CISO leadership, without the consulting pyramid
Senior fractional and retained CISO leadership for regulated and scaling organisations that need accountable ownership of cyber risk before they build a full internal security function. A named senior lead, direct board level communication, regulatory fluency and oversight from strategy through to execution, supported by our own governance technology.
Where a vCISO makes sense
Regulated firms
Organisations operating under DORA, NIS2, GDPR or supervisory expectations that need demonstrable senior ownership of cyber risk.
Scaling fintech, payments and technology
Fast moving organisations whose security obligations have outgrown the engineering team but do not yet justify a permanent executive hire.
Firms needing independent leadership
Boards that want independent senior cyber leadership and challenge without immediately building a full executive security function.
When to engage a NOETIX vCISO
Most mandates begin at one of a small number of recognisable moments.
- A regulated organisation needs formal, named security leadership at executive level.
- You are preparing for DORA, NIS2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS or wider regulatory scrutiny.
- Existing IT or engineering leadership needs independent cyber risk governance alongside it.
- The security programme is fragmented and lacks a single point of executive ownership.
- The company is scaling faster than its security governance can keep up.
- The board or investors are asking for credible, consistent cyber risk reporting.
- Interim CISO coverage is needed during recruitment, transition or a remediation programme.
What the vCISO owns
The mandate is agreed in writing at the outset and reviewed as the programme matures. The vCISO directs and governs specialist execution rather than personally performing every operational security task.
- Security strategy and multi year roadmap
- Cyber risk framework, risk appetite and prioritisation
- Security governance, policy set and operating model
- Board and C suite reporting and decision support
- Regulatory and audit readiness and support
- Security architecture and control assurance oversight
- Incident and resilience governance
- Third party and ICT supplier risk oversight
- Security programme and remediation governance
- Security awareness and culture oversight where relevant
How the engagement runs
A boutique model, deliberately. Senior leadership stays with the person you meet, with dedicated support behind it and specialist partners where depth is required.
A named senior lead
One accountable practitioner, known to your executive team, not a rotating bench.
Direct executive access
The vCISO works directly with the board, the executive team and the risk function, without layers in between.
Dedicated delivery support
A small dedicated delivery capacity supports governance administration, evidence collation and programme management behind the lead.
An agreed cadence
A defined rhythm of working sessions, governance forums and executive checkpoints, sized to the mandate.
NoetixGRC as the operating layer
Where useful, our own platform carries risks, controls, obligations, evidence and actions so governance is not run out of spreadsheets.
Vetted specialist partners
Deep testing or specialist technology execution is delivered by vetted partners under the agreed governance model, with roles stated openly.
Ways to engage
Commercial structure follows the mandate. Scope, cadence and duration are agreed before work begins.
Fractional vCISO
Recurring senior leadership for organisations that need an accountable security executive but not yet a full time hire. Scope, cadence and reporting are agreed per mandate.
Retained executive advisory
Ongoing support to an existing CISO, CTO, COO, CEO or board. Independent challenge, second opinion on strategy and help preparing material for executive and supervisory audiences.
Interim CISO
Time bound leadership during recruitment, leadership transition, remediation or a regulatory programme, with a defined handover to the permanent appointment.
Transformation or regulatory vCISO
A defined programme mandate built around DORA, NIS2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS readiness or a wider security transformation, with clear objectives and an exit point.
What you are left holding
Artefacts are written to be usable by your team and legible to an auditor or supervisor. The set below is illustrative. Which of these apply, and at what rhythm, is tailored to the mandate rather than bundled into every engagement.
- Current state assessment and 90 day priorities
- Security strategy and multi year roadmap
- Risk register, risk appetite and risk treatment governance
- Monthly executive dashboard and board reporting pack
- Governance forum structure and terms of reference
- Policy and control oversight with remediation tracking
- Regulatory and audit evidence coordination
- Quarterly and annual security planning cycles
Governance and execution stay separate
The vCISO works alongside technology and operations, not against them. Your engineering and IT leadership continue to run delivery. The vCISO holds the risk view, provides independent challenge and escalates to executive leadership where a decision belongs there.
For regulated organisations this separation matters. It keeps cyber risk ownership visible, supports segregation of duties and gives the board a line of sight into security that is independent of the teams delivering the work.
Where NOETIX or a partner also delivers operational work, that overlap is stated openly and the assurance route is adjusted so the same party is not marking its own work.
Familiar territory
NOETIX works with and supports these frameworks. We are not a regulator, certification body, QSA or accredited auditor, and we do not issue certifications or formal attestations.
DORA
ICT risk, resilience testing and third party oversight expectations
NIS2
Governance, management accountability and incident reporting duties
ISO 27001
Management system design, readiness and certification support
PCI DSS
Readiness and remediation support for card data environments
GDPR and privacy
Interface between security governance and the privacy programme
NIST CSF
Capability baselining, maturity view and roadmap structuring
NoetixGRC behind the mandate
Our own platform can carry the operating and evidence layer of the engagement, so reporting is drawn from live records rather than rebuilt each quarter. It is an accelerator, engagement dependent, not a mandatory licence.
- Risk register with owners, treatment and movement over time
- Control library mapped to the frameworks in scope
- Regulatory obligations tracked against evidence
- Action and remediation tracking with due dates
- Third party and ICT supplier risk records
- Executive and board reporting drawn from live data
Experience brought into NOETIX engagements
The senior people who lead our work have run these programmes before. The domains below describe practitioner experience they bring with them. They are stated in general terms and are not presented as engagements contracted under the NOETIX legal entity.
We do not publish client names, counts or values. What we can do is walk you through the approach in detail in a conversation.
DORA governance and ICT risk
ICT risk management frameworks, governance uplift and regulatory readiness work, including Register of Information remediation and submission programmes.
PCI DSS Level 1 readiness
Payment security programmes, scope reduction, control design and evidence preparation ahead of assessment by independent qualified assessors.
Resilience in regulated finance
Cybersecurity and operational resilience programmes in regulated financial services, electronic money and payments environments.
Multi jurisdiction privacy
Privacy and data protection governance across multiple jurisdictions, covering accountability records, assessments and supervisory expectations.
ISO 27001 readiness
Information security management system design, readiness and improvement programmes ahead of certification by independent accredited bodies.
Third party and ICT supplier risk
Supplier risk programmes, assurance models, contractual control expectations and ongoing monitoring of critical ICT dependencies.
AI governance operating models
AI governance frameworks, readiness assessment and control design for organisations adopting automated and generative systems.
Payment, fraud and digital risk
Fraud, merchant and digital risk programmes across payment ecosystems, including control design and executive reporting.
Discuss a vCISO mandate
Tell us where your organisation sits today and we will set out what a sensible mandate looks like, including cadence, scope and reporting.