Interim Cybersecurity Lead / Operating Advisor (Technical CISO) - Interim - 9 months

Flexible Hybrid - Munich - Oslo - London - Stockholm

Sector: Growth Equity / Private Equity

About the Client

Our client is a leading European growth equity investor partnering with technology-enabled businesses.

The Role

We are seeking an Interim Cybersecurity Lead / Technical CISO to cover a period of paternity leave.

This is a portfolio-facing, high-impact role operating at the intersection of:

• Investment (sourcing and due diligence)
• Portfolio value creation (hands-on advisory)
• Community and capability building across companies

This is not a traditional internal CISO role. The primary focus is external: supporting multiple high-growth companies, contributing to investment decisions, and translating cybersecurity into practical, commercially relevant outcomes.

You will act as a trusted advisor to investment professionals, founders and executive teams, helping identify risk, unlock value and scale cybersecurity capabilities across a diverse portfolio.

We are looking for someone pragmatic, commercially minded and comfortable operating in fast-moving environments — someone who understands what “good” looks like for a growth-stage company and can prioritise accordingly.

Key Responsibilities

Investment & Sourcing

• Support cybersecurity across the full investment lifecycle, from early-stage screening to due diligence
• Engage with investment teams to assess targets, products and architectures from a cybersecurity perspective
• Provide clear, investment-relevant assessments: risks, red flags and value creation opportunities / risk mitigation actions
• Evaluate whether a company’s security posture supports or undermines the investment thesis
• Translate technical findings into concise, decision-useful insights for investment teams

Portfolio Value Creation

• Act as a trusted advisor to portfolio companies on cybersecurity
• Support prioritisation and execution of pragmatic improvements
• Advise on regulatory developments, customer requirements and scaling security capabilities
• Focus on practical impact over theoretical maturity

Community & Capability Building

• Develop and maintain the cybersecurity community across portfolio companies
• Facilitate knowledge sharing and peer learning
• Lead targeted sessions (e.g. workshops, webinars) on relevant, real-world challenges

AI & Emerging Technology

• Stay ahead of developments in AI and their cybersecurity implications
• Identify and promote practical applications of AI to improve security and efficiency
• Support portfolio companies in adopting AI-driven workflows securely and effectively
• Contribute to the firm’s broader perspective on AI and technology

Internal & Governance (Limited Scope)

• Provide pragmatic input on internal cybersecurity where required (this role is not responsible for cybersecurity internally)
• Support investor-related requirements and expectations

Your Profile

• Experience as a CISO, Head of Cybersecurity, or equivalent senior role
• Strong mix of technical depth and business understanding (cloud, SaaS, modern architectures)
• Experience from high-growth environments, scale-ups, or advisory roles
• Ability to assess cybersecurity in an investment context (risk, value, trade-offs)
• Comfortable operating across multiple companies simultaneously
• Strong communicator — able to engage credibly with executives, founders and investors
• Pragmatic and outcome-oriented — understands when “good enough” is the right answer
• Hands-on and adaptable — able to move between strategy and execution
• Familiarity with AI tools and their application to cybersecurity
• Consultancy experience is advantageous but not required

What Success Looks Like

• Investment teams receive clear, decision-useful cybersecurity input
• Portfolio companies make tangible, prioritised improvements
• Cybersecurity is positioned as a business enabler, not just a control function
• A strong community and knowledge-sharing culture is established across the portfolio

What This Role Is Not

• A traditional, internally focused CISO role
• A pure governance or compliance position
• A large-scale enterprise transformation programme
• A theoretical advisory role disconnected from execution