Application & Development Security Lead

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. We work with the world's most valuable brands and have global reach across 100+ markets, with deep local expertise.

Our people are the key to our success. We're committed to fostering a culture of creativity, belonging and continuous learning, attracting and developing the brightest talent, and providing exciting career opportunities that help our people grow. For more information, visit  we're hiring:

We're looking for an Application & Development Security Lead to help shape and strengthen secure software development governance across one of the world's largest technology and creative ecosystems. Working within WPP's Digital Security & Risk Management team, you'll partner with engineering, product and platform teams to govern secure-by-design ways of working, improve software security governance, and provide oversight across modern development environments.

This role isn't about writing code day-to-day. Instead, you'll influence governance of how secure software is built, deployed and maintained across cloud-native platforms, APIs, AI-enabled applications and global engineering teams. This is an opportunity to influence software security governance at global scale, helping shape how security supports innovation across one of the world's largest and most diverse technology environments. You'll work alongside talented security and engineering professionals while helping build secure, resilient products and platforms for the future.

What you'll be doing:

Defineandevolvesecuresoftwaredevelopmentstandards,guardrailsandgovernancepractices.

Partnerwithengineeringandproductteamstoembedsecurityintodevelopmentlifecyclesanddeliveryprocesses.

Improvevisibilityandmanagementofsoftwaresecurityrisks,including vulnerabilities,insecurecodingtrendsanddependencyrisks.

Strengthengovernanceofsoftwaresupplychains,open-sourcedependenciesand

Software Billof Materials (SBOM) practices.

SupportthedevelopmentofsecureCI/CDpipelinesthroughcontrolssuchascodescanning,secretsdetectionandreleasegovernance.

HelpshapeWPP'sapproachtosecuringAI-enabled applications,includingareassuchaspromptinjectionresilience,agentcontrolsanddataprotection.

Provideinsight,reportingandchallengetoensuresoftwaresecurityrisksareunderstood,prioritisedandeffectivelymanaged.

Drivecontinuousimprovementsinsoftwaresecuritymaturityacrosstheorganisation.

What you'll need:

Experienceinapplicationsecurity,software security,Dev Sec Ops ,softwareassuranceortechnicalsecuritygovernance.

Strongunderstandingof

SecureSDLC,applicationsecurityandmodernsoftwaredevelopmentpractices.

KnowledgeofCI/CD security,cloud-nativeenvironmentsandsoftwaresupplychainrisk.

Experienceworkingcloselywithengineeringteamstoimprovesecurityoutcomes.

Strongstakeholdermanagementandcommunicationskills,withtheabilitytoinfluencetechnicalandnon-technical audiences.

Apragmaticapproachtobalancingsecurity,riskanddelivery.

Nice to Have:

Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud.

Knowledge of SAST, DAST, SCA or software security tools.

Experience with AI-enabled applications and emerging software security challenges.

Security certifications such as CISSP, CSSLP or equivalent.

Who you are:

You're open:

We are inclusive and collaborative; we encourage the free exchange of ideas; we respect and celebrate diverse views. We are open-minded: to new ideas, new partnerships,…