Head of Security
At January, we're not just building financial products – we're restoring dignity and enabling millions to achieve financial freedom. Our mission is to humanize consumer finance through data-driven solutions that help financial institutions streamline collections, offering borrowers compassionate pathways to stability. This work involves handling highly sensitive personal and financial data, making our commitment to security paramount. We are expanding access to credit, and you will be critical in safeguarding the trust our clients and their customers place in us.
Your Mission as Head of Security
As our Head of Security, you won't just maintain; you'll lead the charge in defining and radically improving January's proactive security posture. Reporting directly to the VP of Engineering, you will be the architect and champion of our security strategy, ensuring ironclad compliance with industry standards, mitigating real-world risks, and cultivating unwavering client confidence in our data handling. This is a pivotal leadership role where you'll drive strategic initiatives, implement cutting-edge monitoring and response systems, and embed a culture of security awareness and excellence throughout the organization.
What You'll Drive
Architect and champion the overarching security engineering strategy, identifying critical risks and pioneering solutions that safeguard our mission.
Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing security engineering team, scaling our capabilities as January grows.
Own and evolve our Identity and Access Management (IAM) framework across all systems, ensuring robust control and efficiency.
Command our security monitoring, threat detection, and incident response programs, maintaining a vigilant and rapid defense.
Pioneer and own the security posture for all AI/ML initiatives, protecting both our innovative products and internal tools.
Oversee and architect our multi-tenant cloud security environment, implementing robust guardrails and ensuring stringent data isolation.
Drive end-to-end vulnerability management, embedding security into every stage of the development lifecycle in close partnership with our Engineering teams.
Collaborate closely with our Compliance function, leading efforts for SOC2, PCI DSS, and other critical audit and regulatory requirements.
What You Bring to the Table
A seasoned security leader with 6+ years of experience in the field, including 2+ years in a dedicated leadership capacity.
Demonstrated hands-on expertise in software or security engineering, having personally architected, built, and operated cloud security, Identity and Access Management (IAM), and advanced detection systems.
Proven track record navigating and securing environments within a regulated industry (e.g., financial services, healthcare, payments).
Experience defining and executing comprehensive security strategies in dynamic early- or growth-stage environments, adept at building foundational playbooks from the ground up.
An exceptional communicator and cross-functional collaborator, skilled at forging trust and partnership with Engineering, Product, and executive teams.
Highly Desired: Deep understanding of AI/ML system architectures and their inherent security risks.
We Encourage You to Apply If You Value
Collaborative Ownership beats Fiefdoms. You step into gaps without being asked. You fix issues. You seek to bring in the right people.
Speed beats perfection. You make decisions with incomplete information, iterate quickly, and course-correct based on what you learn. Fast loops beat slow ones.
Candor beats comfort. You give direct feedback because you care about people's growth. You'd rather hear a hard truth early than a polite sidestep that wastes time.
Why beats what. You diagnose before prescribing. You're more interested in root causes than symptoms, and you share context so others can make good decisions without you.
Location
We are currently hiring for this position in our New York office. As a New York City-based company, we are dedicated to transparent, fair, and equitable compensation practices that reflect our commitment to fostering an environment where all team members are valued and supported.
Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
We encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, age, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic.