SECURITY OPERATIONS MANAGER

University of Washington; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Security Operations Manager to lead a dynamic team focused on identity and access management. This role emphasizes operational excellence and team development, ensuring the security of critical institutional data. You will drive process improvements and maintain strong communication with stakeholders, all while fostering a culture of continuous learning. Join a forward-thinking organization that values diverse perspectives and is committed to making a real-world impact in education and healthcare.

Benefits

Generous benefits package

11 paid Holidays

15 vacation days per year

Professional development opportunities

Work-life balance

Qualifications

• 3+ years managing a tech operations team in a mission-driven environment.
• Strong understanding of enterprise security principles and practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team managing identity and access infrastructure.
• Establish SLAs and KPIs in collaboration with stakeholders.

Skills

Identity and Access Management

Operational Leadership

Stakeholder Engagement

Service Metrics Definition

Team Development

Education

Bachelor's degree in Information Science

Master's degree in Information Science

Tools

Workday

Job description

If you are using a screen reader and experience any difficulty accessing our web pages, please call 206-543-2544 or email UWHires and we will be happy to assist you. jump to content

Benefits: As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here.

At the University of Washington, your work has real-world impact on our campuses, throughout our state, and around the globe. As a UW employee, you’ll be part of a community driven by a shared mission to foster innovation, empower discovery, and serve society through education, research, and health care. We value diverse perspectives, champion inclusive practices, and are deeply committed to building a more equitable future together.
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About UW Information Technology (UW-IT)
UW Information Technology (UW-IT) is the central provider of technology services for the University, supporting academic, research, clinical, and administrative functions across three campuses and UW Medicine. We enable excellence through secure, reliable, and forward-looking IT infrastructure, systems, and support.
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We are seeking a Security Operations Manager to lead a high-performing team responsible for managing the core identity and access infrastructure that protects institutional Finance, HR, and Payroll data across the UW ecosystem. This is a dynamic leadership role focused on service quality, operational maturity, and team development—not a deep security engineering role.
You will lead a team of security professionals overseeing access control, authentication, and account management services critical to Workday and other enterprise systems. The ideal candidate will bring strong operational leadership, a deep commitment to service excellence, and the ability to navigate complex stakeholder needs while driving efficiency and strategic improvements.
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Key Responsibilities:
Service & Operations Leadership (40%)
• Serve as the operational owner of Workday security services, including access management and incident response.
• Establish service-level agreements (SLAs), key performance indicators (KPIs), and service health metrics in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Lead service health reviews and drive transparency through dashboards and reporting.
• Prioritize and manage a team backlog to ensure consistent delivery and continuous improvement.
• Balance day-to-day operational needs with long-term strategic goals, including technical debt reduction and service maturity growth.
• Champion process improvement initiatives, with a focus on intake optimization and stakeholder responsiveness.

Team Development & People Management (40%)
• Build and lead a resilient, customer-focused team culture centered on continuous learning and operational excellence.
• Provide day-to-day supervision, performance management, and coaching to a multidisciplinary team.
• Drive adoption of ITIL-aligned service management practices across the team.
• Develop and execute training plans and professional development pathways.
• Manage hiring, team workload distribution, and skill development to support current and future service needs.

Stakeholder Communication & Documentation (20%)
• Serve as a liaison between technical teams, university leadership, and governance groups including UW Data Stewards and Information Security.
• Maintain and oversee documentation, knowledge bases, and internal protocols to ensure service transparency and consistency.
• Coordinate internal training and lead communication efforts regarding security policies, updates, and known issues.
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Lead Responsibilities:
• Guide enterprise-wide best practices in Workday security architecture.
• Lead collaborative initiatives across UW-IT and University-wide groups to align services with strategic goals.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
• Directly supervise team members, including hiring, performance reviews, and workload coordination.
• Develop leadership capabilities among staff managing student employees or temporary support.
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What You Bring
Required Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in Information Science, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience managing a technology operations or development team in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.
• Proven success in supervising and mentoring staff, including performance evaluations and professional growth planning.
• Strong understanding of identity and access management, enterprise security principles, and secure operational practices.
• Demonstrated experience defining and tracking service metrics and leading service reviews.
• Experience working in regulated environments (e.g., HIPAA, FERPA, SOX) and familiarity with audit and compliance processes.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder engagement skills.


Desired Qualifications
• Master’s degree in Information Science, Computer Science, or Public/Business Administration.
• Deep understanding of ERP or SaaS platforms, ideally Workday.
• Strong knowledge of finance and HR business processes and their security implications.
• Background in implementing security frameworks and principles (e.g., least privilege, DevSecOps, layered defense).
• Experience collaborating with enterprise governance structures and security leadership.
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Why Join UW-IT?
• Be part of something bigger: your work directly supports world-changing research, patient care, and education.
• Collaborate with top-tier professionals in an inclusive, intellectually rich environment.
• Great work life balance starting with 11 paid Holidays and 15 vacation days a year.

• Benefit from a highly competitive benefits package, professional development opportunities, and a culture of lifelong learning.
• As a public university and state institution, the University of Washington qualifies under the U.S. Department of Education’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. You may be eligible to have your federal student loans forgiven after 10 years of public service and qualifying payments.


Application Process:The application process may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.

Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, the University of Washington will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.

To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or [e-mail] .

Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington state law .