Last updated: October 28, 2026
Who is hiring a CISO or Head of Security, and how security vendors use it
This guide is for security vendors and their sales teams: people who sell to a CISO, a head of security, or the executive who will own that seat. It is not a job-seeker page. If you only want the companies, open the live list of Companies hiring a Head of Security this week.
What a new CISO or Head of Security posting means
Someone posting a CISO, Head of Security, or Chief Information Security role is staffing the person who will own security leadership. For a security vendor, that is a timing signal: the company is hiring that leader now, while the seat is open. It is a reason to look. It is not a claim that a purchase is underway.
It is not proof of budget, a buying committee, or that they will buy what you sell. An agency requisition, a company outside your ICP, or a role that is not the buyer you sell to is a different lead. A founding CISO at a company you can help is a different conversation from a backfill on a team that already has your category covered.
The public list matches Head of Security, CISO, and Chief Information Security in the job title, the department, or the team. Keyword tags from the title, department, team, and location count the same way. The rest of the posting is not searched. A VP of Security or a Director of Information Security is not on that list unless the title, department, team, or location contains one of those phrases. You can still search those titles yourself.
First hire versus backfill
A first security leader and a backfill are different conversations. A first hire may be standing up the function. A backfill may be replacing someone who already has vendors. One open seat and several security leadership titles open at once are different, too. Read the board before you assume it is a single new seat.
A title that says first or founding is a clue that the company may be standing up security leadership. A board that already lists a CISO, a head of security, or other security roles is a reason to treat the post as a backfill or an added seat. Neither one is proof. HireSignal's only first-hire label is "Possible first sales hire". That label is for sales titles. It does not flag a CISO or Head of Security posting.
Find the postings for free
1. Check the careers page and the ATS board
Start with accounts you already care about. Open the company careers page, then the public board if you know which host they use. The board token is usually a short form of the company name. Replace <company> in these URLs:
https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/<company>https://jobs.lever.co/<company>https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/<company>
If one host has no board, try the other two. Plenty of employers use a different system, or no public board at all. These three are the hosts you can check without an account.
2. Search Google with site: and a date filter
When you do not have a target list, search the boards themselves. Run the query, then set the date filter to the past week (Google calls this Tools, then Any time, then Past week). The links below already include that past-week filter. Add "founding" or "first" when you want a clue about a new function. That word is not proof of a first hire. Open the posting and read the date on the board. A search snippet can be older than the filter suggests.
3. Search LinkedIn Jobs and save an alert
Search the same titles on LinkedIn Jobs and set Date posted to Past week. Save a job alert so the search comes back without you retyping it. This LinkedIn Jobs search for Head of Security, past week is one starting point. Repeat it for CISO and Chief Information Security Officer.
Agency and staffing posts are noise if you sell to the company that will employ the leader. Read who the employer is. If the poster is a recruiting firm, skip it or treat it as a different kind of lead.
4. Search these title variants
Companies do not share one title. Searching only "CISO" misses Head of Security, and the reverse is also true. HireSignal's Head of Security list matches these phrases:
- Head of Security
- CISO
- Chief Information Security
Saving Head of Security or CISO covers that set, including a chief information security title. Saving only "Chief Information Security Officer" matches when that full phrase is in the job title or department. It does not match a bare CISO title. VP of Security and Director of Information Security are worth a manual search. They are not on the Head of Security list unless the title, department, team, or location contains one of the phrases above.
How to qualify a posting
A live title match is not enough. Use this checklist before you spend a call or a note on it.
- Posted recently, in the last 7 to 14 days.
- Posted by the company, not a staffing or recruiting agency.
- The company matches your ICP.
- The role is the buyer you sell to: Head of Security, CISO, or Chief Information Security. A different security seat is a different lead, unless that is who you sell to.
- The posting is still live when you open it.
Who to contact and what to say
Write to the person the new leader will report to when you can tell who that is. That person may be a CEO, a CTO, a CIO, or a founder. If the board already shows a security leader and this post is another seat, that leader may be the buyer. The posting does not name the reporting line by itself. Do not invent it.
The recruiter is filling the seat. They are rarely the buyer of a security product. Refer to the business change. "I saw your job post" on its own is a weak reason to reply. The useful point is that security leadership is being staffed now, and you help teams in that spot. Say what you sell in plain language. Do not invent a metric. Keep the note short enough to answer in one line.
Example opener (template)
Replace the brackets. This is a template, not a measured result.
Hi [Name], [Company] posted a Head of Security role, so security leadership is being staffed now. We help security teams with [what you sell]. If this hire will report to you, is a short note useful this week?
Do it weekly with HireSignal
Checking boards by hand works for a short target list. HireSignal covers the public Greenhouse, Lever, and Ashby boards of companies in its company directory (9,900+ boards), not every public board. It emails companies that posted a role matching your saved titles in the previous 7 days. For this signal, save Head of Security or CISO. The same companies are on the live list of Companies hiring a Head of Security this week.
The digest goes out Monday from 9 AM ET (by 11 AM ET if the weekly crawl is still finishing). The crawl is enqueued Sunday at 6:00 PM ET and continues in short batches until it finishes.
Limits, stated plainly:
- It is weekly, not real-time. A role posted on Tuesday waits for the next Monday list.
- It only includes companies on public Greenhouse, Lever, and Ashby boards. Other applicant-tracking systems are not crawled.
- It does not include contact data. Recruiter names, hiring-manager names, and email addresses from postings are not stored. You still find the security leader, or the executive they will report to, yourself.
- Full job descriptions are not stored.
Free is 1 saved search and the top 10 companies. Pro is $29/mo for up to 5 saved searches, up to 150 companies per search in the weekly email, the newest 50 on the dashboard, and a CSV of every match for the current week. The Possible first sales hire badge is on every plan. Pro can filter the on-screen list to possible first sales hires. That badge and that filter look at sales titles. They do not flag a CISO or Head of Security posting. Details are on the HireSignal pricing page.
Sources are public Greenhouse, Lever, and Ashby job boards. This product is not affiliated with those board hosts or the employers listed.
The live list
FAQ
Is a CISO or Head of Security posting a buying signal?
Not by itself. A job posting is a timing signal. It shows the company is hiring for security leadership now. It does not prove budget, a buying committee, or that they will purchase what you sell. Check that the company fits your ICP and that the role is the buyer you sell to before you reach out.
Does this posting mean they are making their first security hire?
Not by itself. A title that says first or founding is a clue that the company may be standing up security leadership. A board that already lists a CISO, a head of security, or other security roles is a reason to treat the post as a backfill or an added seat. Neither one is proof. HireSignal's only first-hire label is "Possible first sales hire". That label is for sales titles. It does not flag a CISO or Head of Security posting.
How recent should a posting be?
Prefer posts from the last 7 to 14 days. A post older than that may already be filled, or the team may have moved on. The HireSignal Monday list covers roles posted in the previous 7 days.
Can I do this for free?
Yes. Checking a company board on Greenhouse, Lever, or Ashby, running the Google site: searches, and setting a LinkedIn job alert are free. On HireSignal, Free is 1 saved search and the top 10 companies. Pro is $29/mo for up to 5 saved searches, up to 150 companies per search in the weekly email, the newest 50 on the dashboard, and a CSV of every match for the current week. The Possible first sales hire badge is on every plan. Pro can filter the on-screen list to possible first sales hires. That badge and that filter look at sales titles. They do not flag a CISO or Head of Security posting.
How often does HireSignal update?
Weekly, not in real time. The digest goes out Monday from 9 AM ET (by 11 AM ET if the weekly crawl is still finishing). It lists companies that posted a matching role in the previous 7 days on public Greenhouse, Lever, and Ashby boards. It does not include contact data. The crawl is enqueued Sunday at 6:00 PM ET and continues in short batches until it finishes.