Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. 

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards.  Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade. 

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day.  We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Summary:

PayPal Payments Private Limited (PPPL) is the India subsidiary of PayPal Holdings, Inc. and a regulated payments entity supervised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). As the entity-level Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), this role is accountable for ensuring cybersecurity, information technology (IT) and information & communication technology (ICT) risk, and operational resilience capabilities are effectively implemented, governed, and evidenced within the regulated entity, while leveraging PayPal’s global technology and cybersecurity services.

Job Description:

Essential Responsibilities:

• Recognized as a security governance, risk, and compliance expert, independently addressing the most complex security risks and providing strategic direction on risk mitigation and governance practices across the security domain.
• Define methods and procedures for new or special assignments, collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive security risk and governance initiatives that align with business needs and objectives.
• Lead complex, high-impact security governance and risk management initiatives, leveraging a deep understanding of business trends and security challenges to develop innovative risk mitigation strategies and solutions.
• Possess a keen awareness of the broader impact of decisions, with initiatives driving enterprise-wide improvements in risk management and security governance, enhancing overall security practices and operational efficiency.
• Lead a security risk and governance team; set clear priorities and define actionable plans, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
• Guide team members through complex challenges, fostering their growth and development while maintaining a focus on high-impact results.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 8+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.

This Senior Manager serves as the entity-level Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and First Line of Defense lead for information security, cyber resilience, and ICT risk management. The role provides local lead of technology services delivered by PayPal's global organisation, ensuring compliance with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cybersecurity, ICT risk, operational resilience, data protection, and other applicable regulatory requirements.

The CISO is accountable for the local governance and assurance of enterprise security capabilities, ensuring they are effectively implemented, monitored, evidenced, and reported. Working closely with global engineering, infrastructure, cloud, security, SLOD & enterprise risk teams and business teams, the role requires strong technical expertise, sound risk judgement, regulatory interpretation, and excellent communication skills.

Information Security & Cyber Resilience

• Serve as the entity-level CISO, leading local information security, cyber resilience, and ICT/IT risk management activities

• Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of cyber and digital operational resilience capabilities across the regulated entity

• Partner with global Infrastructure, Cloud, Cybersecurity, Site Reliability Engineering, Product, and Operations teams to strengthen the resilience of critical ICT services and business processes supporting the entity.

• Ensure enterprise cybersecurity policies, standards, and control requirements are effectively implemented, monitored, and evidenced within the entity, and mapped to applicable RBI requirements.

• Oversee operational resilience activities, including disaster recovery exercises, cyber simulations, failover testing, tabletop exercises, and resilience validation, and maintain evidence for regulatory and audit review.

• Oversee adherence to payment data storage and localisation requirements applicable to the entity, coordinating with global teams on data residency, retention, and evidencing.

ICT Risk & Secure Technology Delivery

• Act as the First Line ICT/IT Risk lead for major technology changes, cloud migrations, new product launches, and transformation initiatives affecting the regulated entity.

• Lead ICT and cybersecurity risk assessments across infrastructure, applications, cloud services, third-party providers, and operational processes.

• Ensure security, resilience, data protection, and regulatory requirements are embedded throughout technology delivery and operational processes.

• Partner with engineering and product teams to drive practical, measurable, and risk-based remediation of identified control gaps, including time-bound closure of vulnerabilities identified through VA/PT.

• Oversee cybersecurity and operational resilience risks associated with third-party technology providers and cloud services supporting the regulated entity, Incident Management & Regulatory Engagement

• Lead the First Line coordination of cybersecurity incidents and ICT disruption events in partnership with global Cybersecurity and Technology teams.

• Lead the entity’s coordination of cyber incidents and ICT disruption events, including assessment, escalation, root cause analysis, recovery, and remediation tracking.

• Drive post-incident reviews and resilience improvements to strengthen operational readiness and reduce future risk.

• Act as the primary local point of contact for the RBI, CERT-In, external auditors, and internal assurance on cybersecurity, ICT risk, operational resilience, and data protection matters, maintaining a current view of the entity’s regulatory obligations and compliance posture and ensuring control design and evidence remain adequate to demonstrate compliance.

Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Monitor the effectiveness of cybersecurity and resilience controls, ensuring timely remediation of identified risks and control deficiencies.

• Develop and report cybersecurity, operational resilience, and ICT risk metrics, Key Risk Indicators (KRIs), and management reporting to support informed decision-making, including inputs to the Board and IT Steering Committee.

• Ensure the entity maintains compliance with applicable cybersecurity, ICT risk, operational resilience, data protection, and technology governance requirements under the RBI and other Indian regulatory frameworks, while aligning with PayPal’s global security standards.

• Advise senior management on cyber risk, technology risk, regulatory developments, resilience readiness, and emerging threats, escalating material risks where appropriate.

• Partner with global Cybersecurity, Technology, Risk, Compliance, and Legal teams to align enterprise security capabilities with local regulatory expectations and business priorities.

Experience

• 10-12 years of experience in information security, cybersecurity, ICT/IT risk, technology operations, or cyber resilience within financial services, payments, fintech, or other highly regulated technology environments.

• Demonstrated experience leading cybersecurity, ICT risk, or operational resilience initiatives while partnering closely with engineering, infrastructure, cloud, and technology teams.

• Experience operating within a First Line of Defense function or in a technology leadership role with accountability for security, resilience, or operational risk outcomes.

• Strong understanding of modern technology environments, including cloud platforms, distributed infrastructure, enterprise applications, cybersecurity operations, and secure technology delivery.

• Sufficient technical proficiency to provide credible oversight, assessment, and challenge across areas such as cyber and operational resilience, disaster recovery and resilience testing, incident management and response, ICT risk assessment, secure technology change, and vulnerability management.

• Experience engaging with regulators, external auditors, and internal assurance functions within regulated financial services environments — engagement with the RBI, CERT-In, or other Indian authorities is highly desirable.

• Working knowledge of the Indian regulatory landscape applicable to non-bank Payment System Operators / payment aggregators, including the RBI (Information Technology Governance, Risk, Controls and Assurance Practices) Directions, 2023; the RBI Master Direction on Cyber Resilience and Digital Payment Security Controls for non-bank PSOs, 2024; the RBI Guidelines on Regulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways; CERT-In Directions (2022); and the DPDP Act, 2023.

• Familiarity with recognised security and resilience standards (PCI DSS, ISO/IEC 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework) is expected; exposure to international frameworks such as DORA, PSD2, GDPR, or NIS2 is beneficial given the global, matrixed operating model.

• Experience influencing technical and business stakeholders and driving cross-functional initiatives in complex, matrixed organisations.

• Familiarity with cloud-native technologies, infrastructure resilience, security tooling, automation, and modern engineering operating models.

• Experience with governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) platforms, operational risk tooling, and executive risk reporting is beneficial.

Core Competencies

• Strong leadership skills with a collaborative and hands-on approach to driving cybersecurity and resilience outcomes.

• Strong regulatory interpretation — a key skill for the role: the ability to read and apply RBI, CERT-In, and DPDP requirements, translate principle-based or ambiguous guidance into practical control and evidence expectations, and form and defend a reasoned position with regulators, auditors, and internal stakeholders.

• Ability to make sound, risk-based decisions during cyber incidents, operational disruptions, and rapidly evolving situations — including under compressed regulatory reporting timelines.

• Strong technical understanding and proficiency across cybersecurity, cloud technologies, infrastructure, and ICT architectures in modern enterprise environments — sufficient to interpret technical detail, assess risk, and constructively challenge global delivery teams, without performing the technical work directly.

• Deep knowledge of cyber resilience, operational resilience, technology risk management, and security controls in regulated financial services.

• Credible technical partner for engineering, infrastructure, product, and security teams, with the ability to influence without direct authority.

• Excellent written and verbal communication — a key skill for the role: the ability to produce clear regulatory correspondence, control narratives, root-cause and incident reports, and executive- and Board-level summaries, and to represent the entity credibly and articulately with regulators, auditors, senior management, and cross-functional technical teams.

• Ability to assess complex cyber and technology risks and translate them into practical, risk-based business and engineering decisions.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a focus on practical implementation, measurable risk reduction, and continuous improvement.

• Ability to balance regulatory expectations, business priorities, and engineering realities to deliver pragmatic and effective cybersecurity outcomes.

• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively within a global, matrixed organisation, balancing enterprise standards with local Indian regulatory obligations.

• High standards of governance, documentation, and execution, with strong attention to regulatory expectations and operational excellence.

• Curiosity and commitment to continuous learning, with an interest in emerging technologies, cloud security, AI-related cyber risks, threat intelligence, and evolving resilience practices.

Subsidiary:

PayPal

Travel Percent:

0

PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. When making an application directly, we will never ask you to share passwords, one-time passcodes (OTP), or verification codes.  Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. All communication regarding your application will come from official PayPal email domains. If you suspect fraudulent activity, please report it immediately.  To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit https://careers.pypl.com/contact-us. 

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits:

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset-you. That’s why we offer comprehensive, choice-based programs, to support all aspects of personal wellbeing—physical, emotional, and financial—delivering meaningful value where it matters most. We strive to create a flexible, balanced work culture with a holistic approach to benefits, including generous paid time off, healthcare coverage for you and your family, and resources to create financial security and support your mental health.

Who We Are:

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion 

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.  In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.  If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at paypalglobaltalentacquisition@paypal.com.  

Belonging at PayPal: 

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.