Ellen Benaim
CISO
Templafy

(5.0)
Review

Awards:

  • Top Women Leaders Europe 2021

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Profile

Ellen joined Templafy in 2020 as Chief Information Security Officer. Templafy is a fast-growing B2B Software-as-a-Service company, helping over 2 million users improve productivity, branding, and compliance across business documents, presentations, and emails.


Previously, she was a Chairperson at BIS Society, University College Cork and before that a Information Security Intern at Hudson Advisors L.P. Earlier in her career she worked with Apple as a Technical Advisor.


She graduated from University College Cork with an undergraduate degree in Business Information Systems.


Reviews

66 COMMENTS


  1. Upon receiving this nomination, I reflected upon the last few months and why I could receive this humbling nomination and came upon a few points. Being a leader in a small sized enterprise means you are constantly being looked at for inspiration. I exemplify Templafy’s culture by being professional, humble, people centric and ambitious. I have taken the lead as ”Corona officer” in addition to my normal responsibilities. I was elected to make the hard decisions to shut down offices, implement travel restrictions on business travel because of my risk averse nature, always considering the impact towards our employees and responsibility in the wider fight in the pandemic. In these situations it is important to have integrity, in order for the whole organization to trust your judgement. That is helped by consistently keeping my word and keeping clear and honest communication lines with whomever needs it. My main responsibilities are designing and implementing a corporate-wide information security governance program to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information assets in Templafy. I have designed an information security program in Templafy from the ground up. In my two years, I have been instrumental in building customer trust in our enterprise grade abilities for both organization and solution, by implementing an information security management system from industry best practices in the right context for Templafy. During this time, I have also built an amazing team of two (and growing) that I would be lost without! I ensure to actively listen and always ready to go the length for my team whatever their needs/situation. I have an honest leadership style, and would not expect something from my team I would not do myself. I am empathetic, and respective to their strengths and motivations to ensure they are ultimately happy to be at Templafy and happy to work every day in the information security team. Achievements: •Bringing Templafy’s security levels up from a start-up phase, through scale up phase which is very process averse, to an enterprise grade level in two years despite having only 1 other team member following industry best practices derived from industry standards ISO 27001, ISO 27005, ISO22301, NIST and GDPR •Achieved a successful no exceptions ISAE3000 report based on the SOC II principles to assure of this new grade of security. •Will achieve ISO27001 certification and SOC II compliance by end of 2020. •Raised compliance levels in Templafy for GDPR and applicable data privacy regulations • Implemented a dynamic risk management approach partnering with business functions to mitigate organizational-wide information security risk • Developed and manage all processes related to data processing and GDPR. • Developed and implemented business continuity program (including disaster recovery for Templafy solution and pandemic response plan) for all office locations • Designed and manage the full incident response program • Conducts security due diligence during all vendor selection and sub-processor assessments • Directly involved in the sales cycle of more than 50+ deals with customer assurance calls, information security requirement fulfilment and contract negotiations • Elevated the security-first culture within Templafy through a comprehensive security awareness program

    Staff, submitted on

  2. Ellen key strength is to keep us all in Templafy safe and confident, elevating our security protocols but mostly as a stable figure for all of us to count on. Ellen is bringing us and our customers to higher standards of security every day. She handles her role and duties with clarity and bring us confidence in new protocols and procedures. I’ve seen her grow in her position since she started at Templafy. She has always taken the new challenges and duties with high professionality and humbleness. She has also always maintained and grown a great care for all of us, while finding her voice to guide us to adopt and comply to new, more secure ways of working. She is always supportive and open to questions and collaboration. She has been so valuable and strong through these Corona times, and has helped us navigate these times with calm and clear messaging.

    Mid-Level Professional, submitted on

  3. Ellen is extremely professional. She’s always ready to help, explain, and answer regardless of her own workload, and without prejudice or negative comments. Despite the nature of her position, she doesn’t want to do security “for the sake of security”. It’s always in the Templafy context, with the customer in mind, and a long term solution that serves as many stakeholders as possible. She demonstrates a good example of not taking things too seriously, even when things get extra busy/stressful. She’s empathetic towards her colleagues in terms of their needs/wants/perspective. In fact she has strong friendships all around the office. Her mind has an impressive built-in project management system that ensures she (1) plans, (2) executes, (3) reviews, and repeats. The recipe for the perfect CISO.

    Staff, submitted on

  4. Ellen is extremely professional. She’s always ready to help, explain, and answer regardless of her own workload, and without prejudice or negative comments. Despite the nature of her position, she doesn’t want to do security “for the sake of security”. It’s always in the Templafy context, with the customer in mind, and a long term solution that serves as many stakeholders as possible. She demonstrates a good example of not taking things too seriously, even when things get extra busy/stressful. She’s empathetic towards her colleagues in terms of their needs/wants/perspective. In fact she has strong friendships all around the office. Her mind has an impressive built-in project management system that ensures she (1) plans, (2) executes, (3) reviews, and repeats. The recipe for the perfect CISO

    Staff, submitted on

  5. Ellen is an excellent communicator both to a general and technical audience. She has established security training programs and continually raises security awareness for all employees at Templafy. On the technical side, Ellen has been pivotal in enabling the engineering department to tackle security vulnerabilities by leading several penetration-testing initiatives and sharing findings with engineers as part of the Security Guild at Templafy. Detail-oriented, highly motivated, and professional when implementing industry standards and best practices. Ellen is very structured and able to manage and successfully execute security initiatives on an organization-wide scale. She is easy to talk to, helpful, humble, and friendly. I am very grateful to be her colleague.

    Staff, submitted on

  6. What makes Ellen a great leader? When Ellen was announced to have accepted the CISO position, already then she had a clear vision in mind for the company. It wasn’t long after we started seeing her realizing the vision and the first fruits of her labor. No task is too small for Ellen, she is always ready to help, very knowledgable, great communicator and extremely professional in all her interactions. Additionally, she’s managed to create a safe environment around her. People feel heard, their points acknowledged and through that she enables them to not only reach their goals but become motivated to take ownership of tasks they didn’t think they could take on. She simply leads by example.

    Staff, submitted on

  7. Ellen Benaim showed and continues showing incredible consistency in her approach to ISO and Security in Templafy. She leads the ISO team with respect and empathy which she also shows to other teams and employees within the organization. She values people’s opinion and remains approachable to us all. She showed great courage and influence when leading the pandemic crisis cell during the past few months with coronavirus, ensuring that all decisions worked in the interest of everyone’s health (mental and physical) and everyone’s safety while ensuring that Templafy was able to proper as a business. I have the utmost respect for her integrity in everything she undertakes.

    Staff, submitted on

  8. She’s always ready to help, explain, and answer regardless of her own workload, and without prejudice or negative comments. Despite the nature of her position, she doesn’t want to do security “for the sake of security”. It’s always in the Templafy context, with the customer in mind, and a long term solution that serves as many stakeholders as possible. She’s empathetic towards her colleagues in terms of their needs/wants/perspective. In fact she has strong friendships all around the office. Her mind has an impressive built-in project management system that ensures she (1) plans, (2) executes, (3) reviews, and repeats. The recipe for the perfect CISO.

    Staff, submitted on

  9. Ellen is a natural leader, she recognizes the path to success with ease and leads the rest of the team every step of the way. She always sets a great example, by working hard, delivering results and being kind with everyone. When a critical crisis moment happens, she always keeps calm, doesn’t panic and, as usual, focuses to drive the right solution. Also, she posses great social skills, very friendly and close to her team, she listens to everyone and gives great feedback that allows her team to develop professionally. She is doing great, and she will keep on this path for sure, because that is how Ellen is!

    Staff, submitted on

  10. Ellen’s professionalism and empathic nature make her the perfect leader to run security at Templafy. She is serious about security, but she delivers her messages with a smile. Ellen always makes time for people; she listens carefully and responds thoughtfully, and has built up immeasurable trust and confidence during her years here, yet she is a remarkably humble person. Ellen has educated the entire company on how to stay secure in a positive manner that has encouraged us to feel proud of knowing and following best practices. In short, Ellen has created an impressive and unique security mindset across the company.

    Staff, submitted on

  11. Ellen is professional, smart, hard working, authentic, and overall an amazing colleague. She’s helped me and the team with complex technical and security protocols, even with an intense workload and time difference (she’s in CPH, I’m in NYC), ultimately putting her colleagues and the business first. She has an amazing welcoming personality and always strives for greatness. Her superb skillset allows her to thrive in our software environment and protects the entire business from a security standpoint. Ellen has been an absolute pleasure to work with.

    Staff, submitted on

  12. Ellen is constantly at the forefront of the technology within the field of IT security. Her way of applying her extencieve theoretical knowledge, always in the Templafy context, to make sure all information assets adn technologies within the company is always adequately protected is outstanding and always with the customer and employees in mind. Furthermore she has found a way to make IT security a topic of interesting throughout the entire organization and inspired us all to not only take the matter seriousley, but also understand why.

    Mid-Level Professional, submitted on

  13. Ellen shows leadership beyond her years and experience. She is a natural leader who executes with integrity, fairness and confidence. She goes above and beyond for her colleagues, the team and organisation and is a trusted advisor to anyone who asks. She has a natural ability to dig deep into the detail while always keeping an eye on the big picture and can very clearly articulate her vision. I can’t recommend her enough and is definitely someone to watch out for as her career naturally progresses.

    Staff, submitted on

  14. Ellen has a deep knowledge and understanding of technology and security. She always acts and responds to any situation in a professional manner and is a true inspiration to anyone in the technology world, especially to women. I worked with Ellen for a year and a half and always trusted that she would make the correct decision in any situation and sincerely admire her work ethic and values. She always made her vision for the company clear and tangible. Ellen is a true asset to any company!

    Staff, submitted on

  15. Ellen is very focused, hard working and dedicated person. Despite her young age Ellen is not fazed by the responsibilities and has strong self believes in her own ability to achieve great things. Ellen developed a clear vision for where she wants the company to be in the field of security and this road map guide her and the team in everyday business. She is a team player and lead by example, both professionally and on the social scene within Templafy.

    Mid-Level Professional, submitted on

  16. Ellen is a rarity in the sense that she has a unique capability for spearheading a department that is not so exciting, yet essential, but makes everyone in the Templafy organization feel excited about security. She is always there to help, and support an initiative that you put forward. She’s level-headed and careful in her recommendations, but doesn’t take herself too seriously. Overall, she is an incredible asset to the Templafy leadership team.

    Mid-Level Professional, submitted on

  17. Ellen is extremely professional, diligent and passionate about what she is doing. Despite the nature of her position, she doesn’t want to do security “for the sake of security”. It’s always in the Templafy context, with the customer in mind, and a long term solution that serves as many stakeholders as possible. Her mind has an impressive built-in project management system that ensures she (1) plans, (2) executes, (3) reviews, and repeats.

    Staff, submitted on

  18. Ellen is always ready to help, regardless of the request. She has extensive knowledge in her field and is able to use this knowledge and share it with everyone in the company. Ellen is part of every key deal within Templafy and assists our colleagues and clients with any question or request. She is responsible and always has a positive attitude. In Templafy, we trust Ellen completely and are very happy that she is part of our organization.

    Staff, submitted on

  19. Ellen is the most professional CISOs I’ve worked with, and given her young age I’m baffled of her already vast knowledge and professionalism within her field. She leads Templafy in strength in any security questions when we onboard some of the largest enterprises on the planet like ABB, KPMG, Cigna, BDO, AON and many more. She is always empathetic and helpful and is here to win a category with the rest of the Templafy team.

    Staff, submitted on

  20. Ellen is extremely professional. She’s always ready to help, explain, and answer regardless of her own workload, and without prejudice or negative comments. Despite the nature of her position, she doesn’t want to do security “for the sake of security”. It’s always in the Templafy context, with the customer in mind, and a long term solution that serves as many stakeholders as possible.

    Staff, submitted on

  21. A mix of thought leadership, humbleness, curiosity to keep learning and great empathy. Ellen is a true “Soft Power”. She inspires and leads by example. She is analytical and thorough but never inaccessible. She is generous with her knowledge and supportive of her colleagues. I feel very fortunate to have her as a colleague and role model.

    Staff, submitted on

  22. Ellen is completely dedicated to her craft – the security of our client’s data and information – which is crucial at a data sensitive software company. She is not only dedicated to this craft, but she has excelled in ensuring that our entire company is secure and compliant, which is directly correlated with Templafy’s ongoing success.

    Staff, submitted on

  23. Ellen is a powerhouse; focused, determined and resilient! She has created a vision for the organization that enables and empowers Templafy to outperform its own expectations of a scaleup. As a leader, Ellen is direct and open, setting a very high standard and expectation for her team and the organization, holding everyone accountable.

    Staff, submitted on

  24. Always taking time for everyone, keeping our whole office secure, presenting the security developments for the whole company in a friendly way, making security part of the whole company by including everyone in the developments and explaining it in an understandable way, being so strategic and professional at such a young age.

    Staff, submitted on

  25. Ellen is very concentrated, calm, patient and sensitive. Ellen manages with her way to reduce prejudices, extreme opinions and other aspects which are counterproductive for finding a solution. I, my prospects, and my customers appreciate the way she works and are regularly very satisfied with the discourse and the results.

    Staff, submitted on

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