VCISO (Chief Information Security Officer)

Job Description – vCISO Roles and Responsibilities

1. Security Strategy & Governance

• Own and provide strategic oversight of client's Information Security Program aligned to business objectives and risk appetite.
• Define and maintain a security roadmap aligned to agreed priorities and maturity goals.
• Establish and maintain core information security policies, standards, and governance artefacts.
• Align the security program to an agreed industry framework (e.g., NIST CSF, ISO 27001, SOC 2).
• Track and report security program maturity and progress on a periodic basis.
• Chair or support a security governance forum to drive alignment and accountability.

2. Risk Management

• Lead periodic enterprise information security risk assessments.
• Maintain and govern a centralized security risk register.
• Identify and prioritize key security risks impacting client's business and technology environment.
• Define and track risk treatment plans in coordination with client's stakeholders.
• Provide executive‑level risk reporting linking cyber risk to business impact.
• Oversee third‑party security risk assessments for critical vendors.

3. Compliance & Audit Support

• Maintain an inventory of applicable security and privacy compliance requirements.
• Provide oversight and advisory support for audits and certifications (e.g., SOC 2, ISO).
• Review audit findings and track remediation actions to closure.
• Monitor regulatory changes and advise leadership on security implications.
• Maintain governance‑level documentation and evidence readiness.
• Advise on security obligations within customer and vendor contracts.

4. Security Operations Oversight (Governance Only)

• Provide governance oversight of security controls across infrastructure, cloud, applications, and endpoints.
• Review effectiveness of vulnerability management, patch management, and access governance programs.
• Provide guidance on security monitoring and detection strategy.
• Review security tool effectiveness and alignment to roadmap.
• Oversee identity and access management governance (policy, reviews, privileged access).

5. Incident Response & Resilience

• Maintain and periodically review the Incident Response Plan (IRP).
• Act as executive security advisor during major security incidents.
• Coordinate with external incident response, legal, and insurance partners at a governance level.
• Lead post‑incident reviews and drive corrective actions.
• Oversee governance of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCP/DR) plans.
• Ensure incident escalation and notification processes are defined and compliant.

6. Security Architecture & Advisory

• Provide security review and advisory input for major technology initiatives and changes.
• Promote security‑by‑design and secure engineering principles.
• Support adoption of DevSecOps practices at a governance and guidance level.
• Review material architecture changes for security risk.
• Advise on selection of security technologies and vendors.

7. Security Awareness & Training (Oversight)

• Define and govern the enterprise security awareness and training strategy.
• Review and approve training content and cadence.
• Oversee phishing simulations and awareness metrics.
• Report training completion and effectiveness to leadership.
• Promote a culture of shared security responsibility.

8. Executive & Board Reporting

• Deliver periodic security posture and risk updates to executive leadership.
• Present security program status, risks, and priorities to the Board as required.
• Define and report security KPIs and KRIs.
• Translate technical security topics into business‑focused insights.
• Support leadership during security‑related customer, regulator, or insurer discussions.