Director of Security Operations

How you'll help us achieve it

At Wave Mobile Money, the Director of Security Operations is both a strategic advisor and an operational leader responsible for safeguarding our people, operations, and assets across all markets where we operate. This role is mission-critical to Wave's ability to scale safely in challenging, high-risk environments across Africa.

You will lead security operations across 9+ markets including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this role, you will manage and train security leaders and consultants in each country while responding to diverse crisis scenarios—from civil unrest and terrorist activity to traffic accidents, theft, and armed violence. Your mandate is to translate Wave's risk appetite into practical security frameworks that protect our employees and enable rapid business growth, even in the most volatile contexts.

Success in this role depends on your ability to build deep, trust-based relationships with country teams, executive leadership, and external partners. You'll position security as an enabling function that supports growth, not a barrier that prevents it. This requires both strategic thinking and operational excellence: you'll design security systems and processes across Wave while remaining hands-on during critical incidents that demand immediate leadership and decision-making.

In this role, you'll be responsible for:

Strategic Security & Risk Translation

• Translate Wave's risk appetite and tolerance into clear, actionable security frameworks, standards, and operating models across all markets.
• Ensure that each of our operating markets has a clear Crisis Management plan that makes sense in the local context - along with the training, comms, and tooling needed to action these plans if and when necessary.

Crisis Management & Incident Response

• Together with your team, serve as Wave's primary crisis response leader for security incidents across all markets, providing 24/7 on-call support and rapid decision-making during emergencies.
• Lead response to critical incidents including terrorist activity, armed conflict, civil unrest, kidnapping threats, violent crime, and natural disasters.
• Establish and maintain crisis response protocols, evacuation procedures, and emergency communication systems across all operating countries.
• Build and maintain business continuity plans that ensure Wave can continue operating safely during periods of instability.

Security Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop security managers and security staff in each of Wave's operating markets.
• Build strong, trust-based relationships with country leadership, local teams, and partners—positioning security as an enabling function that supports growth.