Head of Cryptography, MD

About the role

The Managing Director, Head of Cryptography is a senior leadership role responsible for defining, governing, and advancing the firm's enterprise cryptography, key management, secrets management, and cryptographic modernization strategy.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the firm's comprehensive cryptography strategy, roadmap, and governance framework.
• Establish Enterprise Standards And Policies Covering Encryption at rest Encryption in transit Key management Secrets management Certificate management Digital signatures Tokenization Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) Cryptographic agility
• Ensure cryptographic capabilities support business growth, regulatory expectations, cloud transformation, and emerging technology adoption.
• Develop executive-level metrics and reporting that provide visibility into cryptographic maturity, risk exposure, and modernization progress.
• Lead enterprise initiatives to modernize the firm's cryptographic infrastructure and services.
• Drive Programs Focused On Cryptographic inventory and visibility Legacy algorithm remediation Deprecation of weak cryptographic standards Secure migration strategies Cryptographic agility Automated cryptographic lifecycle management
• Partner with engineering teams to ensure cryptographic controls remain scalable, performant, and developer-friendly.
• Establish and operate enterprise-class key management services supporting the firm's most critical systems and data.
• Lead Strategy And Execution Across Enterprise Key Management Systems (KMS) Hardware Security Modules (HSM) Secrets vaults Machine identity management Certificate lifecycle management Service-to-service authentication
• Drive Adoption Of Automated Key Lifecycle Capabilities, Including Automated provisioning Automated rotation Revocation Expiration management Recovery procedures
• Reduce operational risk through consistent, centralized, and automated cryptographic controls.
• Enable cryptographic controls into enterprise platforms.
• Develop and modernize the firm's machine identity strategy.
• Drive automation to eliminate manual certificate and identity management processes wherever possible.
• Lead the firm's post-quantum cryptography strategy.
• Develop Capabilities To Inventory cryptographic dependencies Assess quantum risk exposure Prioritize remediation efforts Establish migration roadmaps Implement cryptographic agility standards
• Partner with Enterprise Architecture and Technology leadership to ensure long-term resilience against emerging cryptographic threats.
• Provide executive guidance on evolving industry standards and regulatory expectations related to quantum readiness.
• Establish enterprise-wide processes for assessing cryptographic risks and control effectiveness.
• Drive Initiatives To Identify cryptographic gaps Evaluate implementation quality Assess key management maturity Measure cryptographic coverage Prioritize remediation by risk
• Develop governance mechanisms that ensure adherence to enterprise cryptographic standards across all technology domains.
• Ensure cryptographic controls align with regulatory, client, and industry expectations.
• Support Compliance With Frameworks Including FFIEC NIST ISO 27001 PCI DSS NYDFS GDPR SEC requirements
• Serve as the senior cryptography subject matter expert during regulatory examinations, internal audits, client assessments, and control reviews.
• Provide clear and defensible narratives regarding cryptographic controls, key management practices, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CISO, CIO, CTO, Chief Data Officer, and senior technology leadership.
• Translate highly technical cryptographic concepts into practical business decisions and investment priorities.
• Influence enterprise architecture, platform strategy, cloud adoption, and modernization efforts through cryptographic expertise.
• Build strong partnerships across Security, Technology, Infrastructure, Data, Risk, and Compliance organizations.
• Build And Lead a World-class Cryptography Organization Responsible For Cryptography Engineering Key Management Services Secrets Management PKI Operations Machine Identity Security Cryptographic Modernization Post-Quantum Readiness
• Develop technical talent and create a culture focused on engineering excellence, automation, innovation, and operational resilience.
• Act as the firm's senior cryptographic authority and mentor for engineering and security leaders.

  Qualifications

  • 15+ years of experience in cybersecurity, cryptography, security engineering, or infrastructure security leadership roles.
  • Demonstrated success leading enterprise cryptography or key management programs within large, highly regulated organizations.
  • Deep expertise in: Applied cryptography PKI Key management HSM technologies Secrets management Certificate lifecycle management Cloud security architectures.
  • Experience designing cryptographic controls across cloud-native, hybrid, and distributed environments.
  • Strong understanding of post-quantum cryptography strategies and emerging cryptographic standards.
  • Proven track record leading large-scale modernization and transformation initiatives.
  • Experience engaging with executive leadership, regulators, auditors, and major clients.
  • Recognized industry expert in cryptography and cryptographic security services.
  • Strong technical depth combined with executive-level communication skills.
  • Strategic thinker capable of balancing innovation, resilience, and operational effectiveness.
  • Passion for automation, simplification, and engineering excellence.
  • Strong understanding of cloud, identity, infrastructure, and modern application architectures.
  • Ability to influence enterprise-wide technology decisions.
  • Risk-focused mindset with strong governance and control discipline.
  • Trusted leader with a track record of building and scaling high-performing technical organizations.
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Security, Mathematics, or related discipline. Advanced degree preferred.
  • Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, CISM, GCFA, or specialized cryptography/security certifications are highly desirable.