Senior Manager, Data Protection Engineering
- United Kingdom - Sandwich
ROLE SUMMARY
Our Global Cyber Defense team is responsible for safeguarding Pfizer’s digital assets and infrastructure through proactive threat detection, response, and risk mitigation across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments.
We are seeking a Senior Manager, Data Protection Engineering, to lead and evolve our data protection capabilities within the Cyber Defense organization. This role is critical to safeguarding sensitive scientific, clinical, patient, and business data across Pfizer’s global enterprise.
The role will lead a team of highly skilled engineers and work closely with Cyber Defense, Privacy, Legal, Compliance, R&D, Infrastructure, and Cloud Services partners to design, implement, and operate scalable data protection solutions aligned to regulatory requirements and business priorities.
ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
Data Protection Strategy & Architecture
Lead the definition of enterprise data protection strategy, reference architectures, and control frameworks, including DLP, data discovery and classification, and encryption requirements.
Establish and maintain data protection standards, guardrails, and design patterns that guide implementation across endpoints, cloud platforms, applications, and collaboration tools.
Define policy and control requirements for encryption, key management, and secrets management in partnership with Cloud, Infrastructure, and Identity teams, ensuring alignment with data protection objectives.
Engineering Oversight & Technology Enablement
Oversee the implementation, configuration, and lifecycle governance of data protection technologies such as DLP, data classification, and data discovery solutions.
Provide architectural guidance and design review for data protection integrations within platforms, applications, and business solutions.
Influence tooling decisions through risk‑based requirements, not operational ownership of underlying cloud or infrastructure services.
Security‑by‑Design & Platform Integration
Embed security‑by‑design principles for data protection into the application and platform lifecycle, including requirements for data handling, classification, retention, and policy enforcement.
Partner with Digital, Cloud Services, Infrastructure, and IT teams to ensure data protection controls are designed into platforms, not bolted on post‑deployment.
Incident Support & Risk Management
Partner with Security Operations and Incident Response teams to support detection, investigation, and response to data protection incidents and policy violations.
Ensure data protection capabilities align with enterprise risk management frameworks, internal security standards, and audit expectations.
Regulatory & Cross‑Functional Partnership
Collaborate with Privacy, Legal, Compliance, and Cyber Defense teams to ensure data protection controls support global regulatory and industry requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOX, GxP).
Translate regulatory and privacy requirements into clear, implementable data protection controls and guidance.
Metrics, Reporting, & Continuous Improvement
Define and report metrics that demonstrate data protection effectiveness, risk trends, and maturity improvement to Cyber Defense and senior leadership.
Use insights to drive continuous improvement of data protection capabilities and operating models.
People Leadership
Lead, mentor, and develop a team of engineers and analysts focused on data protection engineering and architectural enablement.
Establish clear role boundaries between data protection control ownership and platform operational ownership to enable scale and clarity.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor’s degree in Information Security, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Strong experience in cybersecurity or data protection–related roles, with responsibility for enterprise‑scale data protection controls.
Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and operating data loss prevention (DLP) controls across endpoints, email, cloud platforms, and collaboration tools.
Strong technical experience with data classification, labeling, and policy‑based enforcement across structured and unstructured data.
Hands‑on experience implementing and managing encryption technologies (data at rest and in transit), key management, and secure data handling controls.
Experience integrating data protection controls into cloud platforms, SaaS applications, and enterprise collaboration environments.
Experience operating security controls in large, complex, and regulated enterprise environments.
Proven ability to collaborate across engineering, digital, and operations teams to deliver practical and effective data protection outcomes.
Demonstrated experience in an agile work environment possessing qualities such as a collaborative mindset, adaptability to change, and a proactive problem-solving approach.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Familiarity with cybersecurity frameworks, regulatory requirements, and risk management practices relevant to pharmaceutical or life sciences organizations.
Professional certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CCSP, or data protection–focused certifications.
Prior leadership experience managing or mentoring data protection engineers or security engineering teams.
Strong understanding of data lifecycle management, including data creation, access, sharing, retention, and secure disposal.
Strong analytical and communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate data protection risks and design decisions to senior stakeholders.
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PHYSICAL/MENTAL REQUIREMENTS
No special physical requirements.
Applicants should be capable of working through a personal laptop computer or mobile device for extended periods.
Work Location Assignment: Hybrid (some office presence is required)
Purpose
Breakthroughs that change patients' lives... At Pfizer we are a patient centric company, guided by our four values: courage, joy, equity and excellence. Our breakthrough culture lends itself to our dedication to transforming millions of lives.
Digital Transformation Strategy
One bold way we are achieving our purpose is through our company wide digital transformation strategy. We are leading the way in adopting new data, modelling and automated solutions to further digitize and accelerate drug discovery and development with the aim of enhancing health outcomes and the patient experience.
Flexibility
We aim to create a trusting, flexible workplace culture which encourages employees to achieve work life harmony, attracts talent and enables everyone to be their best working self. Let’s start the conversation!
Equal Employment Opportunity
We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce is crucial to building a successful business. As an employer, Pfizer is committed to celebrating this, in all its forms – allowing for us to be as diverse as the patients and communities we serve. Together, we continue to build a culture that encourages, supports and empowers our employees.
DisAbility Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and we encourage you to put your best self forward with the knowledge and trust that we will make any reasonable adjustments necessary to support your application and future career. Our mission is unleashing the power of our people, especially those with unique superpowers. Your journey with Pfizer starts here!
Information & Business TechBreakthroughs that change patients’ lives
Research confirms what intuition tells us: that purpose-driven companies perform better, are more innovative, attract and retain the best people, and know how to unleash the power of those people. Pfizer’s purpose—Breakthroughs that change patients' lives—fuels everything we do and reflects our passion for building on our legacy as one of the greatest contributors of good to the world.
Each word in our purpose has meaning and reflects the value we strive to bring to patients and society:
“Breakthroughs” - These are the innovations, scientific and commercial, that we seek to deliver every day. All colleagues, regardless of role, level or location, strive for breakthroughs every day.
“Change” - We want to do more than simply improve patients’ medical conditions; we want to dramatically change their lives for the better.
“Patients’ lives” - We consider not only patients, but everyone they touch—including their families, caregivers, and friends—and everything they love to do. It’s an intentionally holistic view.
Our purpose ensures that patients remain at the center of all we do. We live our purpose by sourcing the best science in the world; partnering with others in the healthcare system to improve access to our medicines; using digital technologies to enhance our drug discovery and development, as well as patient outcomes; and leading the conversation to advocate for pro-innovation/pro-patient policies.
Every decision we make and every action we take is done with the patient in mind—and to nurture an environment where breakthroughs can thrive.
Our Values
To fully realize Pfizer’s purpose, we have established a clear set of expectations regarding “what” we need to achieve for patients and “how” we will go about achieving those goals.
The “how” is represented by four simple, powerful values—courage, excellence, equity, and joy—that define our company and our culture.
Courage: Breakthroughs start by challenging convention, especially in the face of uncertainty or adversity. This happens when we think big, speak up, and are decisive.
Excellence: We can only change patients’ lives when we perform at our best together. This happens when we focus on what matters, agree who does what, and measure our outcomes.
Equity: We believe that every person deserves to be seen, heard, and cared for. This happens when we are inclusive, act with integrity, and reduce healthcare disparities.
Joy: We give ourselves to our work, but it also gives to us. We find joy when we take pride, recognize one another, and have fun.
Pfizer Digital
Pfizer Digital takes immense pride in being at the forefront of innovation, harnessing cutting-edge smart technology that profoundly impacts the lives of our patients.
With the transformative potential of digital solutions, we revolutionize how we discover, develop, and deliver medicines, enabling us to achieve breakthroughs faster and more efficiently.
By streamlining and automating transactional processes, we create valuable time and resources, empowering our talented team to focus on meaningful work that truly makes a difference in healthcare and beyond.
Benefits at Pfizer
Pfizer offers competitive compensation and benefits programs designed to meet the diverse needs of our colleagues. Our Pay for Performance Philosophy and Practices reward colleagues based on the contributions they make to our business.
Our Competitive Benefits Programs help our colleagues by:
- Promoting Health and Wellness to help colleagues maintain and improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Pfizer offerings include health and disability insurance, preventative health programs, medical screenings, free or reduced-cost vaccinations, discounts on Pfizer products, mental health support, nutrition and fitness counseling and more.
- Strengthening Colleagues’ Financial Security by providing company contributions to retirement plans, life insurance and financial planning education to help colleagues achieve their financial goals.
- Providing Benefits and Time off for the Moments that Matter to ensure Pfizer colleagues have the time away from the office to recharge, recover and return to work as the best version of themselves. Vacation, Holiday time and Sick time are just the beginning, with a 12 week parental leave policy for both parents of a new born, 10 day of caregiver leave for those times when your family needs you whether it’s a child, spouse or parent, bereavement leave, and additional country-specific programs.
- And so much more, depending on your country and site, Pfizer offers childcare facilities or discount programs, on-site health and/or fitness centers, movement and mindfulness solutions, “Log in for your Day” work flexibility and so much more.
For U.S. based jobs, view an overview of Pfizer’s U.S. benefits program (opens in a new window)