Cyber Defence Strategy & Operations Lead

GHD; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

GHD is seeking a Manager of Cyber Defence Strategy and Operations in Irvine, CA to lead enterprise cybersecurity strategy and day-to-day operational resilience. You will represent the cyber risk posture to the CTO, IS Leadership Team and the Board Risk Committee, and build specialist teams to elevate security across the organisation.

You will own vulnerability management, incident response, and a Zero Trust program spanning Azure, identity and endpoint, while guiding AI security posture and

Qualifications

• Over a decade of experience leading cyber security programs and teams.
• Deep expertise in security strategy, operations, threat intel, vulnerability mgmt and architecture.
• Strong Zero Trust and Microsoft security stack familiarity (Defender, Sentinel, Entra ID, Purview).
• Hands-on with regulatory frameworks: CMMC 2, FedRAMP, ASD Essential Eight, ISO 27001, NIST CSF.
• Track record presenting cyber risk to executives or boards; capable of board-level communication.
• Certifications: CISSP or CISM required; CMMC Practitioner/Professional and SC-100/AZ-500 desirable.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve GHD’s enterprise cybersecurity strategy and target-state security architecture.
• Represent the cyber risk posture to the CTO, IS Leadership Team and Board Risk Committee.
• Build specialist sub-teams (security architecture, vulnerability management, cyber GRC).
• Own the enterprise vulnerability-management program and drive remediation cadence.
• Command incident response for significant events coordinating IT, Legal, HR and Communications.
• Define and govern the Zero Trust program across Azure, identity and endpoint estate.
• Oversee AI security posture including agentic systems, non-human identities and shadow AI.
• Govern CMMC Level 2 and FedRAMP readiness as a commercial enabler for US federal work.

Skills

Cyber security leadership

Security strategy

Threat intelligence

Vulnerability management

Zero Trust

Microsoft security stack

CISSP/CISM certifications

Tools

Microsoft Defender

Microsoft Sentinel

Entra ID

Purview

FedRAMP/CMMC readiness

Job description

GHD is seeking a Manager of Cyber Defence Strategy and Operations in Irvine, CA to lead enterprise cybersecurity strategy and day-to-day operational resilience. You will represent the cyber risk posture to the CTO, IS Leadership Team and the Board Risk Committee, and build specialist teams to elevate security across the organisation.

You will own vulnerability management, incident response, and a Zero Trust program spanning Azure, identity and endpoint, while guiding AI security posture and