Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

For its headquarters in Bologna Italy the Central Organisation is seeking aChief Information Security Officer(CISO) to design lead and implement a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy for the observatorys distributed high-performance scientific and operational environments. This senior leadership position reports directly to the CTAO Director General with the mission to protect CTAOs global computing infrastructure research data and reputation from cyber threats while ensuring compliance with European cybersecurity regulations including NIS2 GDPR and the Cyber Resilience Act. The CISO will cooperate with the CTAO Computing Coordinator as well as the Computing and IT teams to develop and implement the security strategy for the protection of the CTAO.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute the CTAOs cybersecurity and IT risk management strategy ensuring alignment with scientific and organisational objectives.
• Establish and maintain an Information Security Management System (ISMS) compliant with ISO/IEC 27001 and NIST standards.
• Oversee implementation of technical controls and incident response systems including endpoint protection intrusion detection and network security.
• Lead and coordinate the creation of the CTAO Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) managing incident handling and forensic capabilities across all sites.
• Define and maintain cybersecurity policies procedures and risk frameworks ensuring adherence to European and national cybersecurity laws.
• Collaborate with IT technical administrative and scientific teams across international sites to ensure secure computing operations data exchange and infrastructure integrity.
• Advise CTAO leadership on risk management compliance and security governance.
• Promote a culture of cybersecurity awareness and provide training to staff and collaborators.

Qualifications and Experience:

• University degree in Computer Science Cybersecurity Information Technology or a related discipline.
• Minimum five years of progressively responsible experience in information and cyber security including leadership roles in complex or research environments.
• In-depth understanding of network and host-based attacks risk management and defence architectures.
• Proven knowledge of EU cybersecurity frameworks (NIS2 GDPR ISO 27001 NIST).
• Experience with incident response malware triage log analysis and forensic methods.
• Excellent command of English (spoken and written).

Desirable Qualifications:

• Professional certifications such as CISSP CISM CRISC or ISO 27001 Lead Implementer/Auditor.
• Experience in international or multi-site scientific collaborations.
• Familiarity with cloud and high-performance computing environments.
• Working knowledge of additional European languages.

Workplace: Bologna Italy. Travel will be required.

Contract: open-term full-time

Deadline for Applications: 14.06.2026

For more information abouttheCTAOplease visit.Formore information about the advertised positioncontact CTAO HR at.

For this job posting we would like to encourage people that comply with the Italian law 68/99 to send us their applications.

Applications are accepted without distinction on any grounds of gender race colour ethnic or social origin genetic features language religion or belief political or any other opinion membership of a national minority gender identity property birth disability age or sexual orientation.

Required Experience:

Chief