Retained advisor

A senior product security advisor at your side: decisions when they are needed, without a full-time hire.

Large product organisations rarely need another full-time security manager. They need someone senior who knows their portfolio, is reachable when a decision cannot wait, and keeps the compliance programme moving between projects.

The retained advisor engagement gives you that person: a named cetome expert, a fixed number of days per month, and direct access for your product, engineering and legal leadership.

How cetome supports you

With a retained advisor, your leadership team gains a partner for the decisions that shape the portfolio. Your product security becomes:

Decided in time

Architecture, conformity routes, supplier and vulnerability questions receive an expert position within days, before they block a release.

Governed at portfolio level

One view of every product line against the CRA, RED and the standards that apply, with priorities your executive committee can act on.

Implemented with your teams

We work alongside your engineers, product owners and compliance managers, so the capability stays in your company rather than with a consultant.

Independent

No laboratory, third-party vendor or certification body to favour: advice in your interest only, documented for your records.

Our services for the retained advisor

The retainer combines the following, in proportions reviewed every quarter.

Portfolio oversight

A standing view of every product line against the CRA, RED and the standards that apply: what is compliant, what is at risk, and what must be decided this quarter.

You receive a one-page status for your steering committee, with the decisions it needs to take and their consequences.

Decision support

Architecture choices, conformity assessment routes, vulnerability handling, supplier questions: a written recommendation within days, with options, risks and cost.

Each position is documented, so that your board, your auditors and your notified body see the same reasoning.

Governance and implementation

We help you set up the organisation, the policies and the processes the CRA expects, then stay with the teams who run them.

Design reviews, supplier requirements, vulnerability handling and the technical file: implementation that moves between projects, not only during them.

Proposals and business cases

Budget requests, make-or-buy decisions, laboratory and tooling selections: the case prepared in the language of risk and revenue, ready for your executive committee.

You get a proposal that survives the finance review, with the assumptions and the alternatives laid out.

Executive briefings

Board and leadership sessions on market access, exposure and priorities, in the language of risk and revenue rather than technical controls.

Ninety minutes that leave your executive committee with a shared picture and a decision.

Regulatory watch

Harmonised standards, delegated acts and guidance change. You receive what changed and what it means for your products, in one page, when it matters.

Your roadmap is adjusted before the change becomes a finding.

How we work

Working with your leadership, month after month

A retainer is a working relationship, not a subscription. We sit with your product, engineering and legal leadership, prepare the decisions and stay accountable for the outcome.

  1. Portfolio assessment

    Both sides start from the same picture: every product line against the CRA, RED and the applicable standards, and the decisions that cannot wait.
  2. Monthly working sessions

    A fixed allocation of advisor days, spent with your teams: steering committees, design reviews, supplier questions and the compliance programme between projects.
  3. Decisions, documented

    For each question you receive a written recommendation with options, risks and cost, ready for your board, your auditors or your notified body.
  4. Quarterly review

    Progress against the roadmap, what changed in regulation and standards, and the allocation for the next quarter.

Starting a retainer

A retainer starts with a portfolio assessment, so that both sides know where the products stand. The engagement then runs on a monthly allocation of advisor days, reviewed every quarter, with a fixed-scope statement of work for any larger piece of delivery.

Typical engagements run from two days per month. Contact us for a proposal adapted to the size of your portfolio.

Next step

Let's talk about a retainer

A first call takes thirty minutes and costs nothing: tell us about your product, your market and your timeline, and we will tell you honestly how we can help.