Cyber Angel – Suze Russell

Cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly attractive career option for many women, and Capgemini Cybersecurity Architect Suze Russell is certainly a trailblazer in the field.

Now, drawing on her expertise, Suze has highlighted how being the CEO of your own role is essential to driving the best business outcomes. 

Tell us about your role. What does a day in your life at Capgemini look like?

As a Cybersecurity Architect, I support delivery teams for all their security architecture needs. I lead technical architecture design for delivery services to support security operations and client engagement teams to drive innovation and continuous improvement. A typical day involves actively connecting with subject-matter experts and delivery teams for client engagements and to design roadmaps for cybersecurity resiliency. Cybersecurity architecture services establish the traceability of business objectives for our clients’ security programs as well as requirements management within our managed detection and response services. I am also a member of the America’s Architecture Community Council and I actively connect internal teams to grow our learning and development programs for architecture certifications.

What’s the best thing about working at Capgemini?

I enjoy working with dedicated and hardworking people who really want to see clients succeed in their cybersecurity strategies. I work with the most creative and innovative people! They firmly embrace our Capgemini values and work diligently on technical solutions to keep the engines running when the rubber meets the road. Clients benefit from the application of our Capgemini values and see it in every successful delivery. The market has also recognized that our cyber ratings are highly competitive, and we are enjoying rapid growth in cybersecurity services.

What makes you proud to work at Capgemini?

Capgemini values are clear differentiators and I’m proud to work with such a forward-thinking and innovative organization. What’s more, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in our equality-driven approach, which leads to a more inclusive world. We know there are areas that need improvement, and we are working towards creating solutions with transparency and honesty. At Capgemini, we lead with compassion and use technology to drive our clients’ business; but we also make it imperative to build a better and more sustainable future for all of humanity at the same time.

What difference does it make to have diversity in the cyber leadership?

Diversity in cyber leadership is essential to the success of any organization. Diversity is not only important for driving profitability and growth within organizations but is also vital in the cybersecurity profession, which depends on unique approaches to problems and challenges to protect the organization. Recent studies reveal that discrimination is most prevalent along two intersecting axes for our cybersecurity profession. First, ethnicity or an employee’s cultural group and secondly, because of gender. When looking at these studies, it is particularly interesting when we find that women experience greater rates of discrimination in a much greater proportion than men when viewed as a total population. At Capgemini, the barriers to entry and advancement for minority women in cybersecurity are being addressed through training and mentoring programs, recognition programs, and executive sponsorship programs. Ultimately, by supporting and stimulating growth within the cybersecurity workforce, our diverse leadership benefits both company culture and bottom-line income, while also adding to the overall confidence in our ability to innovate and lead client delivery.

How are you working towards the future you want?

I hope to bring more awareness to the role of the security architect at Capgemini. We need to bust the myth that security architects are only valuable within a cyber role, and to grow the security architect community as an essential element of our cyber business. The Capgemini Global Architecture Community has been very supportive of my myth-busting campaign and is rapidly expanding the technical communities. We define certifications, career paths, and roles and responsibilities in a manner that allows our people to set achievable goals and our clients to benefit from referenceable frameworks. Security architects give our clients confidence in our cybersecurity services. Capgemini cybersecurity leadership also continues to provide the vision and strategic alliances that drive our practice and recognize the business value of security architects. Capgemini has the potential to be a global household name in security services – not only to harness the market, but also to build a more sustainable future with cybersecurity delivery services embracing a diverse leadership team. Security architects are the catalyst for building these capabilities.

What advice would you give to someone joining Capgemini?

Be the CEO of your role. If you are just starting out at Capgemini, seek out the resources and relationships you need to form your own entrepreneurial unit. This unit will support your career progression. Become a member of the communities available to you and get involved in the initiatives and events that excite you. Don’t be afraid to reach out to colleagues at all levels and ask lots of questions. Form lasting networks and relationships that will help you – not just to deliver what’s at hand, but also to improve all future deliveries too. If you want to have a voice in building a sustainable and diverse future, be the change you wish to see and, own it like a CEO.

Capgemini offers a plethora of opportunities to forge a rewarding career. 
Discover all our latest job vacancies to take the next step in your exciting employment journey.