Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Timeline
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RUSHIKESH NIKAM

Reading

Summary

  • Seasoned and strategic Senior Cyber Security Professional with 16 years of progressive experience, specialising in Enterprise Cyber Governance, Strategic Risk Management, and leading global Security Operations (SOC/CERT) across highly regulated, large-scale environments. Proven expertise in translating complex technical issues (Zero-Day threats, critical vulnerabilities) into clear, actionable risk management strategies for C-suite and senior leadership.
  • Strong leadership track record, including building, mentoring, and leading high-performing CERT/SOC teams and managing the full critical incident lifecycle (ransomware, DDoS) for rapid business continuity.
  • Deep technical foundation across SIEM (Splunk, Sentinel), EDR (CrowdStrike, Defender), and Cloud Security, complemented by significant experience in DevSecOps and Security Architecture.
  • Currently UK-based, adept at stakeholder management, cross-functional collaboration, and delivering concise, impactful strategic security reports.

Overview

16
16
years of professional experience
3
3
Certification

Work History

Enterprise Cyber Issue Management, Senior Analyst

Maersk Line UK Ltd
06.2023 - Current
  • Company Overview: Global Shipping/Logistics
  • Strategic Risk Leadership: Managed the end-to-end lifecycle for critical Zero-Day vulnerabilities and enterprise cyber issues across multiple global business portfolios, ensuring risk was consistently managed to an accepted risk threshold for executive sign-off.
  • Governance & Standards: Established a systematic governance framework for managing PKI and Account Hygiene, documenting and implementing comprehensive SOPs that streamlined workflows and enforced consistent security practices organization-wide.
  • Vulnerability & Compliance: Supported the implementation of CIS Level 1 benchmarks across cloud environments to identify and remediate critical misconfigurations, driving targeted mitigation efforts that contributed to a demonstrable reduction in residual risk.
  • Stakeholder Influence: Empowered Cyber Leaders and Regional CSOs with critical, timely insights into emerging threats and attack surface issues, directly influencing strategic resource allocation and proactive mitigation decisions.
  • Process Optimisation: Significantly reduced SLA for security approvals without compromising cyber posture by building strong RACI alignment across the wider Cyber organisation, facilitating faster operational changes.
  • Team Development: Mentored a team of 6 members within the new Issue Management structure, enhancing team capability and fostering a proactive, strategic approach to enterprise risk.
  • 1. Enterprise Cyber Issue Management, Senior Analyst (June 2023 – Present)
  • Analyzed complex data sets to identify trends and inform strategic decision-making.
  • Developed comprehensive reports to support executive leadership and guide business initiatives.
  • Led cross-functional teams in process improvement projects, enhancing operational efficiency.
  • Mentored junior analysts, fostering skill development and knowledge sharing within the team.
  • Streamlined reporting processes, reducing turnaround time for key performance metrics delivery.
  • Presented analytical findings to stakeholders, facilitating data-driven discussions and action plans.
  • Mentored junior analysts, fostering professional development while enhancing overall team performance.
  • Collaborated with cross-functional teams to identify areas of improvement, leading to increased operational effectiveness.
  • Enhanced team productivity by streamlining workflow processes and implementing time-saving strategies.

CERT, Escalations & Continuous Improvements (E&CI) Functional Lead

Maersk Line UK Ltd
03.2022 - 05.2023
  • Company Overview: Global Shipping/Logistics
  • Critical Incident Leadership: Served as the primary Functional Lead for Enterprise & Critical Incident Management, leading a high-performing CERT team of 6 security professionals (L3/L2, including forensics and OT specialists).
  • IR Execution & Continuity: Directed the technical response, containment, and recovery for major business-impacting cyber incidents, including sophisticated ransomware, malware, and DDoS attacks, ensuring rapid business continuity.
  • Post-Incident Review: Spearheaded Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and supported forensic investigations post-incident, translating findings into actionable management recommendations that measurably enhanced future organizational resilience.
  • Process Enhancement: Drove continuous improvisation initiatives across Cyber Operations, leading to process optimisation and a measurable enhancement of overall security efficiency and response capabilities.
  • 2. CERT, Escalations & Continuous Improvements (E&CI) Functional Lead (Mar 2022 – May 2023)

Senior Analyst CSOC

Maersk Line UK Ltd
11.2018 - 02.2022
  • Company Overview: Global Shipping/Logistics
  • SOC & IR Framework Development: Spearheaded the design and implementation of the Cyber Security Incident and Response framework and comprehensive SOPs for a newly formed function directly following the 2017 Maersk Cyber attack.
  • Foundational Capabilities: Played a key role in establishing foundational Vulnerability Management and Threat Intelligence functions, integrating them seamlessly with SOC operations to support broader strategic security goals.
  • 3. Senior Analyst CSOC (Nov 2018 – Feb 2022)

Senior Cyber Assurance Manager

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd
01.2017 - 09.2018
  • Company Overview: Telecommunications
  • Security Architecture & GRC: Led Security Architectural reviews for new application development, providing critical, timely insights and recommending secure solutions that mitigated potential risks at the design phase (Shift-Left).
  • Compliance Assurance: Championed Cyber Compliance and Assurance initiatives, ensuring new applications met stringent security standards (ISO 27001 principles) prior to go-live, reducing post-deployment vulnerabilities and audit findings.
  • 1. Senior Cyber Assurance Manager (Jan 2017 – Sep 2018)

Senior Operations Manager

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd
09.2015 - 01.2017
  • Company Overview: Telecommunications
  • Greenfield SOC Establishment: Played a pivotal role in a Greenfield project to establish and operationalize the SOC from the ground up, including defining incident response workflows and setting up critical security alerts for scalable cyber defense.
  • 2. Senior Operations Manager (Sep 2015 – Jan 2017)

SOC Manager (Vodafone Client)

IBM
03.2015 - 09.2015
  • Company Overview: Managed Security Services
  • Managed Vodafone’s SOC operations from the client location, overseeing day-to-day activities to ensure efficient functioning of the security environment.
  • Team Leadership: Led a team of 8 cyber analysts and SMEs, ensuring the monitoring and investigation of all security incidents within stipulated Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
  • Risk & Change Control: Acted as the primary approver for all Firewall and Proxy changes, maintaining a strict security posture while coordinating closely with the Change Control team for secure implementation.
  • SIEM Deployment: Spearheaded the deployment and configuration of cutting-edge SIEM solutions, integrating diverse security logs and enabling real-time threat detection capabilities across the network.

Education

Bachelor of Science - Zoology

University of Mumbai
Mumbai, India
01.2003

Skills

  • Cyber Operations & Resilience
  • Technical Platforms & Standards
  • Enterprise Cyber Issues Management
  • Global Incident Response (CERT/SOC)
  • ISO 27001 & NIST CSF
  • Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC)
  • Enterprise Vulnerability Management (VM)
  • CISM & ITIL V4
  • Senior Stakeholder Management & Reporting
  • Security Architecture Review
  • SIEM: Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel
  • Process and SOP Development
  • Threat Intelligence & Hunting
  • EDR/XDR: CrowdStrike, SentinelOne
  • Process Optimisation & Audit Readiness
  • Digital Forensics Coordination & RCA
  • DevSecOps & Cloud Security Principles

Certification

  • ISACA: Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) – Dec 2022
  • ISA/IEC 62443 Fundamental Specialist – Feb 2024 (Relevant for OT/Critical Infrastructure)
  • ITIL V4: Foundation - IT Service Management, Mar 2021

Timeline

Enterprise Cyber Issue Management, Senior Analyst

Maersk Line UK Ltd
06.2023 - Current

CERT, Escalations & Continuous Improvements (E&CI) Functional Lead

Maersk Line UK Ltd
03.2022 - 05.2023

Senior Analyst CSOC

Maersk Line UK Ltd
11.2018 - 02.2022

Senior Cyber Assurance Manager

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd
01.2017 - 09.2018

Senior Operations Manager

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd
09.2015 - 01.2017

SOC Manager (Vodafone Client)

IBM
03.2015 - 09.2015

Bachelor of Science - Zoology

University of Mumbai
RUSHIKESH NIKAM