The Evolution of Threat: Cyber security moves at breakneck speed. What is the most significant shift in the threat landscape you’ve witnessed between your first stint at CME Group and now?
In my ten years in Identity and Access Management (IAM), the biggest shifts arrived together: the realisation that identity is the new perimeter, accelerated by cloud, remote work, and AI.
Historically, threats were tied to nation-states, sophisticated criminals, or novices using pre-built tools. Now, the barrier to entry has dropped considerably. Identity remains attackers' favourite target, and the tools to exploit it are only getting sharper.
READ MORE: Moving Fast on AI Without Leaving People Behind
Staying Ahead: How does your team at CME Group balance the need for rigid security with the need for business agility and innovation?
Rather than lean on the familiar refrain that "security is an enabler," I'd put it more simply: a well-designed identity programme is an enabler.
We treat employees as customers. They consume the services we provide to assist them performing their duties, while prioritising confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The goal is to give employees flexibility where it's useful rather than where it's exploitable - building guardrails on top of services rather than gates in front of them.
Demystifying the Role: For our readers, what does your day-to-day reality actually look like?
The running joke with my friends in security is that I - and anyone who works in identity - spend our days inventing brand-new passwords!
In reality, identity teams sit at the intersection of Technology and every business line within the company. The role involves helping support a number of platforms, all of which require constant engineering, new integrations and policy changes that often aren’t considered when systems operate as designed. A significant part of my day-to-day is focused around identifying opportunities for automation and closing governance gaps to better protect us as the company more broadly adopts the Google Cloud Platform.
The Return Journey
The Return Journey: You did what many call a career "boomerang"- leaving CME Group and later returning. What drew you back, and how had the company (or you) changed in the interim?
I initially left the company for an opportunity to join a UK startup as their third InfoSec hire, and the first in identity. The blank canvas that the role provided was exciting, enabling me to grow the identity function beyond my role, to a team of four across two time zones. The buildout of the Workforce and Customer IAM group from scratch, is something I remain particularly proud of and I learnt a lot along the way.
I remained in touch with my CME Group colleagues and rejoined at a time when CME Group was exploring further developments in the identity space, which I was keen to explore further. A huge part of how the company had changed was the progression of its migration to Google Cloud and the shift to SaaS. With these changes, and the experience I’d developed at my prior role, the function was quite different, meaning I wasn’t returning to the same role. Fortunately the stars aligned and the rest is history!
Advice for Changers: What advice would you give to professionals who are hesitant about returning to a former employer?
Be honest with yourself about why you’re going back. If you’re returning because you bring something new to the table, that’s a great reason. But if you’re returning because things didn't work out elsewhere, be honest about that, too.
It’s also important to leave on good terms. I was happy to stand by the work I had delivered, and that’s a big part of what kept the door open. The time away allowed me to sharpen my skillset and unlock genuine career growth opportunities, stepping into a different role that has benefited both me and the firm.
At the same time, don't overlook the value of the environment itself. Coming back to a great culture and reconnecting with great colleagues means you hit the ground running alongside people you already know and trust, eliminating much of the friction that comes with starting somewhere completely new.
The best advice, though, is being able to laugh every time someone says, "the grass isn't always greener, is it?" - because you'll be hearing it for the foreseeable future.
Changing the Face of Tech: Volunteering & Advocacy
The TechFirst Mission: You are heavily involved with TechFirst. Why do you feel it is so critical to catch young talent early?
I joined CME Group on a placement year, a direct product of a company taking a chance on someone green. More than ten years later, I'm still in identity - the bet worked out for both of us!
Catching young people early matters for a reason simpler than the usual "skills gap" debate: most don't know this profession exists. Careers teachers rarely discuss identity and access management with fifteen-year-olds. If we don't reach students before they lock in their GCSE and A-Level subjects, the pipeline defaults to privilege-leaving the field open almost exclusively to those with family connections in tech.
Northern Ireland has built a world-class cybersecurity hub, and talent no longer needs to leave home to solve interesting problems. Sixteen-year-olds need to hear that exciting careers don't just lie across the Irish Sea.
The "Why": With a demanding role in cyber security, volunteering takes significant time. What fuels your passion to give back so deeply to these specific causes?
The simplest answer is that for me, it’s often about paying it forward. I was fortunate that I was given a chance with a placement year and was able to build a career out of it.
CME Group has been very supportive of volunteering, and there's no shortage of employees who care about it. We operate several employee resource groups, and I’m heavily involved in our local Women in Tech (WIT) group. So far in 2026, membership of WIT in the Belfast office has grown by 135%. That wasn't down to any one individual but several individuals who are really keen to get involved and show their support.
I think it’s important to have groups such as WIT to raise awareness and support female talent in technology. Entry numbers have improved, but representation still thins out at senior levels. Effective allyship means actively advocating for colleagues when they aren't in the room, championing their work and putting them forward for high-impact projects.
Plot Twist: Love at First Byte
The Ultimate CME Group Benefit: Beyond the career growth, you actually met your wife during your first chapter at CME Group! Can you tell us the story of how your paths crossed?
Like any good office, CME Group’s Global Information Security team runs on food. Belfast tradition dictates that whoever is celebrating brings the treats, known internally as a "Bun Generating Event" (BGE).
Somewhere along the way, I became the BGE Tsar, keeping track of every milestone. When my wife Emily joined as a remote hire during the pandemic, she absorbed the culture immediately. Her very first message to me was to report a BGE celebrating a teammate's recent win. I like to think my standing in our snack bureaucracy impressed her.
We quickly became firm friends and were delighted to invite many of our CME Group friends to our wedding in June 2025.
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