Manager, Cyber Readiness & Exercises

Citizens; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Retirement benefits

Education reimbursement

Wellness programs

Generous paid time off

Job summary

Citizens is seeking a Manager, Cyber Exercises & Simulations to lead and mature the enterprise-wide cyber exercise program, aligning with defense objectives. You will guide design, development, execution, and evaluation across technical and executive audiences, and oversee governance, metrics, and reporting.

The role requires building a scenario library, establishing playbooks and templates, and driving measurable improvements in resilience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in security, CS, IT or related field.
• Relevant industry certifications (CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CBCP) preferred.
• Experience in cyber exercise governance and program management.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy, governance, maturity, and continuous improvement of the enterprise Cyber Security Exercise & Simulation Program.
• Oversee design, development, execution, and evaluation of exercises across technical, operational, executive and business audiences.
• Develop and maintain a cyber scenario library reflecting current capabilities and gaps.
• Establish methodologies, templates, playbooks, and documentation for consistency and audit readiness.
• Define, track, and report program metrics and effectiveness to show improvements.
• Deliver findings, after action reports, and executive briefings with actionable risk reduction.
• Ensure findings and corrective actions are tracked and remediated.
• Build and develop a high-performing team through talent acquisition and development.
• Collaborate with Cyber Security, Enterprise Resilience, Technology, Risk, and senior leadership.

Skills

Cybersecurity leadership

Exercise program management

Strategic governance

Threat intelligence

Stakeholder engagement

People leadership

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Security, CS, IT or related field

Certifications: CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CBCP

Job description

Description

Manager, Cyber Readiness & Exercises

The Manager, Cyber Exercises & Simulations is responsible for establishing, leading, and continuously maturing the enterprise wide cybersecurity exercise and simulation program. This role oversees the strategy, development, execution, governance, and continuous improvement of cyber exercises and simulations designed to validate organizational preparedness, response capabilities, operational resilience, and alignment with enterprise cyber defense objectives.

The Manager, Cyber Exercises & Simulations leads a team of cybersecurity professionals responsible for designing, developing, executing, and assessing exercises across multiple audiences and organizational levels. The role also oversees talent acquisition, development, workforce planning, program governance, documentation, metrics, reporting, and stakeholder engagement to ensure exercises produce measurable outcomes that strengthen organizational cyber resilience.

This position is well suited for a cyber exercise and simulation leader who understands how to build and execute realistic and impactful scenarios that strengthen response readiness against cyber threats.

Work Arrangement

Locations & Work Arrangement: Remote is not an option, candidates must be willing to commute to one of the following hub locations with a hybrid schedule of 4 days onsite and 1 day remote per week with flexibility in one of the following hubs:

• Phoenix, AZ
• Johnston, RI
• Boston or Westwood, MA
• Marlton, NJ

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the strategy, governance, maturity, and continuous improvement of the enterprise Cyber Security Exercise & Simulation Program, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives.
• Oversee the design, development, execution, and evaluation of cyber exercises and simulations across technical, operational, executive, and business stakeholder audiences.
• Develop and maintain a cyber scenario library that incorporates the current state of organizational functions, capabilities, and known gaps.
• Establish and maintain program methodologies, procedures, templates, playbooks, and documentation to ensure consistency, quality, and audit readiness.
• Ensure exercise scenarios incorporate organizational risks, threat intelligence, emerging cyber threats, industry trends, and evolving adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures.
• Define, track, and report program metrics, maturity measures, and effectiveness measures to demonstrate improvements in organizational preparedness and resilience.
• Oversee the creation and delivery of exercise findings, after action reports, executive briefings, and recommendations that drive actionable risk reduction and capability enhancement.
• Ensure identified findings, gaps, and corrective actions are properly assigned, tracked, remediated, and validated through due diligence processes to achieve sustainable resolution.
• Manage and develop a high performing team through talent acquisition, workforce planning, coaching, mentoring, performance management, and career development initiatives.
• Partner and collaborate with Cyber Security, Enterprise Resilience, Technology, Risk Management, and senior leadership teams to ensure exercises align with enterprise strategies, policies, standards, regulatory expectations, and emerging threat landscapes.

Experience and Skills

• 8 to 12 years of progressive experience in cybersecurity, cyber operations, incident response, threat intelligence, resilience, security program management, or a related discipline.
• 3 or more years of people leadership and talent management experience.
• Experience designing, facilitating, executing, and evaluating cybersecurity exercises and simulations.
• Strong understanding of cyber defense, incident response, threat intelligence, vulnerability management, and operational resilience concepts.
• Experience developing and managing enterprise programs, governance processes, metrics, and reporting.
• Knowledge of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and Standards, CRI Profile, and cybersecurity exercise frameworks.
• Experience working within large, complex, highly regulated organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and drive collaboration across functions.

Education, Certifications and Other Professional Credentials

• Bachelor’s Degree in Security, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• A combination of relevant industry certifications, including but not limited to CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CBCP, or emerging AI and security focused credentials.

Pay Transparency

The salary range for this position is from $175,000 to $205,000 per year, plus an opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus. Actual pay is based on various factors including but not limited to, the budget, work location, relevant skills, and experience.

We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity and paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs, and more. Citizens’ paid time off policy exceeds the mandatory paid sick or paid time away policies of local and state jurisdictions in the United States. For an overview of our benefits, visit our Careers site - https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits.

#LI-Citizens1

Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.

Why Work for Us

At Citizens, you'll find a customer-centric culture built around helping our customers and giving back to our local communities. When you join our team, you are part of a supportive and collaborative workforce, with access to training and tools to accelerate your potential and maximize your career growth

Background Check

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the candidate successfully passing a background check, which may include initial credit, motor vehicle record, public record, prior employment verification, and criminal background checks. Results of the background check are individually reviewed based upon legal requirements imposed by our regulators and with consideration of the nature and gravity of the background history and the job offered. Any offer of employment will include further information.