Information Security Officer

Commonwealth of VA Careers; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 106,000; Full time

Job summary

Commonwealth of VA Careers is seeking an Information Security Officer in Virginia to lead the agency’s incident response program. The role acts as the main DBHDS point of contact with VITA, guiding incidents from detection through containment, eradication, recovery, and closure.

The position requires coordinating responses to malware, phishing, data loss, and PHI breaches, analyzing alerts and logs, supporting investigations, and maintaining robust incident documentation.

Qualifications

• Experience leading or coordinating cybersecurity incident response in enterprise, government, healthcare, or public sector environments.
• Knowledge of the cybersecurity incident lifecycle: identification, triage, containment, eradication, recovery, closure.
• Experience handling major incidents: ransomware, phishing, compromised accounts, unauthorized access, data loss, DDoS, insider threats, PHI/PII breaches.
• Ability to analyze security alerts, logs, endpoint/network activity, vulnerability data, and threat intel.
• Experience supporting forensic investigations, evidence preservation, chain-of-custody, root cause analysis.
• Ability to prepare incident reports, timelines, executive briefings, and corrective action tracking.
• Strong communication, analytical, organizational, and judgment skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the agency’s incident response program in line with VITA procedures and Commonwealth security requirements.
• Serve as the primary DBHDS point of contact with VITA and oversee incidents end‑to‑end from identification to closure.
• Coordinate responses to malware, ransomware, phishing, compromised accounts, data loss, and PHI breaches.
• Analyze security alerts/logs and support forensic investigations and evidence preservation.
• Prepare incident documentation, timelines, reports, and escalation guidance; provide on-call support 24/7.
• Maintain incident response policies, playbooks, and communication processes; coordinate tabletop exercises and audits.

Skills

Incident response

Incident lifecycle

Major incidents

Security analytics

Forensic investigations

Incident reporting

Communication

Job description

Title: Information Security Officer

State Role Title: Info Technology Specialist III

Hiring Range: $85,000-$105,970

Pay Band: 6

Agency: Dept Behavioral Health/Develop

Location: Central Office

Agency Website: www.dbhds.virginia.gov

Recruitment Type: General Public - G

Job Duties

The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) is seeking a highly qualified cybersecurity incident response professional to lead the agency’s incident response program in alignment with VITA procedures, Commonwealth security requirements, and applicable regulations. This role serves as the primary DBHDS point of contact with VITA and oversees incidents from identification through triage, containment, eradication, recovery, remediation, and closure while assessing severity, business impact, affected systems, data exposure, and risks to agency operations.

The position coordinates responses to malware, ransomware, phishing, compromised accounts, unauthorized access, data loss, denial of service events, insider threats, exploited vulnerabilities, and potential PHI breaches. Responsibilities include analyzing security alerts and logs, supporting forensic investigations and evidence preservation, maintaining chain of custody documentation, and assisting with root cause analysis. The role also prepares incident documentation, timelines, reports, briefings, and corrective action tracking, and provides guidance on incident reporting, escalation, and evidence handling to agency personnel.

Additional duties include maintaining incident response policies, procedures, playbooks, and communication processes; coordinating quarterly tabletop exercises in accordance with SEC 530; supporting audits, assessments, FOIA requests, subpoenas, investigations, and ServiceNow ticketing; and providing 24/7 on call support for urgent incidents. The position collaborates with infrastructure, identity, vulnerability management, applications, business units, CSBs, vendors, and VITA to support continuity planning, disaster recovery testing, cyber resilience activities, post incident reviews, compliance efforts, and continuous improvement of DBHDS’s incident response capabilities.

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience leading or coordinating cybersecurity incident response in an enterprise, government, healthcare, or public sector environment.
• Knowledge of the cybersecurity incident lifecycle, including identification, triage, containment, eradication, recovery, and closure.
• Experience responding to major incident types such as ransomware, phishing, compromised accounts, unauthorized access, data loss, DDoS, insider threats, and PHI/PII breaches.
• Ability to analyze and interpret security alerts, logs, endpoint and network activity, vulnerability data, and threat intelligence.
• Experience supporting forensic investigations, evidence preservation, chain-of-custody processes, and root cause analysis.
• Ability to prepare accurate documentation, incident reports, timelines, executive briefings, and corrective action tracking.
• Strong communication, analytical, organizational, and judgment skills, with the ability to work effectively under pressure and protect confidential information.

Additional Considerations

• Experience working within Virginia state government, VITA, or another centralized public sector cybersecurity organization.
• Professional certifications such as CISSP, CISM, Security+, CySA+, GCIH, GCIA, or GCFA.
• Experience in environments handling PHI or sensitive client information (healthcare, behavioral health, human services).
• Familiarity with Commonwealth security standards, SEC 530 requirements, NIST guidance, or similar frameworks.

Contact Information

Name: ShaKiera Miles

Phone: N/A

Email: [e-mail] - Inquiries Only/No Submissions, to include resumes.

In support of the Commonwealth’s commitment to inclusion, we are encouraging individuals with disabilities to apply through the Commonwealth Alternative Hiring Process. To be considered for this opportunity, applicants will need to provide their AHP Letter (formerly COD) provided by the Department for Aging & Rehabilitative Services (DARS), or the Department for the Blind & Vision Impaired (DBVI). Service-Connected Veterans are encouraged to answer Veteran status questions and submit their disability documentation, if applicable, to DARS/DBVI to get their AHP Letter. Requesting an AHP Letter can be found at AHP Letter or by calling DARS at 800-552-5019.

Note: Applicants who received a Certificate of Disability from DARS or DBVI dated between April 1, 2022- February 29, 2024, can still use that COD as applicable documentation for the Alternative Hiring Process.