EMEA Assurance Lead

Scale is powering the generative AI wave by providing the data and infrastructure for companies to build large-scale foundation models. AI is rapidly changing the world, and Scale is growing to meet that rapid demand across global markets, including accelerating public sector business across EMEA.

Scale seeks an EMEA Assurance Lead to drive assurance programs across Scale's EMEA public sector and commercial business. Reporting to the Head of Global Assurance, this is a hands-on individual contributor role with significant autonomy. You will independently design and own EMEA-specific controls within Scale's global assurance framework, while staying tightly aligned with the global controls library and reporting cadences. You will be part of the global GRC team and work across Global Public Sector, Enterprise, Security, Engineering, Product, and Legal to deliver region-specific authorizations, certifications, and customer assurance outcomes across EMEA, with a focus on the GCC, UK, and EU markets.

You Will

• Lead region-specific assurance programs across the GCC and UK, including Qatar NCSA National Information Assurance (NIA), KSA NCA Essential Cybersecurity Controls (ECC), UAE DESC Information Security Regulation (ISR), and UK Cyber Essentials Plus, Defence Cyber Certification (DCC), and NCSC Secure by Design (SdB). You will own controls mapping, evidence collection, gap analysis, certification timelines, and submission management for each, working with accredited external assessors where required.
• Work with the global GRC team to maintain and renew Scale's existing certifications and obtain new ones, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, and ISO 9001. You will also own their extension to EMEA and international operations, including for NATO-aligned defence tenders.
• Design and maintain EMEA-specific controls, adapting Scale's global controls framework to sovereign regulatory and customer requirements, including data residency and sector-specific requirements (e.g., health sector), identifying where existing controls satisfy local standards and where new controls or evidence artifacts are needed.
• Set priorities and operating cadences for EMEA assurance workflows, including intake, evidence collection, control owner follow-up, remediation tracking, and deadline management, reporting progress through Scale's global assurance dashboards.
• Support EMEA public sector customer assurance activities, including security questionnaires, compliance due diligence responses, customer-facing assurance discussions, and compliance input to bid and capture processes where assurance readiness is a procurement gate.
• Partner with Legal on EMEA contract-driven assurance obligations, data protection and AI governance compliance intersections (e.g., GDPR, Qatar PDPPL, EU AI Act), and sensitive escalations involving sovereign regulators.
• Manage relationships with EMEA-based external auditors, assessors, certification bodies, and regulatory counterparts.
• Support internal and external audits across EMEA and report into the Head of Global Assurance on program health, key risks, certification timelines, and regional regulatory developments.

Ideally, You’d Have

• 7+ years of experience in cybersecurity compliance, GRC, public sector assurance, IT audit, cloud security, or related roles, with meaningful exposure to EMEA markets.
• Experience executing government or public sector assurance programs in the UK, EU, or GCC, including working with external certification bodies, government assessors, or authorizing officials.
• Deep familiarity with one or more of: UK Cyber Essentials/Cyber Essentials+, ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO 42001, SOC 2, or equivalent frameworks, and with sovereign security regimes in the GCC (e.g., Qatar NCSA NIA, KSA SCCC/NCA, UAE DESC/NESA).
• Familiarity with relevant EMEA data protection and AI governance requirements (e.g., GDPR, PDPPL, EU AI Act) and how they translate into technical and organisational controls.
• Experience managing controls mapping, evidence collection, remediation tracking, and audit coordination across distributed engineering and infrastructure teams.
• Experience with cloud environments (one or more of: AWS, Azure, GCP) and the ability to assess cloud architecture against compliance requirements.
• Strong communication skills, sound judgment on escalation, and the ability to operate autonomously in a region while maintaining alignment with a global program.

Nice to Have

• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CISA, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, ISO 42001 Internal Auditor, or CCSP.
• Experience with NATO information assurance standards or defence procurement prerequisites.
• Familiarity with EMEA health-sector or medical-device regulatory requirements, particularly in the GCC and the UK.
• Working knowledge of Arabic.
• UK SC or DV clearance, or eligibility for equivalent EMEA government security clearances.
• Experience at a Big 4 firm or in a high-growth technology company.

For those applying based in Qatar: Residency and employment in Qatar requires certain permissions (visa and permits) issued by the Qatari authorities. As part of the application process, candidates will be asked to provide personal information, including residency status and nationality, which is required for visa processing. This information is collected solely for immigration compliance purposes and will be not used as a criterion in any hiring decision unless such use is lawfully permitted. Visa issuance is at the discretion of the Qatari authorities. If you are successful in your application, you will be required to provide the documentation requested by Scale and the authorities to obtain the necessary permissions for you to live and work in Qatar, and Scale will work with successful candidates to support the visa application process.