Executive Search Success Story: Securing a Chief Information Security Officer to Unify Enterprise and Operational Technology Security for a Global Industrial Manufacturer

How JRG Partners executed a confidential North American executive search that equipped a publicly traded global industrial manufacturer with a Chief Information Security Officer and security leadership required to extend security beyond enterprise IT to plant-floor operational technology across thirty facilities, address board and customer concerns following industry ransomware events, and build a converged security program meeting emerging regulatory and customer requirements.

The Challenge

A publicly traded global industrial manufacturer had a mature enterprise IT security program, but its thirty plants ran industrial control systems and operational technology with little security oversight, flat networks connecting plant floors to corporate systems, and aging equipment that could not be patched. Ransomware attacks that had halted production at industry peers prompted the board to demand an operational technology security strategy, major customers began requiring security assurances across the supply chain, and the incumbent CISO, an enterprise IT specialist, was retiring. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the company:

• Thirty plants with industrial control systems and operational technology outside the security program’s scope
• Flat networks connecting plant floors to corporate systems, creating ransomware pathways to production
• A retiring CISO with enterprise IT expertise and no operational technology background
• Board demands for an operational technology security strategy following peer production outages
• Major customers requiring supply chain security assurances and emerging regulatory requirements for critical manufacturing
• Plant leadership wary of security controls that might disrupt production

Recognizing that the succession required a converged security leader, the CEO, CIO, and board engaged JRG Partners to recruit a Chief Information Security Officer, supported by a Director of Operational Technology Security and a Director of Global Security Operations. The company required an executive search partner with deep industrial expertise and access to security leaders who had built operational technology security programs across global manufacturing footprints.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

CISO and Security Leadership Search Specialization

JRG Partners maintains a dedicated practice for Chief Information Security Officer searches, with a proven methodology for evaluating candidates on converged IT and operational technology security, global program leadership, board communication, and the operational judgment to secure production without disrupting it.

Industrial and Operational Technology Expertise

Our team has extensive experience recruiting security and technology leaders for manufacturers and critical infrastructure companies, with a clear understanding of industrial control systems, plant-floor network architecture, and the collaboration with operations leadership that operational technology security requires.

Public Company Succession Experience

Our firm has extensive experience managing executive successions for publicly traded companies, with a clear understanding of board cyber risk governance, disclosure considerations, and investor expectations for security leadership.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Security Posture & Succession Review

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, CIO, board risk committee, COO, and retiring CISO to review enterprise and operational technology security posture, plant network architecture, customer and regulatory requirements, and succession timing. This review defined a CISO profile combining operational technology security leadership, global program convergence, and board-level credibility.

Phase 2 — Talent Identification & Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting chief information security officers and senior security leaders at industrial manufacturers, critical infrastructure operators, and energy and utility companies who had built documented operational technology security programs. Over 260 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to leaders with a documented history of securing industrial control systems across multi-plant footprints, segmenting plant networks without production disruption, converging IT and operational technology security operations, meeting customer and regulatory security requirements, and partnering with plant leadership. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Selection Process

Finalists presented a converged security strategy to the CEO, CIO, board risk committee, and operations leadership, completed structured leadership assessments, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified operational technology security and program outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 260+ industrial and critical infrastructure security executive profiles mapped across North America.
• Placed an operational technology-experienced CISO in 52 days with a structured succession.
• Deployed operational technology security across thirty plants within eighteen months with no production disruption.
• Segmented plant networks from corporate systems, eliminating ransomware pathways to production.
• Unified enterprise and operational technology security under one global operations capability.
• Satisfied major customer supply chain security requirements and established converged board reporting.