Head of IT & Compliance

Model ML Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Model ML is seeking a strategic Head of IT & Compliance to lead global IT operations, security governance, and compliance programs. You will ensure scalable technology while aligning with regulatory requirements across international offices and enterprise customers.

In this role, you will partner with Engineering, Legal, HR, Finance and Customer Success to balance security with velocity, build governance processes, and drive a strong security culture across the organization.

Qualifications

• 8-12+ years of experience leading IT within a high-growth SaaS or technology business.
• Proven ability to lead security, governance and compliance initiatives.
• Experience with enterprise audits and security certifications (SOC 2, ISO 27001).

Responsibilities

• Own global IT operations, information security governance and compliance programme.
• Balance security and operational efficiency to enable rapid business growth.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration with Engineering, Legal, HR, Finance and Customer Success.

Skills

IT Leadership

Security Governance

Cloud Infrastructure

Stakeholder Management

Enterprise Audits

GDPR Knowledge

Communication

Tools

AWS

Azure

Job description

Head of IT & Compliance at Model ML (W24)

$150K - $250K

AI Workspace for Financial Services.

New York, NY, US Full-time Will sponsor 6+ years

We are building an AI tool that speeds up financial due diligence for investors and advisors.

Team:

• Chaz: Founder of Fat Llama (YC S17) - Acquired by Hygglo. Responsible for Business and Sales.
• Arns: Founder of Fancy (YC S20) - Acquired by Gopuff. Responsible for Tech and Product.

About the role

About Model ML

Model ML is an AI operating system transforming how major financial institutions produce and validate client-ready work. Model ML converts complex, manual processes into fully automated AI systems that scale across global teams.

Model ML has quickly become one of the fastest-growing enterprise AI platforms worldwide and recently closed a $75 million Series A, one of the largest fintech Series A rounds ever. The round was backed by FT Partners, Y Combinator, LocalGlobe, QED, 13books, and other leading global investors.

The Role

This is a strategic leadership position responsible for the company’s global IT operations, information security governance and compliance programme.

You will ensure every employee has secure, reliable and scalable technology while leading the systems, policies and controls that enable Model ML to meet the expectations of enterprise customers and regulatory frameworks. Working closely with Engineering, Legal, HR, Finance and Customer Success, you’ll balance operational excellence with a pragmatic approach that allows the business to move quickly without compromising security.

Key Responsibilities

Global IT Leadership

• Own the global IT strategy, ensuring secure, reliable and scalable technology for employees across multiple international offices.
• Lead all aspects of identity and access management, endpoint management, hardware lifecycle, software provisioning, employee onboarding and offboarding, helpdesk operations and IT vendor management.
• Manage the internal technology estate, including collaboration platforms, productivity tools, identity providers, device management, security tooling and business-critical enterprise systems.
• Develop the IT roadmap, budgets and operating procedures to support the company’s continued international growth.

Security & Compliance

• Lead the company’s operational security and compliance programmes, maintaining certifications such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001 while continuously strengthening our security posture.
• Own governance frameworks including security policies, access reviews, risk management, business continuity, disaster recovery, vendor assessments, internal audits and compliance reporting.
• Partner with Engineering to improve endpoint security, vulnerability management, privileged access, security awareness and incident response processes across the organisation.

Enterprise Governance & Customer Trust

• Build scalable governance processes that support rapid growth while meeting the security expectations of enterprise customers.
• Lead customer security reviews, respond to due diligence questionnaires, support enterprise procurement processes and represent Model ML during customer audits.
• Work cross-functionally with Legal, HR, Finance and Engineering to ensure security, compliance and operational best practices are embedded throughout the organisation.

Leadership

• Build, mentor and lead a high-performing global IT team, establishing clear operational metrics, service standards and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Manage strategic vendor relationships, optimise technology investments and drive automation to improve employee experience while reducing operational risk.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first 12 months you will:

• Build a scalable IT function supporting 150+ employees across multiple regions.
• Successfully maintain SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance while strengthening Model ML’s overall security maturity.
• Deliver a seamless employee IT experience through reliable systems, efficient support and automated onboarding and lifecycle management.
• Improve governance, reduce operational risk and establish scalable processes that support the company’s continued global expansion.
• Become a trusted partner for enterprise customers by leading security reviews and demonstrating Model ML’s commitment to operational excellence.

We’re Looking For

• 8-12+ years of experience leading IT within a high-growth SaaS or technology business.
• Experience managing IT operations for global organisations with 100–500+ employees.
• Strong expertise in identity and access management, endpoint management, enterprise IT infrastructure and cloud-based productivity platforms.
• Proven experience leading security, governance and compliance initiatives, including SOC 2, ISO 27001 and enterprise audit programmes.
• Excellent leadership, stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical teams.
• A pragmatic approach to balancing security, scalability and business velocity in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience supporting enterprise B2B SaaS, AI or fintech organisations.
• Familiarity with GDPR, UK GDPR and other global privacy frameworks.
• Experience with AWS or Azure cloud environments and modern zero-trust security architectures.

Why Join Model ML?

This is an opportunity to build and lead a critical function at one of the fastest-growing enterprise AI companies. As Head of IT & IT Compliance, you’ll shape the technology, governance and security foundations that enable Model ML to scale globally while earning the trust of the world’s leading financial institutions.

Technology

Building on top of Open AI. AI expert desired but no essential. Front & backend skills bonus too.

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