Nate Thornton

Nate Thornton

I’m a Security Operations Center Manager working in the financial industry and I’m working on developing my technical skills to increase my understanding of cybersecurity concepts. If you run into any inaccuracies or omissions on the site, please feel free to contact me at one of the links below.

About the Author

Overview

I am the manager of a Security Operations Center at a financial institution. In my role I work with teams across the globe to grow the firm’s cyberseucrity capabilities, helping develop the team’s strategy and drive its implementation.

I have developed skills in leadership, project management, cloud architecture development, security engineering, and programming; however, I consider my communication skills to be my greatest asset. I take pride in my ability to understand highly technical topics and translate them into concepts that can be easily understood by leadership and business partners.

Experience

Security Operations Center Manager - US

March 2024 - Present

  • Directly managed up to 14 people at once across multiple functions, ensuring consistent 24x7 security monitoring coverage
  • Overhauled the firm’s incident reporting process, leading to a significant reduction in the amount of time between the filing of an incident report and its initial assessment by the security team
  • Successfully managed multiple high-severity incidents, coordinating efforts across various departments and ensuring minimal business disruption
  • Created a brand new onboarding process for the team, increasing new hire engagement and decreasing the amount of time between a new hire’s start date and the date when they can begin independent work

Cyber Security Operations Management

July 2019 - March 2024

  • Managed projects and programs for the Cyber Security Operations department
  • Served as the main point of contact for Security Operations Center clients across the globe
  • Worked with multiple teams throughout the department to develop strategies and create achievable roadmaps that supported the organization’s overall goals and vision
  • Oversaw and/or led the completion of several key projects, including technology deployments, maturity assessments, and process enhancements across multiple areas within the department, leading to increased security across the firm
  • Managed teams for multiple high-profile regulatory initiatives under extremely short timelines, reducing regulatory risk
  • Conducted one-on-one mentoring and coaching with colleagues to support individual development and promote team unity
  • Regularly created and delivered presentations on highly technical subjects to varying groups across the organization, including frequent presentations to executive leadership

Information Technology Project Manager

Jul 2017 - Jul 2019

  • Led one of the firm’s first global projects to completion on time, on scope, and on budget, creating a lasting global partnership that has been used as a template for the globalization of other functions throughout the organization
  • Created a tool for accurate forecasting of labor charges that was accepted as a best practice organization-wide, leading to significantly reduced variance in budget forecasts and significantly reduced time spent creating those forecasts
  • Coordinated over 200 people on a project with a budget of over $10M, ensuring work was done in an efficient manner without overrunning the project budget

Certifications and Training

Active

  • Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) / ISC2

Historical

  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate / Amazon Web Services
  • Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) / Project Management Institute
  • MUFG Project Management Academy / MUFG Union Bank