Fractional Chief Information Security Officer in London

ApprovalMax is redefining how finance teams manage the Money Out cycle — from purchase orders and supplier bills to employee expense management. Trusted by 18,000+ businesses worldwide, our platform empowers companies to automate financial controls, ensure compliance, and scale efficiently. At the end of 2024, ApprovalMax secured a £10 million growth investment from Yttrium, a leading European technology investor. This funding marks the beginning of a new chapter in our journey — scaling our category leadership in Money Out automation, expanding enterprise capabilities, and accelerating product innovation.

We are seeking an experienced Fractional CISO to provide hands-on security leadership as we evolve our security function to support continued growth and European expansion. This is a permanent fractional engagement reporting directly to the CTO.

You will own our information security strategy, maintain our ISO 27001 certification, build our security roadmap, and prepare the organisation for SOC 2 readiness. This role requires someone who can operate both strategically and tactically — developing policy one day and reviewing cloud configurations the next.

Responsibilities

• Develop and own the Information Security strategy aligned with ApprovalMax's business objectives and European expansion plans.
• Maintain and continuously improve the Information Security Management System (ISMS).
• Create, review, and maintain core security policies, standards, and procedures.
• Establish and chair a cross-functional Security Working Group (Engineering, Architecture, IT, HR).
• Build and present a multi-year security roadmap with clear milestones, resource requirements, and priorities.
• Serve as the central authority on risk assessment, risk treatment, and risk acceptance decisions.
• Assess and provide guidance on secure AI adoption across the organisation, including AI-powered product features and internal AI tooling.

Compliance & Certification

• Maintain ISO 27001 certification and prepare for the 2027 recertification audit.
• Lead SOC 2 Type II readiness programme, including gap analysis and control mapping.
• Ensure compliance with GDPR and data protection requirements across EU/UK/US/AU/NZ/CA/ZA jurisdictions.
• Collaborate with external DPO support provider on privacy-related matters and customer security questionnaires as needed.

Cloud & Technical Security

• Provide security oversight across Azure, AWS, and Google Workspace environments.
• Conduct access reviews and advise on identity and access management best practices.
• Evaluate and guide implementation of security tooling (SIEM, vulnerability management, endpoint protection).
• Oversee VMware Workspace ONE MDM deployment and device security policies.
• Advise engineering teams on secure SDLC practices, DevSecOps integration, and application security principles.

Operational Security

• Develop and maintain incident response plans and procedures.
• Lead incident response tabletop exercises and post-incident reviews.
• Provide guidance on business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
• Advise on vendor security assessments and third-party risk management.

Awareness & Culture

• Design and deliver company-wide security awareness training programmes.
• Mentor and upskill internal staff on security best practices.
• Foster a security-first culture across all departments.
• Act as a trusted advisor to leadership on emerging threats and security trends.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Report regularly to the CTO on security posture, risks, and programme progress.
• Prepare board-level security presentations as required.
• Support commercial teams by contributing to customer security discussions when escalated.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive experience in information security, with at least 3 years in a CISO, Head of Security, or senior security leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience in B2B SaaS environments, ideally in fintech, finance software, or similarly regulated industries.
• Proven track record of achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 certification.
• Experience preparing organisations for SOC 2 Type II certification.
• Hands-on experience securing cloud environments (Azure and/or AWS required; GCP a plus).
• Experience with Google Workspace security configuration and administration.
• Background working with distributed, remote-first engineering teams.

Technical Knowledge

• Strong understanding of cloud security architecture, identity management, and zero-trust principles.
• Familiarity with secure software development lifecycle (SDLC) and DevSecOps practices.
• Knowledge of MDM solutions (VMware Workspace ONE experience preferred).
• Understanding of API security and integration risk management.
• Practical experience with security tooling: SIEM, vulnerability scanners, endpoint protection, etc.
• Awareness of AI/ML security risks, including secure AI adoption practices and emerging AI governance frameworks (desirable).

Compliance & Regulatory

• Deep knowledge of ISO 27001:2022 requirements and audit processes.
• Familiarity with SOC 2 Trust Service Criteria (Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Privacy).
• Understanding of GDPR, UK Data Protection Act, and international data protection regulations.