GRC Lead
Senior leader who owns security and compliance end-to-end at Wordsmith AI — running SOC 2/ISO 27001/ISO 42001 certifications, IT and cloud security, AI governance, GDPR privacy operations, and vendor risk, while building out the team and tooling. Based in-office in Edinburgh.
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Work setup
- Onsite
- Seniority
- Lead
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- 10+ years
- Category
- Security
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- 8-10+ years in security, IT, or compliance roles, including owning a security/compliance function end-to-end at a fast-growing SaaS or tech company
- Proven experience building or scaling a security/compliance program from an early stage, ideally as sole/founding owner
- Deep, hands-on expertise across SOC 2, the ISO 27000 series, and ideally ISO 42001
- Strong grounding in core IT security fundamentals: identity & access management, endpoint/device security, cloud or network infrastructure security
- Practical, working knowledge of GDPR and related privacy regulation (ePrivacy or similar)
- Experience presenting security posture, risk, and roadmap to executives, boards, or investors
- Experience building and/or managing a team
- Comfortable owning budget and vendor decisions at a strategic level
- Strong cross-functional operator and executive communicator, bridging Security, IT, Legal/Privacy, Engineering, and GTM
Nice to have
- Prior experience as Head of Security, Director of Security/IT, or similar senior leadership title
- Relevant certifications such as CISSP/ISC2, CISM, AIGP, CIPP/E, CIPT, CCSK, or FIP
- Experience in legal tech, AI, or another highly regulated SaaS environment
- Experience designing AI risk or impact-assessment processes from scratch
- Familiarity with tools such as Datagrail, MineOS, Whistic, or SafeBase
Full description
GRC LeadEdinburghWordsmith
Wordsmith is building the AI-enabled command centre for in-house legal teams.
Our customers are some of the most demanding enterprise legal departments in the world, and they hold us to a high bar on security, privacy, and responsible AI.
We're looking for a senior leader to take ownership of security and compliance as we scale.
The Role
GRC Leads own security and compliance at Wordsmith end-to-end — setting the strategy for IT and infrastructure security, running our certification program across SOC 2, ISO 27001, and ISO 42001, embedding responsible-AI practices into how we build and ship product, and making sure privacy and regulatory obligations (GDPR and beyond) are handled properly as we grow.
This is a senior role that blends strategy and hands-on execution. You'll set multi-year direction, represent Wordsmith's security posture to executives, customers, and — as we grow — the board, and build the team, tooling, and controls the company needs at the next stage, not just maintain what exists today.
What You'll DoSecurity Strategy & Leadership
- Own Wordsmith's multi-year IT security and compliance roadmap — setting priorities, budget, and tooling decisions in partnership with Engineering and company leadership.
IT & Infrastructure Security
- Own security architecture across corporate IT and infrastructure — identity & access management, endpoint protection, and cloud/network security — and lead incident response when issues arise.
Compliance & Certification
- Own SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001/27017/27018, and ISO 42001 end-to-end — policies, controls, audit evidence, and the audits themselves.
AI Governance
- Run our AI governance program, including AI Impact Assessments and model/AI-vendor risk reviews, ensuring responsible, compliant AI use across the product.
Privacy Operations
- Own privacy operations end-to-end — GDPR and other regulatory obligations, DPIAs, RoPA maintenance, sub-processor management, and Data Subject Request fulfilment.
Third-Party & Vendor Risk
- Assess vendors and AI tools for security, privacy, and AI risk before they're adopted, and put the right contractual safeguards in place at a program level.
Team & Function Building
- Build the people, process, and tooling the function needs as it scales — starting as the senior owner of the program today, with a mandate to build out a team as Wordsmith grows.
Executive & Board Reporting
- Own risk and compliance reporting to leadership and, as we scale, the board — translating technical risk into business terms.