Vice President, Cybersecurity Operations

Remote | United States | Executive Leadership | AI-Driven Cyber Program

Blackmere is partnering with a high-maturity, AI-driven cybersecurity organization to identify a deeply technical, engineering-minded Vice President, Cybersecurity. This role is built for a security leader who can operate confidently at both the architectural and executive layers - someone who can assess complex cloud environments, influence product and engineering decisions, and command high-severity incident response with clarity and speed. 

If your background is primarily in GRC, audit, compliance, policy, IT operations, or finance-driven security - or if you haven’t been hands-on in modern security engineering for some time - this will NOT be the right fit. If you bring real, recent engineering depth, operational command, and the judgment to make fast, high-impact decisions, this role will be both challenging and deeply rewarding.

What’s in It for You

• Executive-Level Leadership
• Lead major security functions within a high-maturity, cloud-native SaaS environment, with real ownership and meaningful influence on enterprise-wide strategy.
• Clear Growth Path
• A role structured for upward mobility, with a defined succession track into broader executive responsibilities.
• AI-Forward Innovation
• Join a modern, AI-driven security organization where advanced detection, adversarial testing, and resilient design are core to the mission.
• High Visibility & Impact
• Partner directly with senior leadership and regularly present at the executive level, shaping decisions that affect global platform architecture and organizational risk.
• Low-Ego, High-Performance Culture
• Work within a supportive, high-accountability team that values ownership, technical excellence, and modern tooling — with remote-friendly flexibility.

The Role

As Vice President, Cybersecurity, you will report directly to the CSO and serve as their strategic and operational right hand. You’ll drive day-to-day execution across the security portfolio while leading mission-critical functions for a global SaaS environment - operating fluently at both the engineering and executive layers.

Core Responsibilities

Operational & Technical Leadership

• Oversee cloud, platform, and network security for a large-scale, distributed SaaS product.
• Evaluate and influence architectural decisions across microservices, APIs, and cloud infrastructure.
• Provide deep technical guidance in areas such as:
• Network segmentation and secure VPC design
• Firewall, boundary control, and traffic flow architecture
• Protocol-level traffic analysis and defensive engineering
• Secure design patterns and resilient architecture for cloud-native systems
• Assess architectural diagrams and network topologies, challenging engineering decisions with confidence.
• Guide engineering teams on threat modeling, attack surface minimization, and resiliency.

Incident Response & Operational Command

• Lead enterprise-scale incident response, driving real-time decisions under pressure.
• Understand root cause, containment strategies, log sources, detection gaps, and kill-chain impacts.
• Direct cross-functional responders during high-severity events.
• Partner with engineering and product teams for fast, pragmatic remediation.
• Communicate clearly with senior executives during critical incidents.

Strategic Security Leadership

• Oversee enterprise risk management, including GRC, vendor risk, and regulatory frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, etc.).
• Lead initiatives in AI/ML security, including adversarial testing and the build-out of an AI security testing function.
• Drive cross-functional resilience programs spanning business continuity, disaster recovery, and data lifecycle governance.
• Translate technical risks into operational and business implications for executive stakeholders.
• Influence product, engineering, legal, and risk partners to ensure aligned and scalable security practices.

Who You Are

You are a cyber executive with deep operational security experience, strong engineering instincts, and the presence to operate confidently in the boardroom. You mentor technical teams while shaping enterprise strategy — blending critical thinking, pragmatism, and innovation.

Must-Have Qualifications (Non-Negotiable)

• 10–15+ years of progressive InfoSec leadership, including VP/Head-of-level responsibility and deep operational oversight.
• Demonstrated success leading cloud-first or cloud-scale security programs, ideally in fast-moving or high-risk environments.
• Strong, current technical foundation with an emphasis on network security, including:
• TCP/IP, routing, firewalls, VPNs, proxies
• Network and distributed system architecture review
• Attack path analysis, lateral movement detection, and traffic-level defensive engineering
• Secure design of large, distributed, cloud-native systems
• Significant incident response leadership, including enterprise-scale, high-severity events and coordination of technical responders.
• Enterprise-level AI/ML security expertise, including hands-on implementation experience, adversarial testing, secure model design, or applied detection use cases — with the ability to lead AI security strategy across product and enterprise.
• Strong command of security frameworks and risk standards (NIST CSF, ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI, GDPR).
• Engineering mindset and technical pedigree, ideally supported by a STEM degree.
• High-credibility communicator able to influence senior technical leaders and translate complex risks into business-aligned decisions.

This Role Is Not a Fit If You Are:

• Primarily focused on GRC, audit, compliance, policy, or IT infrastructure.
• A leader whose technical experience is outdated, shallow, or primarily managerial.
• Seeking a governance-only or nontechnical security leadership role.

Bonus Points for:

• Offensive security foundations (pentesting, red teaming, exploit development, adversarial analysis).
• Experience in high-threat or highly regulated industries (finance, healthcare, logistics, defense).
• Advanced AI/ML or adversarial AI research experience.
• Securing large-scale SaaS platforms or distributed enterprise environments.

Interested?

If this sounds like the kind of challenge you’re built for, we’d love to speak with you confidentially.

Blackmere is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.