Chief Innovation Officer - CINO

Chief Innovation Officer (CINO)

Location: Silicon Valley, CA (Hybrid Preferred)

Industry: Biometric Security / Enterprise AI

Employment Type: Full-Time

Seniority Level: Executive

Compensation: ~$325K

Position Overview

The Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) will be the visionary force behind the company’s long-term innovation strategy. This is not a role for incremental thinkers—it is for a technologist who sets trends rather than follows them. The CINO will operate at the intersection of emerging technology, strategic foresight, and customer needs, guiding everything from frontier R&D to product commercialization.

You will own the 3–10 year innovation roadmap and lead initiatives spanning biometric identity, secure hardware, edge AI, privacy-preserving technologies, and next-generation authentication systems. This executive function will ensure the company remains decades ahead in a market where trust, performance, and privacy are mission-critical.

This is a rare opportunity to pioneer the next generation of privacy-first, hardware-integrated, AI-driven security systems for the world’s most sensitive environments.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Innovation Leadership

• Own and lead the company’s long-term innovation strategy (3–10 years) across AI, edge computing, biometrics, and privacy technologies.
• Shape the future of secure identity and AI-driven access control systems.
• Anticipate and evaluate emerging industry, regulatory, and technology trends (GDPR, FedRamp, FedGov requirements, etc.).

R&D and Technology Commercialization

• Drive advanced R&D initiatives across hardware and software platforms.
• Source, prototype, and test novel technologies (AI for security, privacy-preserving ML, multimodal authentication, decentralized identity, etc.).
• Translate early-stage concepts into commercially viable products.

Cross-Functional Innovation Execution

• Partner closely with Engineering, Product, and Sales to validate and operationalize new platforms and features.
• Incubate new product lines and identify expansion opportunities in government, fintech, healthcare, and critical infrastructure.

External Innovation Ecosystem

• Build and manage innovation pipelines through industry events, thought leadership, academic collaborations, startup scouting, and joint ventures.
• Engage with standards bodies (ISO, NIST, FIDO), policy organizations, and research institutions.

Culture & Leadership

• Foster a culture of bold, fast experimentation and high-fidelity iteration across teams.
• Lead cross-functional innovation programs, workshops, and prototype cycles.

Qualifications

Required

• 10 years in product innovation, advanced R&D, or technology strategy within security, biometrics, or AI domains.
• Executive leadership experience in scaling tech companies (startup or growth-stage preferred).
• Deep understanding of hardware/software convergence, edge AI, secure embedded systems.
• Proven track record in commercializing innovative products or patents in security/biometrics.
• Strong cross-functional leadership across engineering, design, product, and go-to-market teams.
• Familiarity with privacy, encryption, authentication protocols, and regulatory trends.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field (MS/PhD preferred).

Bonus Skills

• Hands-on experience with AI/ML model development for biometrics, facial recognition, or behavior analytics.
• Patent portfolio in biometrics, computer vision, or secure identity.
• Experience working with hyperscale data centers, federal agencies, or enterprise security customers.
• Exposure to standards bodies, security frameworks, and public policy.