Executive team

Rajiv Gupta

Rajiv Gupta is the Associate Head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Cyber Centre). In this role Rajiv is responsible for advancing the Cyber Centre’s strategic vision to enable a secure digital Canada.

Prior to this role, Rajiv was the Director General of Cyber Defence Capabilities where he was responsible for the development and operations of sensors, threat discovery analytics and autonomous defence technologies deployed to protect Government of Canada networks. In this role Rajiv was also responsible for achieving national level cyber security outcomes for Canada through collaborative efforts with industry partners.

Rajiv began his career in 1998 as a software engineer in the telecommunications sector. He later joined the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) in 2007 and has since worked in a variety of cyber security disciplines. Prior to his role in Cyber Defence, Rajiv served as the Director of Security Architecture and Risk Mitigation where he was responsible for supply chain risk assessments for the Government of Canada, analytic support to Investment Canada Act national security reviews, and the implementation of a cyber security risk mitigation framework for Canada’s telecommunications sector.

Rajiv holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in engineering and is a Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario.

Daniel Couillard

Daniel Couillard is the Director General of Partnerships and Risk Mitigation at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre). The objective of the Partnerships and Risk Mitigation directorate is to increase the cyber resilience of Canada, in collaboration with partners. As such the directorate is responsible for advancing the Cyber Centre’s strategic partnerships with governments, critical infrastructure owners and stakeholders, private sector and academia. To that aim, his directorate provides cyber security advice and guidance as well as architectural assessments in key technology areas. It also implements the Cyber Resilience Program and leads the cyber supply chain integrity program in support to the Government of Canada IT procurements.

Daniel was previously Director General of Program Evolution at the Cyber Centre. He was responsible for leading strategic business change and enabling agile decision-making in the context of the complex and dynamic cyber security ecosystem. This ensures CSE meets future cyber security demands from governments, operators of systems of importance and Canadians at large.

Prior to his current role, Daniel was the Director of Cyber Futures, where he was responsible for setting the strategic direction of where the Cyber Centre needs to be in order to remain the centre of Canada’s cyber security expertise.

Daniel previously worked as a military officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, where he held appointments in the operational and technological domains, including overseas deployments. After spending 20 years with the military, he joined CSE’s Cyber Defence team in 2006 to oversee the management of its Technical Threat and Analysis capability.

In 2011, he joined the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat where he led the newly formed Government of Canada Chief Information Officer Branch Cyber Security team, where he worked until he returned to CSE in 2017.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada and a Master’s in Science from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Melanie Anderson

Melanie Anderson is the Director General, Information Assuance Directorate at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, responsible for applied cryptographic research, architecture, engineering and development of secure cryptographic solutions.

In her previous role as Director Cryptographic Security and Systems Development, Melanie and her teams were responsible for Canadian Communications Security (COMSEC) policy and compliance, evaluating the security of cryptographic products, providing cryptographic advice and guidance including preparations for the quantum threat to Cryptography, and modernizing the Government of Canada’s classified infrastructure. Melanie is an Executive Champion of the Women in Cyber and Intelligence (WICI) group at CSE, and CSE’s Co-Executive Champion for Women in Defence and Security (WiDS) in Canada. She is passionate about promoting the well-being of women in the workplace, mentoring and encouraging girls and young women to pursue careers in STEM.

Melanie began her career at CSE in 2003 and has held numerous technical and leadership roles in cyber security and IT, including Manager of Cryptographic Systems Development, Manager of Cyber Threat Relationships & Incident Management, and Supervisor of Cyber Health and Trend Reporting. She was a technical liaison for CSE in the United States, and has held roles as a software developer, a technical trainer, and a Project Manager for IT systems used by Government of Canada clients.

She holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of New Brunswick and completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program through the Harvard Kennedy School in 2020. In 2023, Melanie was recognized by Deloitte as one of 30 Women in Cyber at the forefront of the cyber revolution and she was named as one of Canada’s Top 20 Women in Cyber Security by IT World Canada.

Jonathan Ouellet

Jonathan is the Director General, Cyber Defence at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. The Cyber Defence directorate develops and operates cyber security services to defend Government of Canada departments and critical infrastructure partners against cyber threats. In this role Jonathan is responsible for a suite of services that includes sensors, an analytical platform, threat discovery and mitigation.

Prior to this role, Jonathan was the Director, Autonomous Defence and Sensors, where he focused on the development of host, network, and cloud sensors. The sensors are deployed across partner networks, empowering the collection of cyber security telemetry for analysis and the autonomous mitigation of threats.

He also previously worked as Director, Enterprise Infrastructure Operations, in the Enterprise Technology Services branch at the Communication Security Establishment. During that time, he was responsible for the operation of the organization's corporate infrastructure. He led transformative initiatives that resulted in the adoption of public cloud, software-defined networking and multi-classification computing capabilities.

Jonathan has more than 20 years of experience in the intelligence community and is passionate about software development, technology infrastructure and cyber security. He holds a degree in Computer Science from the Université de Sherbrooke.

Heather Richardson

Heather Richardson is the Director General of Cyber Resilience at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre). The Cyber Resilience directorate is responsible for strengthening Canada's cyber resilience through collaborative efforts with partners. This involves developing and offering advice and guidance on cyber security best practices, security architecture, and cyber readiness goals. Additionally, it acts as a central knowledge base for security controls to the Government of Canada, Critical Infrastructure, and emerging technologies like cloud solutions and AI. The directorate is also responsible for improving cyber resiliency for Canadian telecommunications, coordinating global standards and certifications, conducting national security and supply chain integrity reviews, and risk mitigation. Furthermore, te directorate will also assess the evolution of the cyber threat landscape against Canada and produce cyber threat intelligence reports. Moreover, it is responsible for developing and delivering cyber security courses and curriculum to build cyber skills for Canada.

Before taking on her current role, Heather was the Director General of Policy and Compliance at the Communications Security Establishment (CSE).

With nearly eighteen years of experience in the Core Public Administration eight of which involved executive roles at Passport Canada, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Public Safety Canada, and the Treasury Board Secretariat, Heather brings a wealth of expertise.

Joining CSE in 2017, she held various positions, including Director of Disclosure and Information Sharing, Director of Policy and Review and Manger of Legal Disclosures, Access to Information and Privacy.

Committed to delivering pragmatic results and investing in people, Heather is particularly passionate about supporting women in their career development.

Heather holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Concordia University. She also obtained her B.A. in Law from Carleton University, a Graduate Certification from the Eric Sprott School of Business and is a certified yoga teacher, she currently has no time to teach.

Patrick Clow

Patrick Clow is the Director General of Canada’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) at the Cyber Centre. This directorate is responsible for the Cyber Center’s Incident Management practice and the Canadian Cyber Defence Collective.

With over 19 years experience as a Cyber Security professional, Pat has had the privilege to work in leading edge organizations on some of the most complex cyber security challenges Canada faces. In 2012 he played a leadership role in building Canada’s first national CSIRT at Public Safety Canada. This role afforded him the opportunity to work with domestic and international stakeholders on a wide range of cyber incidents impacting Canada its interests. In 2017, Patrick joined the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) to architect and operationalize the Cyber Incident Management and Operational Coordination practice for the Cyber Centre. Since that time, Pat has held various leadership roles at CSE, including as Director of the Cyber Centre’s Risk Management Programs whose responsibilities included national security investigations under the Investment Canada Act related to foreign direct investments, internationally recognized commercial certification programs, and CSE’s Security Review Program which aims to help manage supply chain risk in Canada’s telecommunication systems. Most recently, Pat was the Director of CSE’s Cyber Threat Intelligence Operations’ program.

Marysol McPherson

Marysol McPherson is the Director General of the Cyber Mission Integration Directorate at the Cyber Centre. She is responsible for leading strategic business transformation and enabling agile decision-making in the context of the complex and the dynamic cyber security ecosystem. This ensures that the Cyber Centre is equipped to meet the future cyber security demands of governments, systems of importance, and Canadians at large.

Marysol started her public service career at Natural Resources Canada in 2006 until she joined the Communication Security Establishment (CSE) in 2012 to support the organisation transferring out of the Department of National Defence and becoming a separate agency.

Since then, Marysol has held various strategic roles that helped advance CSE’s important mission by leveraging her expertise in transformation, program management, business development, and leadership. Starting in 2018, she played a key role in the establishment of the Canadian Center for Cyber Security (Cyber Center) within CSE. She also enabled the expansion and operationalisation of the Cyber Centre following a change in CSE’s mandate in 2019.

Marysol holds an honours bachelor’s degree in Management from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa.