Hire a fractional CISO in Seattle
Vetted chief information security officers available for fractional, interim, or advisory engagements with companies in Seattle and across WA. Most engagements start inside two weeks.
The Seattle market for CISOs
Seattle's talent pool is shaped by Amazon and Microsoft alumni, giving the market an exceptionally deep supply of cloud, marketplace, logistics, and enterprise operators. Many of those executives specifically prefer fractional and advisory work after a long tenure at scale. The risk to manage is fit: big-company scale experience does not automatically translate to a 40-person startup.
Why Seattle companies hire fractional CISOs
The typical trigger in this market is moving from a founder-led function to a repeatable operating system, often post-Series A. A fractional CISO gives you the same executive seat and security judgment on 1–3 days per week, without the base salary, equity, and benefits load of a permanent hire.
- You need SOC 2, ISO 27001, or HIPAA to close deals
- Enterprise buyers are sending security questionnaires you can't answer
- You need incident response readiness and a real IR plan
- You are approaching a size or revenue threshold that requires a CISO on paper
Typical cost in Seattle
Expect roughly $6k–$17k/mo per month, or $250–$550/hr hourly, for a fractional CISO in Seattle. Seattle retainers sit modestly above national benchmarks, reflecting competition with big-tech compensation. Most fractional / virtual CISO engagements run $6k–$12k/month for 4–8 hours per week.
National benchmark for comparison: $5k–$15k/mo per month ($225–$500/hr).
fractional CISO in Seattle — FAQs
How much does a fractional CISO cost in Seattle?
Most Seattle engagements run $6k–$17k/mo per month for 1–3 days per week, or $250–$550/hr on an hourly basis. Seattle retainers sit modestly above national benchmarks, reflecting competition with big-tech compensation.
How fast can I hire a fractional CISO in Seattle?
We return a curated shortlist of vetted Chief Information Security Officers within 48 hours of your brief, and most Seattle companies are in first conversations the same week and started within two weeks.
Do CISOs need to be based in Seattle?
Not necessarily. Many Seattle companies hire a locally based CISO for onsite days with the leadership team, but remote-first engagements are equally common and widen the candidate pool considerably.
When do Seattle companies usually bring in a fractional CISO?
The most common trigger is moving from a founder-led function to a repeatable operating system, often post-Series A. At that point the function needs executive ownership, but not yet a full-time salary, equity grant, and benefits load.
Start your CISO search in Seattle
Post a role and receive a curated shortlist within 48 hours.