Senior Cyber Security & GRC Lead

**This position is a direct hire for one of our clients. Our ideal candidates live in the Hartford, Connecticut metro area. East coast & TX candidates will be considered with expectations of occasional travel to Connecticut. Eligible candidates must currently reside in the US and authorized to work in the US without visa sponsorship.**

Our client is seeking an experienced Cyber Security & GRC Engineer to lead and mature an enterprise-wide cybersecurity, governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) program across multiple organizations. This is a senior-level, hands-on leadership role responsible for developing a unified security and compliance framework that supports NIST CSF 2.0, GDPR, and SOX IT General Controls requirements.

The ideal candidate combines strategic leadership with technical expertise, comfortably engaging executive stakeholders and auditors while also administering security tools, managing risks, implementing controls, and driving compliance initiatives. This role will serve as the owner of the enterprise GRC platform, Vanta, ensuring continuous monitoring, audit readiness, and program maturity across all entities.

Responsibilities

• Own and mature the enterprise cybersecurity and risk management program across a multi-entity organization.

• Design, implement, and maintain a harmonized control framework supporting NIST CSF 2.0, GDPR, and SOX ITGC requirements.

• Lead enterprise governance activities, including risk reviews, KPI/KRI reporting, executive reporting, and steering committee meetings.

• Serve as the primary liaison for auditors, assessors, clients, and internal stakeholders regarding security and compliance matters.

• Administer and optimize Vanta as the enterprise GRC system of record.

• Configure controls, integrations, tests, evidence collection, continuous monitoring, and audit workflows within Vanta.

• Develop, maintain, and manage enterprise security policies, standards, procedures, exceptions, and policy lifecycle processes.

• Lead SOX ITGC readiness and compliance efforts.

• Operationalize GDPR requirements, including records of processing, DPIAs, data subject rights management, vendor oversight, and breach response.

• Conduct NIST CSF 2.0 assessments, maturity reviews, gap analyses, and remediation planning.

• Manage enterprise risk assessments, risk registers, third-party vendor risk programs, and remediation initiatives.

• Oversee vulnerability management, patch coordination, access reviews, and technical security controls across cloud and on-premises environments.

• Lead incident response activities, including preparation, detection, containment, recovery, and post-incident reviews.

• Provide security architecture guidance for new systems, integrations, cloud solutions, and data platforms.

• Build and manage security awareness, phishing simulation, and employee training programs.

• Partner with business and project teams to ensure security and privacy requirements are incorporated into solution design.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Cybersecurity, or equivalent experience.

• 7+ years of information security, cybersecurity, or risk management experience with progression into senior program ownership responsibilities.

• Hands‑on experience administering a GRC platform, preferably Vanta.

• Experience implementing, operating, or auditing against NIST CSF, SOX ITGC, and GDPR requirements.

• Demonstrated success developing and implementing security policies, controls, and governance programs.

• One or more of the following certifications: CISSP, CISM, CRISC, or CISA.

• Strong technical knowledge of cloud security, identity and access management, endpoint security, vulnerability management, logging, and security operations.

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage technical teams, business leaders, auditors, and executives.

• Proven ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and drive accountability across stakeholders.

Nice to Have Experience

• Direct Vanta administration experience.

• Experience supporting a publicly traded company and SOX Section 404 compliance requirements.

• Experience leading security programs across multiple organizations or business entities.

• ISO 27001 Lead Implementer or Lead Auditor certification.

• SANS/GIAC certifications.

• Construction, engineering, energy, power generation, or EPC industry experience.

• Familiarity with AI/ML governance, data security, and secure AI deployment practices.