Palo Alto Networks
Principal Consultant, Incident Preparedness - Proactive Services
- Permanent
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Experience 5 - 10 yrs
Job expiry date: 23/04/2026
Job overview
Date posted
09/03/2026
Location
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Salary
Undisclosed
Compensation
Comprehensive package
Job description
The Principal Consultant, Incident Preparedness - Proactive Services (Unit 42) at Palo Alto Networks in Abu Dhabi, UAE, is a client-facing, senior-level role focused on strengthening organizational cyber resilience through proactive incident preparedness engagements. This role leads the end-to-end delivery of high-impact projects, including Tabletop Exercises (TTX), Incident Response Plan development, and Response Maturity Assessments, for a diverse range of clients and stakeholders. The consultant critically reviews client documentationāsuch as Crisis Management, Incident Response, and Business Continuity plansāto identify gaps and provide actionable recommendations. The role encompasses full lifecycle management of client engagements, from scoping and stakeholder alignment to final deliverables, ensuring quality outcomes and customer satisfaction. Acting as a trusted advisor, the Principal Consultant collaborates with internal Unit 42 teams and external clients to enhance preparedness posture, shares applied learnings for continuous service improvement, and maintains alignment with cybersecurity frameworks and industry best practices. Approximately 20% travel is required to support client engagements, and fluency in French and English is mandatory. The position benefits from extensive hands-on experience in incident response and preparedness, with expertise in consulting and delivering complex cybersecurity engagements at both technical and executive levels.
Required skills
Key responsibilities
- Lead the end-to-end delivery of proactive incident preparedness projects, including Tabletop Exercises (TTX), Incident Response Plan development, and Response Maturity Assessments.
- Critically review and analyze client documentation such as Crisis Management, Incident Response, and Business Continuity plans to identify gaps and provide actionable recommendations.
- Design, plan, and facilitate TTXs for audiences ranging from technical teams to C-suite executives, providing detailed post-exercise reports with strategic insights.
- Manage the full lifecycle of client engagements, from initial scoping and stakeholder alignment to final deliverable production, ensuring high-quality outcomes and customer satisfaction.
- Proactively collaborate with clients and internal Unit 42 teams to serve as a trusted advisor enhancing overall cyber resilience and preparedness posture.
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of service delivery methodologies and internal team knowledge by sharing insights and lessons learned from client engagements.
- Travel as required (approximately 20%) to meet client engagement needs and business demands, ensuring seamless project execution.
- Prepare executive-level presentations and reports to communicate complex cybersecurity topics, assessment findings, and strategic recommendations to stakeholders.
Experience & skills
- Bachelorās Degree in Information Security, Computer Science, Cyber Security, or related field; Masterās degree preferred.
- 8+ years of combined experience in incident preparedness and incident response consulting.
- Demonstrated experience leading and delivering complex, client-facing cybersecurity engagements from scoping to completion.
- Hands-on experience in both incident response and incident preparedness, with primary focus on preparedness.
- Professional business fluency in French and English.
- Relevant industry certifications such as CISSP, GCIH, GCFA, or CISM preferred.
- Experience presenting complex security topics and findings to executive-level stakeholders.
- Familiarity with major cybersecurity frameworks such as NIST, ISO 27001, and MITRE ATT&CK.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills to deliver actionable insights and guidance.
- Ability to collaborate effectively with internal teams and client stakeholders while managing multiple engagements.