Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) | Career Path

Learn about the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) career path in cybersecurity. Discover key responsibilities, required skills, average salary expectations, and relevant certifications for this role.

Overview

Executive-level manager responsible for establishing and maintaining the enterprise vision, strategy, and program to ensure information assets and technologies are adequately protected.

Responsibilities

  • Develop/oversee security strategy
  • manage budget/resources
  • ensure compliance
  • communicate risk to executives/board
  • lead security team
  • manage strategic incident response

Required Skills

  • Leadership
  • communication
  • risk management
  • governance
  • compliance frameworks (NIST, ISO, SOC2, GDPR)
  • business acumen
  • strategic planning
  • budget management
  • vendor management

Salary Expectations

$180,000 - $350,000+ USD

Relevant Certifications

Common Career Pathway

Senior leadership (10-15+ years exp), from Security Manager/Director, Architect, or senior tech roles + management exp.

Learning Roadmap

Technical foundation -> Broad security exp -> Management -> Business/Strategy -> Risk/Governance -> CISM/CISSP -> Executive Skills.

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