Scaling Wealthtech Start-Up (London)

Sourcing a Senior Cyber Security Analyst and BI Manager to Strengthen a Scaling Cloud-Based Investment Platform

The Challenge

Our client was a London-based Wealthtech start-up building a cloud platform that enabled wealth managers and financial advisors to deliver real-time portfolio insights, automate compliance processes, and improve client outcomes. The business was scaling fast and needed two hires at once: a Senior Cyber Security Analyst to protect a platform handling sensitive financial data, and a BI Manager to turn that data into something their clients could act on.

Neither role was straightforward. The client had not recruited at this level before and had no internal process for assessing candidates in either discipline. They also had a brand recognition problem. In London, a Wealthtech start-up that most candidates have never heard of is competing for cyber security talent against established banks, consultancies, and insurers, and for BI capability against data-rich FinTechs with stronger employer brands and deeper pockets. Convincing the right people to back an early-stage business requires the opportunity to be positioned with precision and credibility, not just advertised.

They came to Xist4 to run both searches and to help them navigate an assessment process they were doing for the first time.

The Solution

Xist4 ran two parallel searches, each treated as its own focused campaign with its own candidate pool, timeline, and positioning.

• Worked with the leadership team to build distinct success profiles for both roles, defining the technical requirements, seniority expectations, and what good would look like in practice for a business at this stage of growth.
• Combined targeted job board advertising with direct outreach to passive candidates across cyber security, cloud security, financial data, and business intelligence communities.
• Positioned both roles around the growth trajectory of the business and the influence each hire would have, giving candidates a reason to take the opportunity seriously despite the firm’s limited public profile.
• Screened the Cyber Security Analyst candidates on cloud security depth, financial platform experience, and compliance awareness relevant to a regulated environment.
• Screened BI Manager candidates on data visualisation capability, experience with financial datasets, and the ability to build reporting infrastructure in a fast-moving, under-resourced environment.
• Supported the client through the assessment and decision process for both roles, helping them evaluate candidates confidently given their limited prior experience hiring at this level.

The Result

Xist4 placed the Senior Cyber Security Analyst within eight weeks and the BI Manager within six. Both offers went to the client’s first choice candidate.

The Cyber Security Analyst brought extensive experience securing cloud-based platforms and managing financial compliance risk. The BI Manager had a strong track record designing data visualisation dashboards and delivering portfolio performance insights. Together they gave the business the security and analytical foundations it needed to scale with more confidence. For a start-up hiring at this level for the first time, getting both right mattered more than getting them fast. Getting both right and fast was the outcome.