Senior Defense & Security Risk Lead (Secret Clearance)

Guidehouse; United States; Remote; USD 89,000 - 148,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Rx, Dental & Vision Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

Tuition Reimbursement

Personal and Family Sick Time

Job summary

Guidehouse is seeking an experienced risk, controls, and compliance professional in the United States. The role focuses on delivering risk management and internal controls reviews across federal programs, with opportunities to lead small teams and engage clients directly.

Candidates should have 5+ years of experience, a Bachelor’s degree, and the ability to obtain a SECRET clearance. Travel up to 25% may be required, with a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Federal or DoD “SECRET” clearance.
• Bachelor’s degree.
• Five (5) or more years of experience across risk management, internal controls, accounting, or federal compliance reviews.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently with limited oversight.
• Strong familiarity with site visits and walk throughs of internal controls.
• Experience managing workflows, clearing deliverable backlogs, and maintaining high‑quality execution.
• Ability to develop structured workpapers, conduct analyses, and prepare findings and recommendations.
• Strong communication skills including clear reporting, stakeholder engagement, and client presentation.

Responsibilities

• Support day‑to‑day documentation of internal controls and support internal control remediation and improvement efforts
• Conduct on‑site and remote reviews of controls including stakeholder interviews, control walkthroughs, and testing
• Drive accuracy and completeness of deliverables through workpaper review, data validation, synthesis of findings, and preparation of client-ready outputs
• May help manage and coordinate small teams; guide task planning, assign work, and maintain quality across multiple workstreams
• Support onboarding and training of junior staff and reinforce consistent application of methodologies
• Lead recurring client meetings; resolve issues, clarify requirements, and translate technical assessments into actionable recommendations

Skills

Risk management

Internal controls

Federal compliance reviews

Independent work

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Accounting concentration

Job description

Guidehouse is seeking an experienced risk, controls, and compliance professional in the United States. The role focuses on delivering risk management and internal controls reviews across federal programs, with opportunities to lead small teams and engage clients directly.

Candidates should have 5+ years of experience, a Bachelor’s degree, and the ability to obtain a SECRET clearance. Travel up to 25% may be required, with a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits.