Leading in Cybersecurity

  • Leading in Cybersecurity webpage banner
  • Start Date: 26th November 2026
  • Duration: 7 sessions
  • Delivery: In-person
  • Subsidised Fees: €2,895*

Leading in Cybersecurity

Part-funded

A cyber-specific leadership programme for professionals ready to lead people

Move from being relied on for technical answers to being trusted to lead people, decisions and organisational response.

The global cybersecurity industry is expected to reach $2.66 billion by 2027. Like with any high growth industry, new challenges invariably arise, such as skills and talent shortages, issues with employee retention, highly skilled technical individual contributors being promoted to leadership roles without the requisite skillset or management training. Solving these challenges requires leaders with a different skill set.

The Leading in Cybersecurity course, from Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet and the Irish Management Institute (IMI) and supported by Cyber Ireland, will help you build a critical awareness of your leadership style, allow you to become an effective and influential communicator, develop your emotional intelligence and ability to cultivate engagement and wellbeing within your team.

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The objective of this programme is to broaden the focus of learners from technical or operational leadership to people leadership, providing them with the skills and mindset to become strong leaders in the cybersecurity sector.

 

Who is this programme for?

This programme is aimed at mid-level and high-potential cybersecurity managers. It focuses on broadening their leadership capabilities and equipping them with the knowledge and people management skills they need to become more confident and competent cybersecurity leaders.

This programme is designed for professionals at a key career inflection point and those who may want to transition from a purely technical role to becoming a strategic leader

 

What will you learn?

Develop the key skills leaders need to succeed and thrive in the cybersecurity sector. This programme will focus on sharpening these skills, building confidence and empowering you to take your leadership to the next level.

  • Power Skills: Expand behavioural and thinking skills, with a specific focus on emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills.
  • People Management: Learn how to manage people and teams more effectively to cultivate a culture of engagement and wellbeing for strong performance and retention.
  • Growth Mindset: Understand the importance of continuous learning, to include both technical and power skills.
  • Enterprise Mindset: Think bigger to understand organisational purpose and goals, and the strategic positioning of cybersecurity now and into the future.

 

 

The course begins with a virtual launch event, followed by 5x in-person learning days, and lastly an in-person Capstone Project event.

Every learning day is underpinned by an exploration of the real life challenges and dilemmas faced by cybersecurity professionals and their teams.

 

Class Breakdown

Virtual Launch: 26th November 2026 / 10am-12pm

 

Module 1 – Me As A Leader: 9th December 2026 / 9.30am-5pm

Gain self-awareness of your management style and become a more emotionally intelligent cybersecurity leader. Shift your mindset from technical leadership to people leadership.

 

Module 2 – Leading People: 27th January 2027 / 9.30am-5pm

Learn tips, techniques and communication skills to lead others effectively, gain an understanding of individual personality types and communication preferences and learn how to manage, nurture and grow cybersecurity professionals.

 

Module 3 – Leading Teams: 28th January 2027 / 9.30am-5pm

Learn how to build trust, engage and motivate teams and foster a positive team culture to improve performance and increase retention. This module will address wellness and eliminating burn out.

 

Module 4 – Building Relationships: 25th February 2027 / 9.30am-5pm

Improve ability and confidence to communicate, collaborate and influence others both within the cybersecurity industry and with senior external and internal stakeholders at all levels.

 

Module 5 – Leading in a Crisis: 8th March 2027 / 9.30am-5pm

Develop the mindset and thinking skills for better decision making when leading in a crisis. Learn how to build team unity for an effective response.

 

Capstone Event: 23rd March 2027 / 9.30am-1pm

Facilitated by the Programme Director, this session provides a space for participants to present their project, reflect on their journey, and network with peers. They’ll also identify areas of opportunity for further growth and learn how to apply insights into their work.

 

  • Contextualised content for the cybersecurity industry: All programme content is embedded in the cybersecurity industry’s context, needs and values and acknowledges the role cybersecurity plays as a core service to all organisations. It is supported by guest speakers from within the industry.
  • Expert guidance: Support and feedback from the Programme Director, who is an experienced cybersecurity industry professional.
  • Personal development plan: Each participant will be supported in creating their own Personal Development Plan. This will personalise their journey and enable them to frame what they learn in the context of their own experience and objectives so they can easily apply it to their own organisation.
  • Peer group project: Build collaboration, communication and teamwork skills, through a group project that applies the learning in a practical way, working towards solutions to key challenges facing the industry. There will be a capstone review of the project to cement learnings.
  • Peer learning circles: Connect with other cybersecurity leaders to strengthen relationships across the industry, building a community of practice, learning and support to raise the leadership standards across the cyber security industry.
  • On-going progression path: Participants are encouraged to set goals for future progress and apply what they have learned in their own organisations, paving the way for on-going growth and future success.
  • Real life scenarios and cases: Real scenarios such as incident management and security breaches will be explored as we delve into the challenging operating environment of these professional’s success.

 

 

A team of IMI senior expert associates and thought leaders will contribute to this programme ensuring that participants get the very latest insights from a diverse panel of experts within the ICT industry.

 

Programme Director: Kevin Quigley

Kevin specialises in leadership practice and leading change. He is IMI’s Programme Director for our Leadership in Technology programme. Prior to joining IMI’s faculty, Kevin spent a career working as a European Director of Learning at Intel and leading Organisational Development at General Electric. His experience in identifying and supporting the career pathway of high potentials is significant. He has a particular focus on team development.

 

Anna Connelly

Anna is a Chartered Organisational psychologist, who supports people leadership in their communications through story-telling, decision-making and role-modelling behaviours. Anna is also a Coach and supports teams in their aim to deliver high performance. Previously, Anna held several senior management positions in Ericsson, a global ICT service provider. Her clients span national and international entities with a particular focus on international technology.

 

Dr. Jay Chopra PhD.

Jay is a former Fortune 100 executive, specialising in leadership development, teaming, innovation and culture change. Jay holds a PhD in science. As an organisational development consultant he has worked in 20+ countries. Previously, Jay served on the Innovation Leadership Team for Pfizer Global Supply in New York. Jay is one of only a handful of master certified Whole Brain® facilitators globally.

 

Course Fees

The fees for this programme are part-funded by Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet. Part-funded fees are only available to eligible* applicants.

Full course fee: €3,750
Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet grant: €855
Subsidised course fee: €2,895*

Subsidised fees are only available to eligible applicants*.

 

*Funding Eligibility

Applicants must be working in a private or commercial semi-state organisation registered in the Republic of Ireland (Business, Consultant, Freelancer) to avail of the grant-aided fees. As a government-funded training network, we can only support those meeting these criteria with funding towards courses.

Public sector employees, non-profits, or charitable organisations that do not meet our funding criteria may apply privately for the full course fee once places are available.

 

Once you have received your offer of a place on the programme, please be aware that we have a limited number of subsidised places available. Due to high demand, we cannot hold places without payment. To ensure fairness, priority for these places will be granted to those who have both completed full payment of the subsidised fee and are deemed eligible by the college or training provider.

 

If you would like to apply, are considering the programme for a member of your team, or would like further information, use the Make An Enquiry form to speak directly with our programme team.

 

Note: The course will close once capacity is reached. We strongly advise taking prompt action to confirm your place. The IMI is the final arbitrator regarding acceptance onto the programme.

 

Hear from Leading in Cybersecurity Participants

Hear directly from professionals who completed the Leading in Cybersecurity programme and learn how the experience helped them reflect on leadership, strengthen their confidence and apply their learning in a cybersecurity context.

Participant testimonial

Barry Curran, Engineering Program Director at Medtronic

Barry shares how the programme supported his development as a cybersecurity leader and helped him reflect on the shift from technical expertise to people leadership.

Participant testimonial

Michael McNamara, Group Head of Security & Compliance at Speed Fibre Group

Michael discusses the value of the course experience, including cybersecurity context, practical leadership development and peer discussion.

What former students say about Leading in Cybersecurity

  • What made the course valuable was the mix of cybersecurity context, practical leadership development, and discussion with peers facing similar challenges.

    Michael McNamara
    Group Head of Security and Compliance, Speed Fibre Group

  • The programme helped me move from being the technical expert to becoming a more effective leader for my team.

    Barry Curran
    Engineering Program Director – Security by Design, Medtronic

  • I took part in the programme to become a better leader for my team. I was in a technical role for 5 years but my role now is very much around leading people, so I wanted to understand how to blend the technical side with the leadership side. The content was great and really allowed us to relate to industry challenges.

    Megan Kearney
    Team Lead, eSentire

  • I developed a deeper understanding of resilience – particularly in the context of cybersecurity and organisational preparedness – and the content helped me connect the dots between leadership, digital risk, strategic decision-making and crisis management. It was a great opportunity to grow both as a leader and as someone responsible for fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness.

    Adina Dumitrescu
    CSR and Sustainability Manager, Smarttech247

For Employers & Team Leaders

Developing current or future cybersecurity leaders?

If your organisation has technically strong cybersecurity professionals moving into greater people, team or organisational responsibility, Leading in Cybersecurity provides focused development for that transition.

The programme helps participants strengthen their people leadership, team performance, stakeholder influence and decision-making, with learning grounded in the real challenges faced by cybersecurity professionals.

Consider who in your team is moving into bigger leadership responsibilities over the next 12 months.

The programme may be a strong fit for:

High-potential specialists preparing for leadership or management
Team leads or managers recently promoted into people responsibility
Established cyber leaders taking on broader teams or stakeholders
Cybersecurity teams developing a stronger internal leadership pipeline

If you are considering the programme for one or more employees, our programme team can help you assess candidate suitability, funding eligibility and available places.

Next step: use the Make An Enquiry option on this page to speak with our programme team

Leading in Cybersecurity FAQs

Leading in Cybersecurity is designed for mid-level and high-potential cybersecurity professionals who want to strengthen their leadership capabilities. It is particularly relevant for technical specialists, team leads and managers who are moving towards greater responsibility for people, teams, stakeholders or organisational decision-making.

No. The programme is focused on developing the leadership skills needed within a cybersecurity environment, rather than teaching technical cybersecurity skills. Participants develop capabilities in people leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, team performance, stakeholder influence and decision-making, with the learning grounded in real cybersecurity challenges.

Not necessarily. The programme is suitable both for existing cybersecurity managers and for high-potential professionals preparing to move into greater leadership responsibility. It is particularly relevant at the point where a technically strong professional begins taking responsibility for people, teams or wider organisational outcomes.

The programme develops practical leadership capabilities including self-awareness, emotional intelligence, communication, people management, team engagement, stakeholder influence and decision-making. It also helps participants develop a broader enterprise mindset and understand the strategic role cybersecurity plays within an organisation.

The programme consists of seven sessions. It begins with an online launch, followed by five in-person learning days and an in-person Capstone Project event. The in-person sessions take place at the Irish Management Institute (IMI) in Sandyford, Dublin, with the programme running from November 2026 to March 2027.

Yes. Participants create a Personal Development Plan and take part in a peer group project focused on challenges facing the cybersecurity industry. The programme also uses real-life scenarios, including areas such as incident management and security breaches, alongside peer learning circles and a final Capstone Project review.

The full programme fee is €3,750. Eligible participants can access Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet funding of €855, reducing the subsidised course fee to €2,895. A limited number of subsidised places are available.

To access the Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet subsidised fee, applicants must be working in a private or commercial semi-state organisation registered in the Republic of Ireland. This can include eligible employees, business owners, consultants and freelancers. Those who do not meet the funding criteria may be able to join at the full programme fee where places are available.

Yes. Employers can put forward current or future cybersecurity leaders for the programme. It can be particularly relevant for technically strong specialists preparing for leadership, newly promoted team leads or managers, and established cybersecurity leaders taking on broader responsibility for teams and stakeholders.

Use the Make an Enquiry option on the course page if you would like to apply, nominate an employee or discuss whether the programme is suitable for you. The programme team can advise on candidate suitability, funding eligibility and available places. Places are limited and the course will close once capacity is reached.

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