This is Part 3 of our series on selecting fractional CISOs. Part 1 and Part 2 covered evaluating experience, program-building skills, cultural change capabilities, and threat response experience. Now we’ll focus on avoiding common pitfalls, making the final decision, and ensuring your F-CISO succeeds.

With the evaluation framework from our previous posts, you’re ready to make informed decisions about F-CISO candidates. However, knowing what to avoid is just as important as knowing what to look for. The wrong choice can set your security program back months and create organizational resistance, making future efforts more difficult.

Red Flags and Reference Checks

Avoid candidates who focus primarily on technology solutions rather than organizational change. If their first response to your security challenges involves buying tools, they may not understand the cultural transformation required. Similarly, candidates who can’t articulate how their previous programs improved business outcomes, such as reduced downtime, faster product delivery, improved customer trust, or better regulatory compliance, will likely struggle with the business integration that makes security programs successful.

Watch for candidates who seem uncomfortable with the temporary nature of the role or lack a clear transition plan. The F-CISO who wants to become your permanent CISO may not have the right incentives for building a program that enables someone else’s success. Be wary of those who focus on their own achievements rather than organizational outcomes, or who can’t provide specific references from previous engagements.

Questions to Ask References

The best F-CISOs leave behind well-documented programs, trained teams, and clear roadmaps for continued development. When checking references, focus on outcomes rather than activities.

Ask:

• Did they build lasting programs or just implement point solutions?
• What did the organization look like after they left?
• Can the permanent CISO who followed speak to the foundation the candidate built?

Understand their change management approach.

Ask:

• How did they handle internal resistance?
• What was their relationship with the CEO and other executives?
• Did they build consensus or create conflict?

Most important, ask about knowledge transfer:

• How did they document their work?
• What training did they provide?
• How smooth was the transition to permanent leadership (if appropriate)?

F-CISO Engagement Options

Consider whether you want an individual consultant or a firm-based approach. Individual consultants may offer more personal attention and direct access, but firms provide broader expertise, scalability and continuity if your primary consultant becomes unavailable.

Whichever route you choose, ensure they have a clear methodology for program construction, with defined phases, deliverables, and success criteria. The best F-CISOs bring proven frameworks adapted to your specific needs rather than starting from scratch.

Decision Framework

An increased supply of candidates offers the chance to be more discerning and find F-CISOs who might not have been available in tighter employment conditions. Senior security leaders who are between full-time roles may be willing to take on fractional engagements that provide meaningful challenges and competitive compensation.

However, remember that the best candidates are still selective and evaluate you as much as you’re considering them. They want to know if your organization is committed to the cultural transformation required for security program success.

Your selection should balance technical expertise with business acumen, cultural fit with transformation capability, and industry knowledge with change management skills. The ideal candidate brings deep technical understanding, program creation experience, and organizational change management capabilities; the rare combination that drives successful Stage One execution.

Consider creating a scoring framework that weights different criteria based on your specific needs. A company facing immediate regulatory scrutiny might prioritize compliance experience. An organization with recent security incidents might emphasize incident response and forensic capabilities. A rapidly growing company might focus on scalable program design and team-building experience.

Most importantly, ensure alignment between your F-CISO candidate and your senior leadership. Without this fundamental relationship, even the most qualified candidate will fail. The CEO and other senior leaders must be prepared to provide vocal support, a clear vision, and consistent backing for the required cultural changes.

Position for Success

Once you’ve identified your F-CISO, there are key ways to set them up for success:

Structural Support: Your F-CISO needs the vocal support of the CEO, COO, and CFO through regular communication at All-Hands meetings, board sessions, executive leadership meetings, and departmental lead meetings. Without this visible support, the F-CISO will be perceived as an outsider making suggestions rather than an executive implementing CEO priorities. They will struggle to carry out the cultural transformation work that makes the strategy successful.

Program Building vs. Day-to-Day Operations: Establish clear boundaries and mutual commitment to a fixed six-to-12-month period focused on structural changes. If your F-CISO is constantly in meetings addressing tactical problems, entangled in internal intrigue, and fighting daily fires, they’re not building the foundational program you need.

Success Metrics and Timeline Management: What does “program built” look like? How will you measure the cultural transformation? Your F-CISO should present clear milestones, technical and cultural metrics, transition plans, and knowledge transfer processes that enable sustainable long-term security program execution.

The Bottom Line

The fractional CISO strategy works when you find the right candidate and structure the engagement appropriately. Focus on proven program builders with relevant industry experience, specific threat expertise, and demonstrated ability to drive cultural change. Avoid the common pitfalls of inadequate support and scope creep. Most importantly, remember that this is Stage One of a three-stage process designed to set up your permanent CISO for long-term success.

The right F-CISO creates a program that attracts better permanent candidates, reduces their ramp-up time, and enables faster progress toward advanced security capabilities. This isn’t a cost-cutting exercise; it’s a strategic investment in your permanent CISO’s success.

This post is one of four on selecting and deploying F-CISOs.

In the precursor to three installments on Selecting a F-CISO, Strategic Deployment of a Fractional CISO, we discuss how best to deploy a Fractional CISO.

In the first installment on Selecting a F-CISO, we cover evaluating experience and program-building skills.

In the second installment on Selecting a F-CISO, we explore how to evaluate a candidate’s ability to drive cultural transformation and their real-world experience managing security incidents and threats that are most relevant to your organization.

In the third installment on Selecting a F-CISO, we cover the red flags to avoid, how to structure the engagement, and key strategies for setting your F-CISO up for success once you’ve made your selection.