Sr IT Security Specialist

Socket.dev; Toronto; On-site; CAD 81,000 - 116,000; Full time

Job summary

Hydro One is seeking a Senior Cybersecurity Specialist, GRC Risk Management to advise on cyber risks across IT, OT, cloud, AI, and emerging tech. This role partners with business and security stakeholders to identify, assess, and manage cybersecurity risks, ensuring regulatory compliance and guiding technology decisions.

Key duties include risk assessments, governance, security architecture reviews, and executive reporting, with a focus on modernizing GRC processes and improving cyber risk

Qualifications

• Strategic development of standards and cyber risk identification/mitigation.
• Experience as an advisor/consultant representing Information Security.
• 10+ years in information security, risk management, and governance.
• Strong knowledge of national and industry cybersecurity standards.
• Familiarity with regulatory requirements (NERC CIP, PCI, PIPEDA, etc.).

Responsibilities

• Represent Cyber Risk Management as advisor to security program.
• Provide risk-based guidance for technology initiatives and architecture decisions.
• Lead cyber risk assessments, governance, and control testing.
• Support regulatory responses and audit activities.
• Improve cyber risk visibility through reporting and dashboards.

Skills

Cyber risk management

Stakeholder engagement

Security governance

Communications

Risk assessment

Education

Bachelor’s in Computer Science or related field

Tools

NIST SP 800-53

NIST CSF

ISO 27005

Job description

52050-Toronto-Regular.

Hiring Salary Range

$80,900.00-115,500.00 / year

Hydro One is proud to be the largest electricity transmission and distribution provider in Ontario, serving nearly 1.5millioncustomers. We have a long history in the industry with our roots dating back over 110 years to 1906. Since then, we have worked to grow and evolve to meet the changing needs of our customers and communities across Ontario. Today, we’re focused on providing exceptional customer service and ensuring we are building safe communities where we live, work and play.

It’s an exciting time to join the team at Hydro One!

Job Function

The Senior Cybersecurity Specialist, GRC Risk Management is a senior advisor responsible for cyber risk management across IT, OT, cloud, AI, and emerging technologies. The role partners with business, technology, compliance, and security architecture stakeholders to identify, assess, and manage cybersecurity risks, ensure regulatory and security compliance, and provide risk-based guidance for technology initiatives and architecture decisions.

Key responsibilities include leading cyber risk assessments, governance and compliance activities, security architecture reviews, control testing, risk treatment planning, identity governance, and executive reporting. A key focus of the role is leveraging security engineering and automation solutions to modernize GRC processes, streamline evidence collection and reporting, improve cyber risk visibility, and enhance operations. The role supports compliance with OEB, NERC-CIP, and other cybersecurity frameworks while delivering actionable risk insights that enable business and executive decision-making.

Job Description

The Senior IT Security Specialist will work within the OT Cybersecurity Technology & Operations team as a Defender Of Energy, protecting Hydro One Networks against Cyber Attacks and proactively assessing existing cybersecurity controls & cyber defenses.

Join a diverse team of experienced Cybersecurity practitioners, and act as a subject matter expert for Information Security with the Lines of Business (LOB)

• Focus on Cyber Risk Management as it relates to Information Technology (IT) and Operations Technology (OT) systems
• Translate technical cyber & information security requirements into business actions. Preserve and apply the security governance framework (based on NIST) for the LOBs.
• Work with different, potentially conflicting requirements (legal, regulatory, industry standards, security strategy) to distil realistic security requirements supporting the business strategy
• Conduct research to maintain and expand knowledge on the latest cyber security technologies and standards, as well as the threat and vulnerability landscape for Industrial Control Systems (ICS) in general, and the Electrical sector in Ontario

You are an experienced Cyber Risk Management professional with extensive knowledge and experience in architecture of the following domains and their application to IT (and preferably OT) environments:

• Identity and Access Management
• Threat, Risk and Compliance
• Vulnerability Management
• Security Operations
• Security Governance and Policies
• Security Architecture

Specific Accountabilities may include

• Represent the Cyber Risk Management team as an advisor and expert Cyber Security SME to support the overall security program.
• Seek industry trends and organizational knowledge to understand and implement effective risk management practices.
• Provide recommendations for security architecture for all technology projects, new platforms – on premise or cloud-based and ensure alignment of technology solutions to established frameworks and security standards.
• Provide consultation to operational teams as a risk-focused senior cyber security advisor on security-related initiatives, solution selection, security architecture and security assessments
• Provide risk management insights through an ongoing process of gathering, analyzing and prioritizing actionable risk messages; develop content to support communication of the messages and enable technology teams to consume and apply the messages to their respective areas.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of processes and maturity of cyber risk management program.
• Manage various stakeholders across levels (including executives) and engage in resolution of risk issues.
• Build and manage effective relationships with key stakeholders, team members, and other business, functional and support groups. Collaborate with senior leaders to ensure alignment of Cyber Security initiatives.
• Support responses to various regulatory requests and audits
• Support the compliance sustainment and continuous improvement efforts associated with Hydro One’s NERC CIP compliance program. Review NERC CIP related security incidents for systemic problems and opportunities for process improvements.

Requisite Experience and Skills

• Extensive experience of strategic development of standards, Cyber Security Risk Identification and Mitigation techniques
• Demonstrable experience in an advisor/consultant capacity representing Information Security
• 10+ years of information security experience in risk management and information security
• Strong knowledge of NIST SP800-53 and NIST Cyber Security Framework
• Sound understanding of the Ontario Cyber Security Framework
• Familiarity with Risk Management Frameworks (ISO 27005, NIST 800-30/39 or ISF IRAM2 )
• Demonstrated understanding of relevant standards and regulatory requirements (NERC CIP, Bill C-198, PCI, PIPEDA, etc.).
• Familiarity with scenario-based risk analysis using common threat modelling techniques
• Knowledge of current trends in the cyber security industry
• Knowledge of unique threats to the energy sector and its role within Canadian critical infrastructure
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills applicable to a wide audience including senior and executive management
• Excellent organization/project planning, time and organizational change skills across multiple functional groups and departments
• Knowledge of metrics programs and security dashboard creation
• Post-secondary education in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent work experience
• One or more of CISSP, CRISC, CISM or other relevant certifications would be an asset

At Hydro One we understand that the success and strength of our business rests with our people. When we develop their skills, we are investing in both their success and ours. To secure the best talent, we seek to create a workforce that reflects the diverse populations of the communities where we live and work and to create a culture based on safety, innovation and inclusiveness.

We are honoured to be recognized by Forbes in its list of Canada’s Best Employers for 2026

Deadline

The base salary for this role considers a variety of factors, including candidates' knowledge, skills, experience, education, and any applicable collective agreement requirements for union-represented positions. Hydro One provides an extensive offering of programs to promote a culture of safety, wellbeing, inclusivity, and sustainability to enable our employees to be the best version of themselves. For management roles, compensation is based on the principle of pay-for performance compensation philosophy, and the amount of annual adjustments and incentive payments depends on how well you and the company perform (subject to plan terms). We encourage open dialogue about compensation with our Talent Acquisition Team, who can provide more detailed information specific to this role.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

Hydro One uses AI tools to assist in the screening and assessing candidates for this role. Our use of AI does not replace human decision-making.

"Employer of the year 2026"