 8+ years of experience in physical security operations, incident and crisis management, with proven leadership of regional or global operational teams; previous experience in the financial sector is a plus.
- Proven leadership experience managing security operations centers , control rooms, or equivalent 24/7 operational environments in the public and/or private sector.
- Strong project management skills , with the ability to set priorities, manage competing operational demands , and deliver under pressure .
- Strong knowledge of incident management, travel security, emergency response, executive protection, event security, and crisis management frameworks.
- Good knowledge of security technologies and platforms, including mass notification systems, access control, incident management tools , and travel security platforms.
- Solid understanding of hybrid threat environments, including physical, cyber, and reputational dimensions relevant to multinational organizations.
- Excellent ability to brief senior leaders clearly, support decision-making under pressure, and build strong relationships across global teams.
- Experience developing, leading, and managing multicultural and multinational teams spread across different countries and time zones.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, with fluency in at least one additional language; German fluency is a plus.
- Ability to identify practical ways to improve processes, increase efficiency, and strengthen the operational team’s contribution to Allianz’s security posture.

Other requirements:

- Ability to act as the operational counterpart to the Intelligence Lead, ensuring that intake, triage, escalation, coordination, and response activities are informed by relevant intelligence and situational awareness .
- Strong judgement, discretion, and composure when managing sensitive incidents, ambiguous information, fast-moving developments, incomplete reporting, or high-pressure stakeholder expectations.
- Ability to question assumptions, spot process or capability gaps, and guide teams toward practical, evidence-based decisions.
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build trust across senior stakeholders, regional teams, crisis management structures, technology teams, vendors, and external partners.
- Practical experience using automation, AI-enabled tools, and data-driven workflows in a SOC or similar environment.
- Continuous improvement mindset, with the curiosity and discipline to enhance team effectiveness, processes and tools .
- Ability to work independently while staying closely aligned with the ASOC Lead, ASOC Intelligence team, Protection & Resilience, business stakeholders, and external counterparts.
- Willingness and ability to support an on-call operational model, including availability outside standard office hours when required.

What we offer:

- We offer a hybrid work model which recognizes the value of striking a balance between in-person collaboration and remote working incl. up to 25 days per year working from abroad
- We believe in rewarding performance and our compensation and benefits package includes a company bonus scheme, pension, employee shares program and multiple employee discounts (details vary by location)
- From career development and digital learning programs to international career mobility, we offer lifelong learning for our employees worldwide and an environment where innovation, delivery and empowerment are fostered
- Flexible working, health and wellbeing offers (including healthcare and parental leave benefits) support to balance family and career and help our people return from career breaks with experience that nothing else can teach

*We highly welcome candidates with a genuine interest and affinity for Information Technology (IT) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), as these attributes are considered valuable assets to our team.*

107962 | Operations | Professional | Allianz Services | Full-Time | Permanent

Allianz Group is one of the most trusted insurance and asset management companies in the world. Caring for our employees, their ambitions, dreams and challenges is what makes us a unique employer.
We are united by a shared commitment: to put our customers first and at the center of everything we do. Their needs inspire our thinking and guide our actions.
Together, we can build an environment where everyone feels empowered and confident to explore, grow and shape a better future – for our customers and for the world around us. At Allianz, we stand for unity: we believe that a united world is a more prosperous world, and we are dedicated to consistently advocating for equal opportunities for all. The foundation for this is our inclusive workplace, where people and performance both matter, and where integrity, fairness, inclusion and trust are at the heart of our culture.

We therefore welcome applications regardless of ethnicity or cultural Internal background, age, gender, nationality, religion, social class, disability or sexual orientation, or any other characteristics protected under applicable local laws and regulations.

Join us.  Let's care for tomorrow