Fractional CISO
Senior security leadership on a flexible retained basis. Board-ready expertise without the cost of a full-time hire.
A Fractional CISO — also known as a Virtual CISO or Part-Time CISO — is an experienced Chief Information Security Officer who provides strategic security leadership to your organisation on a part-time, retained, or project basis. Rather than employing a full-time CISO at significant cost, your organisation benefits from the same depth of expertise, board-level credibility, and regulatory knowledge, deployed flexibly to match your needs and budget.
Arthur J Goldman Consultants provides Fractional CISO services to organisations across London and the United Kingdom, drawing on over two decades of front-line experience advising FTSE 100 corporations, government agencies, financial institutions, and private equity-backed businesses.
The demand for experienced CISOs far exceeds supply, and full-time CISO salaries in London now routinely exceed £200,000 per annum. For many organisations, particularly fast-growing businesses, private equity portfolio companies, and organisations undergoing digital transformation, a Fractional CISO delivers the expertise they need at a fraction of the cost. Our clients choose this model when they need credible security leadership for the board and regulators, a security strategy and roadmap built by someone who has delivered at the highest levels, or experienced oversight of compliance programmes including ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, GDPR, FCA rules, and DORA.
Our Fractional CISO service is tailored to each client's specific context, risk profile, and regulatory obligations. Working as a trusted extension of your leadership team, we deliver a comprehensive security strategy and risk roadmap aligned to your business objectives, board-level reporting and executive briefings that translate technical risk into commercial language, oversight of your information security management system (ISMS) and compliance programmes, vendor and third-party risk management, incident response leadership and crisis communication, and security awareness programmes for your people. We attend board and audit committee meetings as required, provide independent security challenge to your technology and operations teams, and represent your security posture to regulators, investors, and clients.
Our Fractional CISO clients span a wide range of sectors and sizes. Private equity firms and their portfolio companies benefit from pre-acquisition cyber due diligence and post-acquisition security transformation led by an experienced CISO. Financial services firms regulated by the FCA or PRA require senior security leadership that understands the regulatory environment intimately. Healthcare organisations protecting patient data and clinical systems need specialist security governance without the overhead of a full-time executive. Fast-growing technology companies need security embedded into their culture and product development from the outset. Government suppliers seeking Cyber Essentials Plus certification and ongoing compliance support. Any organisation that has experienced a security incident and needs experienced leadership to respond, recover, and rebuild trust.
Arthur J Goldman Consultants is based in London and delivers Fractional CISO engagements across the United Kingdom. Our advisors hold advisory positions with the UK Financial Conduct Authority, National Cyber Security Centre, and Lloyds of London, providing unmatched regulatory insight and institutional credibility to every engagement. We work on-site, remotely, or in a hybrid model, adapting to your organisation's working practices.
Confidential, no-obligation initial consultation. Response within one business day.