Head of Information Security

About Scorewarrior

Scorewarrior is an independent game studio with a single mission: to excite and unite players all over the world. For over 10 years we've been pursuing it through Total Battle — a product we continue to actively and successfully grow. We're a team of 230 self-motivated professionals who know and love their craft, and we've recently begun an active company-wide adoption of AI tools.

Our home is a great office in Limassol, Cyprus. We offer a strong relocation package for you and your family, and we put real effort into making life on the island genuinely varied and interesting.

Location & format: Onsite — Limassol, Cyprus

Full relocation support provided

The mission of this role

To build a viable, right-sized security system for Scorewarrior — one that protects what actually matters without slowing the company down — and to own it end-to-end: from diagnosis and strategy to implementation, team, and culture.

Key objectives

• Build a viable security system across the core domains: IAM (access management, MFA, SSO), infrastructure security (cloud, services, network), foundational SDLC/AppSec (security in the development process and in the code), and the processes and training around them. We expect you to start with a proper diagnosis of our landscape — and design the system for this company, rather than replaying a project from a previous job.

• Own security risks and speak both languages: business language with the CTO and CEO — risk, cost, and priorities; technology language with developers and infrastructure teams — architecture, trade-offs, and practical solutions.

• Make the right build-vs-buy calls: you know the security product market well enough to tell when a problem needs a tool, when a simpler method will do, and when the problem isn't in the tooling at all — it's in habits and heads.

• Introduce security as a partner, not a blocker: embed baseline practices so smoothly that teams barely notice them; for everything on top of that — inform, help when asked, and don't push when it's not the team's priority right now.

• Define how AI tools are used safely: own the policy and guardrails for the company-wide adoption of AI tools — what data can go where, and how teams can use them productively without creating new risks.

• Build the team: hire the first security engineers deliberately — knowing who you're hiring and why — and grow the function as the company's needs grow.

Job requirements

• 8+ years of hands-on experience in security — real projects you designed, implemented, and stayed around long enough to see working. At the interview, we'll ask about specific cases, decisions, and their consequences — not about frameworks in theory.

• A background that gave you real systems experience. Two paths work equally well for us: a stable security engineering career from university onwards, or a transition into security from system administration, technical support, or network engineering. What matters is the result — you understand infrastructure and architecture from the inside, not from diagrams.

• Proven experience hiring and building a team — even a small one (2+ people). What matters is that it was deliberate: you can explain who you hired, why them, and how the team was structured around the actual problems.

• Experience building a security function, not just running one. You've taken security in an organization from an unclear state to a working system: assessed the landscape, set priorities, chose what to implement and what to skip — and can show what changed as a result.

• Strong awareness of the security product market. You can tell when a problem needs a tool, when a simpler method will do, and when the problem is in habits rather than tooling — and you have real examples of each call.

• A partner's operating style. You work through engineering teams, not above them: no separate authority demands, no blocking by default. Your practices get adopted because they make sense, not because they're mandatory.

• English and Russian language at least B2 level or higher.

Nice to have

• Experience in companies closest to our context: B2C products, SaaS platforms, gamedev, or mobile apps, with company size up to 1,000 people.

• Experience working with external security providers.

• Familiarity with common security frameworks.

• Experience being the first or founding security hire in a company.

Who this role is NOT for

We believe in being upfront about fit. This role is probably not for you if:

• Your recent years were mostly about policies, reports, and committees — and real systems are something you haven't touched in a long time.

• Your default operating mode is hierarchy: separate authority, mandatory sign-offs, and blocking by default.

• You have a proven security project you replay at every company, regardless of its actual context and needs.

• Building and leading a team is something you'd rather avoid — hiring is a core part of this role, not an add-on.

What success looks like

In the first months, success means a clear diagnosis: you understand our landscape, know where the real risks are, and have a plan the CTO believes in — built for this company, not imported from a previous one.

Further on, success means the security system is quietly working: baseline practices are embedded so smoothly that teams barely notice them, access and infrastructure are demonstrably better protected, and teams come to security for help rather than hide from it.

And success means the function is growing deliberately: the first security engineers are hired, you can explain why each of them, and the team is structured around our actual problems — not around an org chart.

Why join Scorewarrior?

• A Great Place to Work. 99% employee satisfaction, low turnover, and colleagues who genuinely enjoy collaborating.

• Live and work in sunny Cyprus. We’re an office-first team in Limassol with a modern seaside workspace, and full relocation and visa support for you and your family.

• Shape a global hit. We’re the only European studio with a 4X strategy title in the world’s top-10. Our top-50 mobile game has grown 25x in revenue and audience in the last five years.

• Grow fast in a company that’s already strong. We’re independent, financially rock-solid, and expanding at startup speed, and we have never had lay-offs.

• Work where ideas win. Flat structure, collective decision-making, and honest feedback create full transparency and help you grow fast.

• Earn industry-leading rewards. High salaries, a 13th month, performance bonuses, and extra rewards for long service, marriage, or welcoming a child, and lunch every day.

• Feel supported at every stage of life. Private family health insurance, plus a monthly allowance for children’s pre-school, school, and university education.

• Your growth is our priority. From specialized training and certifications to language courses and books, you’ll have everything you need to keep learning.