Product, Application and Offensive Security Lead

1. API, integration and data product security

   • Provide security assurance for APIs, integrations and data products. This includes:
     • Reviewing externally exposed APIs and partner integrations.
     • Assessing rate limiting, authorization, tenant isolation, logging, abuse prevention and data leakage controls.
     • Supporting secure integration between InfoSum, Open Intelligence, Resolve, WPP Open and third-party platforms.
     • Reviewing data product workflows for misuse, excessive access or unintended exposure.
     • Working with Privacy Engineering on privacy-sensitive APIs, algorithms and outputs.

2. AI and agentic security testing

   • Provide hands-on security review and adversarial testing for AI-enabled and agentic capabilities. This includes:
     • Testing prompt injection, tool misuse, data leakage and excessive agency.
     • Reviewing how agents access APIs, data, tools and workflows.
     • Testing whether agent permissions can be bypassed or escalated.
     • Assessing action boundaries and human approval points.
     • Working with Identity, AI and Data Access Governance to validate agent access models.
     • Documenting AI and agentic security risks and remediation actions.

3. Vulnerability triage and remediation support

   • Help teams understand, prioritise and fix security vulnerabilities. This includes:
     • Reviewing vulnerability findings from scans, penetration tests, code reviews, cloud tools and external reports.
     • Prioritising findings based on exploitability, exposure, data sensitivity and business impact.
     • Working directly with engineers to define remediation options.
     • Validating that fixes are effective.
     • Supporting exception and risk acceptance decisions where remediation is delayed.
     • Ensuring significant issues are visible through the DTS risk process.

4. Engineering enablement and security coaching

   • Act as a practical security partner to engineering teams. This includes:
     • Providing secure implementation guidance.
     • Creating lightweight security patterns and examples.
     • Coaching engineers on common application, API and AI security risks.
     • Helping teams understand the “why” behind security requirements.
     • Supporting a culture where security is part of product quality, not a separate approval gate.

Key Accountabilities

The Product, Application and Offensive Security Lead will be accountable for:

• Hands-on application and product security support across DTS.
• Secure SDLC guidance and practical adoption.
• Threat modelling and security design reviews.
• API, integration and data product security reviews.
• Offensive security and adversarial testing activity.
• AI and agentic security testing.
• Vulnerability triage, remediation guidance and fix validation.
• Coordination with ISMS/Risk to ensure material risks and exceptions are tracked.
• Helping engineering teams build secure systems without unnecessary delivery drag.

Skills and Experience

The successful candidate will have:

• Strong hands-on experience in application security, product security, offensive security, security engineering or penetration testing.
• Good understanding of modern software engineering, APIs, SaaS platforms, distributed systems and cloud-native applications.
• Experience with threat modelling and secure design reviews.
• Practical knowledge of common application and API security risks, including authentication, authorization, tenant isolation, injection, data leakage, privilege escalation and supply chain risk.
• Experience using security testing tools and techniques across web applications, APIs, cloud services and CI/CD pipelines.
• Familiarity with SAST, DAST, SCA, secrets scanning, dependency scanning and vulnerability management workflows.
• Experience working directly with engineers to remediate findings.
• Understanding of AI and agentic security risks would be highly valuable.
• Ability to communicate clearly with engineering, product, architecture, security and leadership stakeholders.
• A pragmatic, delivery-aware approach to security.

Leadership Expectations

The Product, Application and Offensive Security Lead is expected to:

• Be hands-on and technically credible with engineering teams.
• Act as a trusted security partner, not just a reviewer or approver.
• Challenge insecure designs constructively.
• Help teams find practical ways to reduce risk.
• Prioritise issues based on real-world exploitability and business impact.
• Work across multiple DTS product areas without becoming a delivery bottleneck.
• Escalate material risks clearly through the appropriate governance routes.
• Promote secure engineering habits through practical guidance and example.

Success Measures

Success in the role will be measured by:

• Security being embedded earlier in product and engineering delivery.
• Reduction in high-risk application, API and product vulnerabilities.
• Regular threat modelling and security reviews for critical DTS capabilities.
• Effective offensive and adversarial testing of products, APIs and workflows.
• Faster remediation of penetration test and security testing findings.
• Improved security assurance for AI and agentic workflows.
• Engineering teams receiving practical, actionable security guidance.
• Material security risks being surfaced and tracked through the DTS risk process.
• Security being viewed by engineering teams as an enabler of trusted delivery rather than a blocker.

You're open

• We are inclusive and collaborative; we encourage the free exchange of ideas; we respect and celebrate diverse views.

You're optimistic

• We believe in the power of creativity, technology and talent to create brighter futures or our people, our clients and our communities. We approach all that we do with conviction: to try the new and to seek the unexpected.

You're extraordinary

• We are stronger together: through collaboration we achieve the amazing. We are creative leaders and pioneers of our industry; we provide extraordinary every day.

What we'll give you

• Passionate, inspired people – We aim to create a culture in which people can do extraordinary work.
• Scale and opportunity – We offer the opportunity to create, influence and complete projects at a scale that is unparalleled in the industry.
• Challenging and stimulating work – Unique work and the opportunity to join a group of creative problem solvers. Are you up for the challenge?

#LI-Hybrid

We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office around four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

WPP is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular