Head of OT Cyber Security

Head of OT Cyber Security UK | Remote-first, with occasional office and client-site travel Are you an OT security leader who combines genuine technical credibility with the commercial instinct to grow a consulting practice? 55 Exec Search is partnering with a growing cyber security consultancy to appoint a Head of OT Cyber Security. This is a high-profile opportunity to own the OT strategy, build market-relevant services, support revenue and profitability growth, and act as the organisation's senior OT authority. The opportunity You will be the external face of OT for the business, representing it with clients, partners and the wider market through conferences, industry events, thought leadership, media engagement and press commentary. Internally, you will connect OT specialists with consulting, sales, marketing, engineering, security operations and the OT SOC. Your role will be to turn specialist capability into a joined-up proposition that clients want to buy and the business can deliver consistently. You will:

• Own and develop the OT strategy.
• Build differentiated, repeatable services for critical infrastructure clients and adjacent sectors.
• Identify partnerships and routes to market that support growth.
• Work with sales to build pipeline, shape opportunities, expand accounts and deliver revenue.
• Contribute to the growth and profitability of the OT practice, including margins, utilisation and client satisfaction.
• Support marketing activity, campaigns, publications and market positioning.
• Act as executive sponsor for strategic OT engagements and build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders.
• Provide specialist expertise, oversight and quality assurance across OT engagements.
• Review technical approaches and contribute directly to complex projects or critical client situations.
• Develop the methodologies, frameworks, tools and intellectual property that underpin high-quality delivery.
• Identify skills gaps and create training plans that enable the team to deliver new technical services.
• Contribute to hiring decisions and help build a high-performing OT culture. What you will bring You will have senior OT security leadership experience gained within a consulting practice, professional-services environment, business unit or comparable industry setting. You may have built a practice already, led a service line or be ready to step into that level of responsibility. Your technical breadth and depth will be grounded in recent or earlier hands-on experience within operational or industrial environments. You should understand:
• ICS, SCADA, DCS and related industrial control environments.
• OT architecture, engineering and industrial networking.
• OT risk management and governance.
• Network segmentation and secure remote access.
• Asset discovery and vulnerability management.
• Security monitoring, OT SOC capabilities and threat detection.
• Incident response and operational resilience.
• The health and safety implications of working in operational environments.
• Risk assessments and method statements, including RAMS.
• Relevant standards and regulatory expectations, including IEC 62443, NCSC CAF, NIST CSF and the NIS Regulations. You will take a pragmatic approach to problem-solving, balancing security objectives with safety, operational continuity, engineering constraints and regulatory requirements. You do not need to be the deepest technical specialist in every discipline. You do need the credibility to challenge technical decisions, earn the respect of experienced consultants, learn quickly and roll up your sleeves when a difficult client or project requires it. Relevant certifications such as GICSP, GRID, CISSP, CISM or ISA/IEC 62443 and an established network across OT or critical infrastructure would be advantageous. Commercial capability You will understand how a consulting business operates and how specialist capability translates into sustainable growth. You will be able to demonstrate experience of:
• Building trusted relationships with technical and executive stakeholders.
• Translating client problems into consulting engagements and service propositions.
• Developing repeatable solutions that can be sold and delivered consistently.
• Supporting pipeline development, account growth and revenue generation.
• Balancing technical quality, client outcomes, utilisation, margins and profitability.
• Contributing to marketing, thought leadership and market development. Your background may combine consulting, industry, engineering and critical-infrastructure experience. What matters is evidence of both technical contribution and commercial impact. How the leadership model works This is a matrix leadership position rather than a traditional direct people-management role. You will provide visible leadership across the OT capability, influence hiring and development decisions, mentor technical talent and help shape team culture. The consultants' direct manager will retain responsibility for resource allocation, project assignments, individual utilisation and formal performance reviews. There is no individual utilisation target attached to the role. Success will be measured primarily through the performance of the OT business as a whole, including:
• Revenue and profitability growth.
• Pipeline and account development.
• Utilisation across the OT delivery team.
• Development and adoption of new services.
• Quality of client delivery.
• Strategic client relationships.
• Integration of OT across the wider business.
• Market visibility and credibility. This role will suit someone motivated by technical leadership, commercial growth, capability building and influence across a business, rather than someone primarily seeking traditional line-management responsibility. Applicants must already hold SC clearance or be eligible and willing to undergo security vetting.