Head Of Security

The role

You will own security across the company: product, infrastructure, corporate and compliance. You will set the security strategy, build and lead the security team, and grow into the CISO role as the company scales.

What you will do

• Own the security strategy and roadmap across application, cloud, corporate and AI security.
• Build and lead the security team, hiring across AppSec, cloud and GRC.
• Embed secure-by-design practices into engineering, including threat modelling, the secure SDLC, and pentest and bug bounty programs.
• Own ISO 27001, SOC 2, and emerging AI standards such as ISO 42001, plus GDPR and HIPAA readiness.
• Act as the security voice to enterprise customers: due diligence, executive briefings and contractual security terms.
• Lead incident response and report security risk to the exec team and board.
• Set guardrails for how Encord builds with and adopts AI, including LLM risks, data handling and vendor reviews.

Required qualifications

• 10+ years in security.
• 3+ years owning or leading the security function at a high-growth tech or SaaS company.
• Strong technical depth in at least one of AppSec or cloud security (GCP ideal), with breadth to lead across all domains.
• A track record of delivering ISO 27001 and/or SOC 2 as the accountable owner.
• Experience building and managing security teams from early stage.
• Credibility with engineers, enterprise customers and the board, with a pragmatic approach that enables speed.

Nice to have

• Experience securing ML/AI platforms or data-intensive products.
• Experience in regulated sectors such as healthcare, life sciences or automotive.
• A background as a hands-on engineer before moving into leadership.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and meaningful equity.
• 25 days annual leave plus UK public holidays.
• Annual learning and development budget.
• Travel for customer visits, events and conferences across the UK and Europe.
• Daily company lunches.
• Monthly socials and bi-annual team offsites.

Before you apply

• Most of the team works from the London office 4+ days a week.

About the company

Encord is the universal data layer for AI, helping 300+ AI teams train and run models on the right data. The company is a team of 100+ that has raised $60M in Series C funding.