Welcome to Owen Neil Govender's Professional Life Portfolio

Cybersecurity Leader • Penetration Testing & Incident Response

• Strengthened detection maturity: Led SIEM and SOC improvements that reduced mean-time-to-detect and cut false positives through refined detection rules and threat-hunting playbooks.
• Operational resilience: Directed red team operations and incident response that prevented escalations and improved containment timeframes.
• Risk reduction: Delivered penetration testing programmes and executive remediations aligned to NIST/ISO that reduced exposure of critical assets.
• Process & capability building: Built repeatable playbooks, IRPs, and team training that improved incident readiness and cross-team collaboration.

Leadership Narrative

I combine hands-on offensive capability with an executive mindset—translating complex security findings into strategic decisions. I prioritise measurable outcomes, team development, and cross-functional alignment to ensure security initiatives deliver business value.

Quick Metrics

Concise, recruiter-ready numbers and impact statements for executive screens.

• 20+ years in IT; 5+ years in offensive security and red team leadership
• Led penetration testing & red team engagements across multi-site enterprise environments
• Improved SIEM detection content, reducing false positives and improving triage efficiency
• Designed IR playbooks and ran tabletop exercises for executive readiness

Representative Projects

Enterprise Red Team Operation

Simulated APT-style intrusions across retail infrastructure; presented executive briefings and a remediation roadmap.

Compromise Assessment & Incident Response

Performed forensic investigations and containment for incidents with lateral movement and credential theft.

SOC & SIEM Enhancement

Improved logging, use cases and operational runbooks to increase SOC effectiveness.

Leadership Skills & Keywords

Why I’m Ready for Senior / Managerial Roles

I have the technical credibility to lead mature security programmes and the communication skills to influence executive decision-making. I am committed to mentoring teams, building repeatable processes, and aligning security strategy with business objectives. I am actively pursuing advanced certifications and leadership development to complement my operational experience.

Download Executive CV Contact & Opportunities

Contact

For leadership opportunities, advisory roles, or executive discussions, please reach out:

mail@owengovender.co.za • 062 086 1590 • LinkedIn