Head of Cybersecurity & Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) (Hybrid)

Securian Financial•Saint Paul, MN

3d•$225,000 - $295,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Securian Financial is seeking an accomplished, forward-looking cybersecurity and technology executive to lead its enterprise Cybersecurity organization and serve as one of the company’s broadest technology executives. The role combines deep cybersecurity credibility with business judgment, technology fluency, executive influence, and the ability to translate an evolving threat environment into enterprise priorities and risk-informed decisions. The CISO will help shape Securian’s technology agenda, strengthen data protection and enterprise resilience, enable responsible adoption of AI and emerging technologies, and embed security, resilience, and trust into technology design and delivery. The CISO reports to the Chief Information Officer and is a member of Securian’s senior Enterprise Technology leadership team. This is an officer-level position. The internal position title is 2nd VP-Chief Information Security Officer. The role is hybrid. Associates who live within a 90-minute commute of the Home Office in St. Paul, Minnesota work from the office three or more days each week, with flexibility to work remotely the rest of the time. The estimated base pay range is $225,000–$295,000, and the role is eligible for annual and long-term incentive programs. Securian offers paid time off with additional PTO based on service, flexible leave programs including parental, caregiver, bereavement, and military leave, nine paid company holidays, a company-funded pension plan, a 401(k) retirement plan with a company contribution tied to company performance, medical, dental, and vision coverage from the first day of employment for eligible associates and family members, and paid volunteer time and a matching gift program. The company also offers Associate Resource Groups.

Requirements

Significant senior leadership experience in cybersecurity, technology risk, security architecture, engineering, or adjacent enterprise technology disciplines.
Demonstrated success leading meaningful cybersecurity or technology transformation, rather than solely operating an established security program.
Deep cybersecurity expertise combined with strong technology, architecture, data, and AI fluency.
Strong understanding of enterprise risk, regulatory requirements, risk appetite, and cybersecurity’s role in a complex business environment.
Demonstrated ability to influence technology strategy, architecture, cloud, data, AI, engineering, and modernization decisions.
Experience operating in a regulated environment and building credibility with Risk, Legal, Compliance, Audit, and regulatory stakeholders.
Experience advising executive leadership and presenting material cybersecurity, technology, or enterprise risk matters to Boards or Board committees.
Demonstrated crisis leadership and understanding of cybersecurity response, recovery, technology resilience, business continuity, and third-party dependencies.
Proven ability to build strong leadership teams, develop succession, and create durable organizational capability.
Low ego and high conviction, with the ability to raise difficult issues, consider different perspectives, and adapt when facts change.
Ability to build trust through competence, transparency, consistency, and follow-through; collaborate across the enterprise; debate constructively; and commit to enterprise decisions.

Nice To Haves

Senior cybersecurity or technology leadership experience in financial services, insurance, or another highly regulated industry.
Experience leading cybersecurity in a large, complex technology environment undergoing significant modernization or transformation.
Experience enabling enterprise adoption of AI, cloud, modern engineering practices, and emerging technologies while managing associated cybersecurity and data risks.
Experience as a CISO, Deputy CISO, divisional CISO, Security CTO, or similarly broad senior cybersecurity or technology executive; prior CISO title is not required.

Responsibilities

Lead the enterprise Cybersecurity organization and contribute to Enterprise Technology and company strategy.
Develop and continuously evolve cybersecurity strategy in alignment with enterprise, technology, data, and AI priorities.
Advise senior business and technology leaders on pursuing opportunities responsibly and balancing enterprise considerations.
Monitor the external cybersecurity environment and translate emerging threats, industry developments, and technology trends into implications and actions for Securian.
Establish a focused, risk-informed cybersecurity strategy and operating model that protects the company while enabling appropriate business speed.
Strengthen the company’s ability to understand and protect sensitive and critical data, including its location, movement, access, and use.
Differentiate cybersecurity resources, controls, and investments according to enterprise risk, reducing unnecessary friction and focusing on areas of greatest exposure.
Partner with Risk, Legal, Compliance, and Audit to meet regulatory requirements and distinguish obligations from organizational preferences and risk appetite.
Drive cybersecurity priorities and investment discussions with senior leaders, surfacing material risks early and addressing them transparently.
Partner with architecture, engineering, data, AI, infrastructure, reliability, and technology operations to embed secure-by-design, resilient-by-design, and trustworthy-by-design practices.
Provide cybersecurity leadership for the company’s AI environment, including enterprise models, agents, machine identities, privileged access, sensitive data, AI application security, software supply-chain risk, and AI-enabled threats.
Strengthen cyber and technology resilience through integration with technology operations, reliability engineering, architecture, business continuity, crisis management, and third-party risk.
Serve as a visible and trusted enterprise voice on cybersecurity risk, preparedness, resilience, and emerging threats.
Communicate cybersecurity and technology risks clearly to senior executives, the Board, regulators, and other key stakeholders.
Build relationships with external industry peers, regulators, and cybersecurity communities to bring leading practices and emerging perspectives to Securian.
Represent Securian during significant cybersecurity events, regulatory interactions, and other high-visibility situations.
Build strong leadership teams, develop succession, and create durable organizational capability.

Benefits

Paid time off, with additional PTO based on length of service.
Flexible parental, caregiver, bereavement, and military leave programs.
Nine company-paid holidays.
Company-funded pension plan.
401(k) retirement plan with a company contribution tied to company performance, up to 10% of eligible earnings, with a target of 5%.
Medical, dental, and vision coverage from the first day of employment for eligible associates and family members.
Paid volunteer time and a dollar-for-dollar matching gift program.
Annual incentive program eligibility.
Long-term incentive program eligibility.
Associate Resource Groups.