Over the last 20 years, Ares’ success has been driven by our people and our culture. Today, our team is guided by our core values – Collaborative, Responsible, Entrepreneurial, Self-Aware, Trustworthy – and our purpose to be a catalyst for shared prosperity and a better future. Through our recruitment, career development and employee-focused programming, we are committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive work environment where high-performance talent of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can build careers within this exciting and growing industry.

Job Description

Summary:

Ares is seeking a highly skilled and dedicated Associate Vice President for Cybersecurity Operations (Secops) to join our cybersecurity leadership team in Japan. Cybersecurity sits within our broader IT program and (SecOps) leads strategic initiatives across three core functions: Security Operations Center (SOC), RAPTIR (Rapid Analysis, Proactive Threat Identification and Remediation), and Threat Intelligence.

The successful candidate will oversee and drive excellence across the following key programs:

Proactive Threat Hunting
Vulnerability Management
Threat Intelligence
Incident Response
Continuous Control Validation / Breach & Attack Simulation
Purple Teaming
Attack Surface Management
Vulnerability Disclosure / Bug Bounty

Overview:

This is a rare opportunity to join a fast-growing, globally respected team that is deeply committed to investing in its people, processes, and technologies. The role demands flexibility in working hours to support Ares’ global cybersecurity mission and requires a high level of professionalism, discretion, and cross-cultural collaboration.

We are looking for a candidate with proven expertise in the above domains, a strong sense of ownership, and the ability to engage effectively with stakeholders across diverse backgrounds. Ares values continuous improvement, innovation, and teamwork - qualities essential to thrive in this role.

If you are passionate about cybersecurity, eager to contribute to a high-performance environment, and ready to make a meaningful impact in Japan and beyond, we welcome your application.

Primary Functions & Essential Responsibilities:

Provide support to Security Operations leadership on Japan-specific language and landscape matters
Contribute to the Threat Intelligence program by sourcing and analyzing intelligence from Japanese-language platforms
Conduct proactive threat hunting in response to intelligence-driven alerts
Assist in incident response activities, particularly where Japanese language skills are essential
Support the vulnerability disclosure and/or bug bounty program
Tune and optimize and operationalize security tools, including network anomaly detection
Establish and execute continuous control testing for cybersecurity controls
Ensure timely and process-driven delivery of all assigned projects
Adhere to and help develop KRIs and KPIs
Run and support vulnerability management/testing, and fully understand the Ares environment
Participate in purple team exercises to validate and enhance security tools and response processes

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business or equivalent discipline or demonstrated requisite years of experience for on-the-job training.

Experience Required:

7-9 years of progressive experience in enterprise cybersecurity, ideally within the financial, government, military, or technology sectors
Proven track record of delivering high-quality outcomes within defined timelines and operational frameworks
Preferred expertise in key security domains, including threat intelligence, threat hunting, incident response, SIEM operations, vulnerability management, and continuous control validation
Familiarity with offensive security methodologies such as red teaming and penetration testing is considered a strong advantage
Experience working in complex international organizations, collaborating with teams in multiple jurisdictions and time zones

General Requirements:

Candidate should be willing to work flexible hours when needed due to the nature of cybersecurity threats
Candidate should be bi-lingual, business-level fluency in both Japanese and English
Candidate should be able to work in a hybrid capacity from the local Ares office
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
High level of personal integrity, and the ability to professionally handle confidential matters and show an appropriate level of judgment and maturity
Ability to interact effectively at all levels with sensitivity to cultural diversity
Posses a collaborative mindset to work with functions outside of IT and understand the overall business operations
Ability to adapt as the external environment and organization evolves
Passionate about Cybersecurity domain and has the inclination to learn current technologies / concepts / improvements
Experience with scripting
Knowledge of common TTPs, e.g. MITRE ATT&CK framework, CVSS, OSINT
High-level understanding of security mitigation solutions across the broader cybersecurity landscape
Experience working with EDRs, Proxies, and anti-virus
Experience working with pen testing, vulnerability, threat, and risk management
Understanding of common Attack methods and their SIEM signatures
Understanding of network protocols (TCP/IP stack, SSL/TLS, IPSEC, SMTP/IMAP, FTP, HTTP etc.)
Understanding of Operating System, Web Server, database, and Security devices (firewall/NIDS/NIPS) logs and log formats
Knowledge of intrusion detection methodologies and techniques for detecting host- and network- based intrusions via intrusion detection technologies
Excellent verbal and written English communication skills
Ability to prioritize tasks based on the risk they pose to the enterprise
Experience with the following tools (and integration points) would be an advantage, but not essential:
- Threat Intelligence Providers (e.g. Recorded Future, Mandiant, Flashpoint)
- TIPs (e.g. ThreatQuotient, Anomali, ThreatConnect)
- SIEM (e.g. Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk, Securonix)
- EDR/XDR (e.g. SentinelOne, Carbon Black, Crowdstrike Falcon)
- Vulnerability Management (e.g. Tenable Nessus, Rapid7, Qualys)
- Attack Surface Management (e.g. Shodan, Randori, HackerOne)
- Network Detection and Response (e.g. Vectra AI, Darktrace DETECT, ExtraHop Reveal)

Recommended: Professional Certifications such as CISSP, CCSK, GIAC, or OSCP

Reporting Relationships

Vice President, Cybersecurity

There is no set deadline to apply for this job opportunity. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the search is no longer active.

Associate Vice President, Cybersecurity Operations

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