Hands-On CISO: Cloud Banking Security & Risk

Varo Bank; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Varo Bank is seeking a highly collaborative, hands-on Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to build, protect, and scale its digital banking infrastructure that serves millions of customers. This role blends executive strategy with practical, hands-on leadership in a fast-moving fintech environment.

You will lead a security program spanning cloud security, threat intelligence, incident response, and regulatory compliance with OCC and FDIC standards.

Qualifications

• Banking & Fintech Expertise: Extensive experience managing information security within a regulated bank or financial services institution, with a solid grasp of OCC/FDIC compliance expectations.
• Hands-on Technical Background: Proven experience as a practitioner who understands the "how-to" of security, specifically cloud security architectures, modern infrastructure, and automated DevSecOps pipelines.
• Threat Intelligence Capability: Deep knowledge of modern threat landscapes, security operations center (SOC) management, and proactive threat hunting methodologies.
• Inclusive Leadership: Strong track record of building, mentoring, and leading diverse security teams with empathy, candor, and transparency.
• Strategic Communication: Ability to translate complex technical vulnerabilities and risk-based metrics into actionable business contexts for the CEO, executive leadership, and the Board of Directors.

Responsibilities

• Lead Hands-on Defense: Actively design, implement, and monitor Varo's comprehensive information security program, shifting comfortably between executive strategy sessions and technical architecture reviews.
• Secure Modern Infrastructure: Build and safeguard our fully digital, cloud-native banking infrastructure, ensuring modern security practices (like zero-trust architecture and automated threat protection) are baked into our hyper-efficient tech stack.
• Drive Threat Intelligence: Oversee our proactive threat-monitoring and incident-response capabilities, utilizing real-time threat intelligence to identify, mitigate, and neutralize emerging risks before they impact our customers.
• Navigate Banking Compliance: Align our security systems with the strict compliance frameworks of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), FDIC, and other relevant federal banking regulators.
• Mentor and Empower: Cultivate an inclusive, high-performing, and collaborative security team while embedding a security-first mindset across Varo's product and engineering organizations.

Skills

Banking & Fintech Expertise

Hands-on Technical Background

Threat Intelligence Capability

Inclusive Leadership

Strategic Communication

Job description

Varo Bank is seeking a highly collaborative, hands-on Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to build, protect, and scale its digital banking infrastructure that serves millions of customers. This role blends executive strategy with practical, hands-on leadership in a fast-moving fintech environment.

You will lead a security program spanning cloud security, threat intelligence, incident response, and regulatory compliance with OCC and FDIC standards.