RED SKY Solutions
Cybersecurity talent solutions for the roles you cannot get wrong.
Executive placement, precision staffing, professional services and SOW, and AI talent and strategy. Four practices, one firm, and one vetting standard behind every placement we make. 8 of the Fortune 10 and more than half of the Fortune 100 already trust us with those hires.
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Where to start
Every engagement starts with a problem. These are the four we hear most often.
Each one has a defined route, a defined proof stack, and a team that has already run it at Fortune scale. Find the one that sounds like this quarter.
The seat at the top is open, and the search cannot become public.
A CISO leaves suddenly and the market reads the vacancy as instability. We run the search confidentially, drawing on relationships built over 18 years rather than a job board and an inbox.
Cybersecurity executive placement 02The roadmap is approved. The team that delivers it is not built.
Approved headcount that sits unfilled stops being defensible budget. We cover direct hire, contract, and contract-to-hire across cybersecurity, IT, and AI, with a 14 to 25 day submittal-to-hire window.
Cybersecurity staffing solutions 03The program is stalled, and adding headcount will not restart it.
An identity rollout stops at the last mile, or a compliance deadline lands ahead of the roadmap. We deliver the outcome under a statement of work, staffed by practitioners who have shipped that build before.
Professional services and SOW 04AI reached the board agenda before anyone was given ownership of it.
The mandate exists, the budget is provisional, and the org chart has no room for it yet. We place the people who will own it and help shape the operating model around them.
AI talent acquisition and strategyThe four solutions
Four solutions. One vetting standard.
We run all four practices in house, so the executive who sets the strategy, the practitioners who execute it, and the team that hardens the environment all clear the same bar before they reach you.
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01 Executive Placement
Executive Placement
When the CISO, CIO, CTO, or CAIO seat is open, the cost of a wrong hire is measured in years, not weeks. We run retained and confidential search for senior cybersecurity, IT, and AI leadership, and we go find the person who is not applying anywhere.
- CISO, CIO, CTO, and CAIO search
- Confidential and retained mandates
- VP and Director security leadership
- Board advisory and interim coverage
- Direct access to passive candidates
- Searches average 51 days from kickoff to placement, inside a 42 to 51 day range.
- Technical depth and boardroom credibility are assessed separately, and both are reported.
- 84% of permanent placements are still in seat at eighteen months.
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02 Precision Staffing
Precision Staffing Solutions
Your usual vendors keep sending unvetted resumes and the requisition is still open. We cover direct hire, contract, and contract-to-hire across cybersecurity, IT, and AI, and every candidate arrives screened against the stack the role will actually inherit.
- Direct hire on a contingency basis
- Contract and time-and-materials resources
- Contract-to-hire with conversion at your call
- SOC analysts through security architects
- Cloud, identity, network, and AI practitioners
- 58% of contract submissions reach interview, against an industry baseline near 10%.
- 69% of our contractors are extended past their original end date.
- Every candidate clears the same standard we apply to executive search.
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03 Professional Services
Professional Services and SOW
Some problems do not resolve with another requisition. When an identity program stalls or an assessment deadline arrives ahead of the roadmap, we deliver the outcome under a statement of work and carry the delivery risk with it.
- IAM and PAM: SailPoint, Okta, CyberArk, ForgeRock, Ping
- vCISO as a service and security roadmapping
- Cloud security across AWS, Azure, GCP, and IBM
- Vulnerability management and penetration testing
- NIST, ISO, PCI, HIPAA, HITRUST, GDPR, and CCPA
- Scoped as a statement of work with named deliverables and a fixed outcome.
- Staffed by practitioners, not generalists waiting on a bench.
- Hands cleanly to your team at close, or stays on as managed support.
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04 AI Talent and Strategy
AI Talent and Strategy
AI reached the board agenda faster than most enterprises could draw an org chart for it. We place the people who will own the function, from Chief AI Officer down to the engineers who ship, and we help shape the operating model and governance that keep the program defensible.
- Chief AI Officer and Head of AI search
- AI, ML, and data science engineering placement
- AI operating model and team design
- AI governance, risk, and secure adoption
- Data platform and MLOps talent
- Search and strategy run as one engagement, or entirely separately.
- AI leadership is assessed for security literacy, not only model fluency.
- Team design is mapped before the first requisition opens.
How engagements work
Procurement asks a different question. Here is the answer, before the call.
Four commercial models cover nearly every engagement we run. Each carries a different risk profile, timeline, and invoicing structure. Take this to your sourcing team.
| Model | Best for | How it is priced | What RED SKY carries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retained search | Confidential and executive mandates where the seat cannot stay open | Staged fee against agreed compensation | Dedicated search team, full market map, confidentiality end to end |
| Contingency search | Direct-hire roles where speed matters more than exclusivity | Fee on placement only, nothing before | All search cost until the candidate signs |
| Contract and contract-to-hire | Project surges, backfills, and evaluating a hire before converting | Hourly, time and materials | Employer of record, payroll, compliance, and insurance |
| Statement of work | Defined outcomes: IAM builds, vCISO retainers, assessments, testing | Fixed fee or milestone based, against a scoped deliverable | Delivery risk, project management, and named senior practitioners |
If the shape of the engagement is still unclear, describe the outcome you need and we will map it to a model on the first call.
Scope an engagementThe Triton vetting process
The same standard behind every placement we make.
A confidential CISO search and a ninety-day contract backfill run through the same four steps. Triton is our proprietary vetting process, and it is the reason our placements hold rather than churn.
Map
The market, the competitor set, and the compensation reality for the role as it actually exists, not as the job description describes it.
Qualify
Technical depth verified by practitioners, against the stack the role will inherit. Identity and employment history verified before any submission.
Pressure-test
Leadership, communication, and how the candidate performs when the answer is not clean. Scenario work rather than certification counting.
Match
Culture, reporting line, and the conditions the candidate needs in order to stay. Our permanent placements average more than four years in seat.
In their words
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“The process was streamlined. You understood our business needs, partnered with us, and you delivered top executive and non-executive level talent. I’ve worked with staffing firms all over North America; you’ve certainly demonstrated that you’re a leader.”
Senior Executive Global technology company
Industry context
The same solution behaves differently in a bank than it does in a hospital.
Regulatory pressure, clearance requirements, and the shape of the threat all change what the right candidate means. We map the solution to the sector before the first search opens.
Financial services
Financial Services
Regulatory pressure, identity governance, and third-party risk.
Cybersecurity staffing for financial services
Healthcare
Healthcare
HIPAA and HITRUST readiness, clinical data, ransomware exposure.
Cybersecurity staffing for healthcare
Technology
Technology
Product security velocity and scarce senior engineering talent.
Cybersecurity staffing for technology
Public sector and defense
Public Sector & Defense
Clearance requirements, FedRAMP, and CMMC readiness.
Cybersecurity staffing for public sector and defense
Energy and critical infrastructure
Energy & Critical Infrastructure
OT security, NERC-CIP, and the convergence of physical and cyber.
Cybersecurity staffing for energy and critical infrastructure
Retail and consumer
Retail & Consumer
PCI scope, payment security, and brand exposure at scale.
Cybersecurity staffing for retail and consumer
Questions buyers ask
Before the first call.
What is the difference between executive placement and precision staffing?
Executive placement is retained or confidential search for leadership: CISO, CIO, CTO, CAIO, VP, and Director. It runs as a dedicated search with a market map and a defined shortlist, and it averages 51 days from kickoff to placement.
Precision staffing covers everything below that line, on direct hire, contract, or contract-to-hire terms, and optimizes for speed and coverage. Many clients run both at once. See executive placement and precision staffing.
Does RED SKY only work in cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity is the specialization. IT and AI are the adjacent practices, and in most enterprises the three now share the same leadership, the same budget line, and the same risk register. We cover all three and we do not staff outside them.
How quickly can candidates be delivered?
Across precision staffing roles the submittal-to-hire window is 14 to 25 days. Executive searches run longer because market mapping and confidentiality both take time, and they average 51 days from kickoff to placement inside a 42 to 51 day range.
Speed comes from the pre-vetted network rather than from lowering the bar. 58% of our contract submissions reach interview, against an industry baseline near 10%.
What happens if a placement does not work out?
Direct-hire placements are backed by a placement guarantee. HOLD: replacement window, terms, and exclusions require Sean's confirmation before this answer publishes.
For context on how rarely it comes up: 84% of our permanent placements are still in seat at eighteen months, and the average placement lasts more than four years.
Can RED SKY deliver an outcome rather than people?
Yes. Professional services and SOW engagements are scoped against a deliverable: an IAM or PAM implementation, a vCISO retainer, a NIST or ISO assessment, a penetration test. The commercial model is fixed fee or milestone based, and we carry the delivery risk. See professional services and SOW.
How does RED SKY vet candidates before they reach us?
Every candidate runs through Triton, our proprietary vetting process. Identity and employment history are verified before submission, technical depth is checked by practitioners against the stack the role will inherit, and leadership is pressure-tested with scenario work rather than certification counting. Read how the Triton vetting process works.
Does RED SKY work outside the United States?
Yes. We already go where our clients go: LATAM, Central and Eastern Europe, the UK and Ireland, India, APAC, and MENA. The same team and the same contingency model extend unchanged. HOLD: publishes only once /global/ is signed off. If declined, delete this question.
For hiring leaders
Describe the role. We will tell you honestly whether it can be filled.
Bring a requisition, a stalled program, or a seat that has been open too long. The first conversation is a scoping call, not a pitch.
For candidates
Your search stays yours.
Confidential representation, direct access to mandates that never reach a job board, and a recruiter who has worked your stack. Know someone else who would be a fit? Our referral program pays up to $2,500 per successful placement.