Role Overview

We are building a lean, high-caliber global IT team and are looking for a sharp, motivated Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) / IT Security Manager who wants real responsibility, meaningful work, and direct exposure to some of the most dynamic areas of finance and innovation.

This is a hands-on, regulated key function role at an early-stage, global stablecoin fintech. You will own IT security end-to-end from day one: running core security operations, shaping our security posture ahead of MiCA and PSD2 licensing, and building the foundations of a function that will scale with the company.

Cyclops EEC Services GmbH is our wholly owned Austrian entity, established to serve European markets and currently pursuing MiCA and PSD2 Lite licenses for stablecoin transactions with the FMA (Finanzmarktaufsicht).

Key Responsibilities 

• Own and operate Cyclops' security function end-to-end, from strategy and roadmap down to hands-on implementation.
• Set clear security requirements for our cloud-native infrastructure (hardening, IAM, logging, alerting) and review how it is configured, working with our DevOps engineers rather than implementing the infra yourself.
• Build and run day-to-day security operations, including threat detection, monitoring, incident response, and vulnerability management.
• Embed secure-by-design principles into the SDLC, so security requirements are agreed at design and enforced through automated checks and guardrails in the pipeline rather than surfacing as a blocker at release.
• Crypto and key-management security: custody controls, HSM / secure signing, wallet architecture, and key ceremony and recovery.
• Drive alignment with DORA, ISO 27001, and SOC 2, owning the security share of operational resilience (ICT and third-party risk, resilience testing, the security side of BCP/DR), preparing documentation and personally supporting audits and FMA licensing activities.
• Partner with Engineering, Risk, Compliance, Legal, and IT to integrate security into design, development, and operations, and run the security awareness program.
• Define and track key security metrics, communicating risk posture and progress to executive leadership while monitoring emerging threats and regulatory changes.
• Lay the foundations to build and scale the security team as the entity grows post-licensing.

Qualifications 

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 5-8 years of experience in information or cyber security, ideally in fast-paced, regulated, or cloud-first environments, with experience owning security functions or leading security initiatives end-to-end.
• Deep, practical understanding of cloud, product, and operational security, combined with working knowledge of risk management and compliance frameworks (DORA, ISO 27001, SOC 2).
• Industry certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CCISO, or ISO 27001 Lead Auditor/Implementer are strongly preferred. Hands-on cloud or offensive-security credentials are equally welcome.
• Familiarity with crypto and key-management security (custody, HSMs, wallet architecture, on-chain / smart-contract risk), or the ability and appetite to ramp quickly.
• Fluent English required; German proficiency (B2 or higher) is a strong plus for engagement with Austrian regulators, auditors, and local advisors.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, capable of influencing both technical and executive audiences.
• A builder's mindset with a bias for action: comfortable being the first security hire, making pragmatic decisions, and balancing innovation enablement with risk reduction.

Why This Role

• Real work, real responsibility: You won't be writing policies for someone else to implement or managing from a distance. You will design, build, and run security at Cyclops end-to-end, with direct relationships with senior leadership across the business.
• Build it your way: As the first dedicated security hire in the Austrian entity, you get to establish the tooling, processes, and standards from the ground up rather than inheriting legacy decisions.
• Front-row seat to cutting-edge regulation: DORA, MiCA and the EU payments regulatory landscape are among the most consequential areas of industry development right now - you will be in the middle of it.
• Cross-border exposure: Working within an Austrian-law regulated entity that is part of a US-headquartered group gives you visibility into both European and American business and regulatory environments.
• Growth path: As the entity grows post-licensing, there is a clear opportunity to grow into a senior security leadership role within the Austrian entity or the broader Cyclops group.
• Collaborative team: You will work alongside a global Engineering team, a senior local Managing Director, an experienced local AMLO, local external advisors, and a highly experienced US-based founding team that values IT Security as a strategic function, not a cost center.

This role will report to the Managing Director of Cyclops EEC Services GmbH (Vienna) as the regulated key-function holder, with a dotted line to the Global Director of Engineering (EU-based) for day-to-day delivery, architecture, and infrastructure work.

The minimum salary for this position according to the collective agreement for employees in Information und Consulting is €55,069 per year. For this role, we offer an annual gross salary between €65,000 and €75,000, depending on your experience, skills, and the value you'll bring to the team.

Additional Benefits

• Company issued laptop 
• Technology Accessories 
• Annual In-Person Full-Team Meetup

Location

Vienna, Austria, or close proximity (DACH region - Austria, Germany, Switzerland). Must be able to travel to Vienna when required. Hybrid arrangements can be considered for the right candidate, but some availability for onsite presence in Vienna is a must.

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About Cyclops

Cyclops enables payments companies to onboard with a single partner, unlocking stablecoin settlement, payins, payouts and treasury optimization across global corridors – all through a single API.

Cyclops was founded by payments executives and crypto veterans who were fed up with stablecoin fragmentation. The first complete stablecoin platform built exclusively for the payments industry, Cyclops combines the agility of orchestration with the comprehensive build outs of full-stack providers. Cyclops has end-to-end integrations to every leading provider at every layer of the stablecoin stack, and proprietary technology built on top to make payments use cases effortless. With this unique approach, Cyclops is the only platform offering product and license redundancy in all major markets, with dozens of partners and over 100 global licenses.

Cyclops Culture

Don’t join Cyclops if you’re looking for a typical 9-5. The culture we’ve built is one of first-principles thinking and relentless execution. We wake up every day excited to deliver great products worthy of the world’s best companies. Everyone who works at Cyclops must have a founder mindset, where no problem is too big to solve.