Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Cape; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 300,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) match

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

12 weeks parental leave

Family-forming stipend

Gender-affirming care stipend

Unlimited PTO

Relocation assistance

Equity stake

Job summary

Cape is seeking a CISO to own security strategy across our network, products, and corporate systems. Based in NYC or DC, you will build and scale a high‑impact security organization and partner with engineering and the executive team to move fast while protecting users.

You’ll lead threat modeling, incident response, and vendor governance, and translate risk into business terms for the board while maintaining a security‑first culture across the company.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in information security and 5+ years in a senior security leadership role at a company with infrastructure/regulatory complexity.
• Eligible and willing to obtain TS/SCI clearance.
• Experience managing geographically dispersed teams.
• Track record of building security teams and programs from early stage.
• Deep technical credibility to discuss architecture with engineers and executives.
• Belief that privacy and security are inseparable.
• Excellent judgment under ambiguity and the ability to move fast without cutting corners.
• (Bonus) Direct experience securing telecom, network infrastructure, or other critical infrastructure.
• (Bonus) Experience with High‑risk travel and Forward Deployed Engineers.

Responsibilities

• Own end‑to‑end security strategy — network, product/security, cloud and IT, and physical security.
• Build and lead a security team defending a carrier‑grade network.
• Design security architecture from radio access to core systems.
• Partner with Engineering to embed security into the development lifecycle.
• Lead threat modeling, penetration testing, red‑teaming, and incident response.
• Set security policy to the board and translate risk into business terms.
• Manage relationships with external vendors, auditors, researchers, and bug bounty programs.
• Champion a security‑first culture across the company.

Skills

Information security

Security leadership

Team leadership

Executive communication

Job description

About Cape

Cape is America’s privacy-first mobile carrier. Our mission is to be a force for good in global wireless. Cape was founded in 2022 by people who believe privacy is a fundamental right, not a luxury to be traded away. Our journey began when our founder recognized a critical vulnerability in our modern world: everyone relies on the same stagnant cellular infrastructure and legacy systems that track our every movement, monitor and profile our connections, and lose and sell our personal data.

The Team

At Cape, we are the architects of a privacy-centric movement that is just getting started. We are relentless builders, constantly innovating at the edge of what's possible in telecommunications. We operate on a foundation of high trust and high expectations. Our structure is flat, and collaboration matters more than hierarchy. As a member of our team, you will collaborate with world-class engineers, architects, and visionaries, and work across organizational lines to solve "impossible" problems and deliver mission-critical results for our users every single day.

The Role

The CISO is our chief protector. Our infrastructure, threat model, and customer expectations are more complex than a typical mobile carrier or a typical software company. Your challenge is to enable rapid product innovation without compromising on our goal to be the most secure commercial mobile network on the planet. You'll own the strategy and execution of security across our network, products, and corporate systems and work as a partner to Engineering and the executive team. This is a build-and-defend role, not a maintain-the-status-quo role. You will immediately take ownership of a highly technical, responsive, and ambitious security, IT, and compliance org. Your mandate is to resource, mature, and scale this team to stay ahead of threats and enable Cape’s rapid growth. This role is based out of our NYC or DC office and reports to our founder and CEO John Doyle.

What You'll Work On

• Own Cape's end-to-end security strategy — network infrastructure, product/application security, cloud and corporate IT, and physical/personnel security.
• Build and lead a security team capable of defending a carrier-grade network against sophisticated, well-resourced adversaries, including nation-state actors.
• Design and drive the security architecture and controls for a cellular network we operate ourselves, from the radio access network through core infrastructure and subscriber data systems.
• Partner closely with Engineering leadership to embed security into the product development lifecycle.
• Lead teams conducting threat modeling, penetration testing, red-teaming, and incident response programs.
• Set and communicate security policy to the board and executive team, translating technical risk into business terms and making tradeoffs with speed of execution.
• Vet and manage relationships with external security vendors, auditors, and researchers, including running a responsible disclosure / bug bounty program.
• Champion a security-first culture across the entire company, not just within the security team.

Experience

• 10+ years in information security, with at least 5 years in a senior security leadership role (CISO, VP Security, Head of Security) at a company with meaningful infrastructure or regulatory complexity.
• Eligible and willing to obtain TS/SCI clearance.
• Experience managing geographically dispersed teams of engineers.
• A track record of building security teams and programs from an early stage, not just operating a mature one you inherited.
• Deep technical credibility — you can go toe-to-toe with your best engineers on architecture and risk, while also speaking fluently to executive leadership and the board.
• A genuine belief that privacy and security are inseparable, and that protecting users sometimes means resisting internal and external pressure to compromise on either.
• Excellent judgment under ambiguity and the ability to move fast without cutting corners that matter.
• (Bonus Points) Direct experience securing telecom, network infrastructure, or other critical infrastructure — you understand things like SS7, radio networks, or core carrier systems, or you've secured environments of comparable complexity (e.g., cloud infrastructure providers, fintech, critical infrastructure).
• (Bonus Points) Experience securing an environment with Forward Deployed Engineers and the complexity around high risk travel.

Compensation

We offer competitive compensation that is geo-adjusted based on your location, along with meaningful equity so you share in the value you help create. Salary range for this role in NYC/DC is $300,000 - $350,000 depending on experience and interview performance and location.

Our benefits include:

• 401(k) match
• 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision premiums for you and your dependents
• 12 weeks paid parental leave (for all parents, no waiting period)
• Stipends for
  • Family-forming needs
  • Gender-affirming care
• Unlimited PTO
• Relocation and moving assistance if needed

Our Culture & Values

• We hire excellent people, give them outsized responsibility, and trust them to execute. Every person at Cape has a proven track record of tackling hard problems and winning.
• We believe that personal privacy and national security are not at odds, and that they can be reconciled through strong technology.
• We believe companies exist to build awesome things and take care of the people who build them, so we offer top-tier healthcare, 401(k) matching, and a generous vacation policy that our team actually uses to recharge.
• We believe that a stronger company and a better product are built by people from all walks of life. We hire without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, disability, or Veteran status. If you are great at what you do, you belong here.

We reserve the right to make use of any unsolicited resumes received from outside recruiting agencies and / or individual recruiters without being responsible for payment of any fees asserted from the use of unsolicited resumes.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, and without regard to disability or status as a protected veteran, or any other status protected by law.