Function · Information security
CISO and information-security executive search.
Retained CISO search for luxury houses, family offices, consumer businesses and investor-backed companies protecting valuable clients, intellectual property and reputation.
The appointment
For a luxury or UHNW-facing organisation, security is not an isolated technology function. It is stewardship of client confidence, proprietary knowledge and the licence to operate. The CISO must combine technical authority with the judgement to make risk intelligible to a board and proportionate to the business.
The organisations
Luxury groups and maisons, family and principal offices, private banks, hospitality businesses, premium consumer companies and private-equity portfolio businesses managing sensitive data and high-value relationships.
Leadership briefs
- Chief Information Security Officer
- Chief Security Officer
- Cybersecurity and information-security leadership
- Privacy, data-protection and digital-trust leadership
- Technology risk and resilience leadership
- Security leadership for family and principal offices
Reading the field
Assessment should examine the security responsibilities the candidate has held, the decisions they made and how they communicated risk to stakeholders. Specialist technical evaluation is agreed alongside leadership assessment.
Questions behind the brief
- Which assets, relationships and operations are most consequential?
- What should the board expect to understand and govern?
- Does the mandate require transformation, stabilisation or both?
- Which regulated or adjacent sectors provide relevant leadership?
Defining this mandate
Separate information security, physical security and privacy responsibilities. Define the systems and assets in scope, reporting authority and the specialist assessment required; a broad title should not conceal several incompatible jobs.
How retained search worksPractical questions
Is a CISO the same as a Chief Security Officer?
Not always. A CISO usually leads information and cyber security. A broader security role may include physical protection and other responsibilities. The organisation’s needs determine the remit.
How is technical capability assessed?
The mandate should identify the technical questions, evidence and qualified assessors needed. Leadership interviews can examine communication and judgement but do not replace a specialist evaluation of security capability.
Can the brief include family-office interests?
It can, where the enterprise and private responsibilities are clearly defined. Access to sensitive information, reporting to the principal and the boundaries of the role must be agreed before engagement.
Protecting trust begins with leadership.
Begin a confidential conversation about the mandate and its context.
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