The 2024 Best Firms to Work For: Coalfire

CLIENT INDUSTRIES SERVED: Tech, Financial Services, Retail, Health Care, Manufacturing, Government

CONSULTING SERVICE LINES: Cyber Assessment, Advisory, and Security Services

Coalfire is a global services and solutions company that specializes in cyber advisory, assessment, and security. The company also develops cutting-edge technology platforms that automate defenses against security threats for the world's leading enterprises, cloud providers, and SaaS companies. Coalfire is the foremost provider of FedRAMP compliance assessments and penetration testing services in the United States.

CMAG: What characteristics and elements would you attribute to your firm's inclusion as a Best Firm to Work For?

We're truly honored to be named to this list of Best Firms for the sixth year in a row. Once again, we believe this recognition is largely due to our continued focus on our greatest asset – our people. We're always looking for new ways to engage our team members, enhance the employee experience, and develop our talent. And we continue to remain an exciting place to work, thanks to our focus on the ever-changing cybersecurity market, our commitment to innovation, and our world-class client base.

CMAG: Are there any specific programs or initiatives that contributed to you being included as a Best Firm?

One of the key factors that contributed to our recognition as a Best Firm to Work For is our flexible approach to work, which consistently receives positive feedback from our team. We strongly believe in empowering our employees by offering them the flexibility they need to balance work and life effectively. Instead of PTO, our employees take advantage of flexible time off to rest and recharge. We also offer flexibility around work location. Some employees embrace a hybrid model that allows team members to see teammates and collaborate in-person at our offices in Chicago, Atlanta, and Denver; other employees work remotely from locations across the US and UK. This flexibility, coupled with our commitment to delivering world-class client service, has been instrumental in fostering a supportive and high-performing work environment, which ultimately led to this recognition.

CMAG: In describing your firm, what would you say sets it apart from other consulting firms?

We fill a unique role in the market, combining security compliance assessment with advisory services to help clients meet complex industry standards. These capabilities are supported by a team of hackers and defenders who bring an adversarial perspective to securing client environments. We offer more breadth and depth than others operating across these areas.

CMAG: Where your workforce is concerned, what would you say your priorities look like for the upcoming year and beyond?

One of our biggest priorities is continuing to find ways to invest in our people through rewards, recognition, and career growth opportunities. Currently, we're looking at how we can better support professional growth and development for employees at all levels. We hire the best and the brightest in the industry, and our people are motivated to grow their careers and expand their skillsets. To support that, we're focused on finding meaningful ways to recognize and celebrate success, defining career paths to support internal mobility, and creating more training opportunities to facilitate professional development.

CMAG: What opportunities do you see as the most promising?

Changes in government and industry regulations require companies serving these sectors to meet a certain level of security compliance to do business. These mandates continue to drive business for Coalfire as clients continue to bring innovations to market that must meet these security and privacy standards.

CMAG: What market forces do you see as the most challenging?

In addition to enabling clients to meet critical industry requirements and improve their security, we are also helping clients navigate emerging AI frameworks, such as NIST AI RMF and ISO 42001, that help company build security into their AI products.

CMAG: What impact do you think Best Firm to Work For honors will have on your employees? The firm overall? Clients?

Being recognized as a Best Firm to Work For six years running is certainly something our employees celebrate. It reinforces our brand and our reputation as a great place to work, which helps us attract new talent and retain our employees, and it gives us a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the things that make Coalfire an incredible place to work: our people and the culture they've built.