Senior Security Analyst

Ohio State University; North Carolina; On-site; USD 103,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

The Ohio State University is seeking a Senior Security Analyst within the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation to design, manage, and evolve the university's information security and privacy framework across campus and medical center, operating with autonomy.

This role leads risk assessments, maps controls to NIST SP 800-53 and related standards, develops mitigation strategies, and mentors staff while presenting complex risk to technical and academic leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in information technology, cyber security, computer science, or a related field.
• Minimum of 6 years of direct experience in information security governance, risk, and compliance.
• Full technology stack knowledge with IAM, server, networking, application development, and database concepts.

Responsibilities

• Own and operate the university's ISPCR, ensuring alignment with institutional goals.
• Map policies and controls to industry standards and regulatory requirements (NIST SP 800-53, NIST SP 800-171, CIS Benchmarks, HIPAA, FERPA, GLBA, PCI-DSS, CIS Controls, ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2).
• Develop, refine, and implement new compliance practices, processes, maturity models, and KPIs to measure framework effectiveness.
• Lead complex risk assessment initiatives affecting the university's risk posture.
• Scope, execute, and oversee tiered risk assessments (Tier 1-3) across campus infrastructure and vendors.
• Provide actionable mitigation strategies to system owners and technical teams.
• Offer guidance and mentorship to colleagues across distributed IT and security groups.
• Communicate risk information to diverse stakeholders and leadership with clarity.
• Facilitate dialogue and promote secure practices and risk-treatment options.

Skills

Information security governance

Risk assessment

Compliance

Communication

Mentorship

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in information technology/cyber security/computer science

Master's degree or equivalent

CISA

CRISC

CISM

CISSP

Job description

Job Title: Senior Security Analyst

Department: OTDI | Governance and Risk Management

Senior Security Analyst Position Summary

The Senior Security Analyst is a high-impact, specialized position within The Ohio State University's Office of Technology and Digital Innovation. This role is responsible for designing, managing, and evolving the comprehensive information security and privacy framework across the university and medical center. Operating with a high degree of autonomy, the Senior Security Analyst will apply advanced industry knowledge to solve highly complex problems, develop new risk models, establish precedents that safeguard the university's academic, research, and administrative environments, and lead technical focus groups to determine the applicability of industry standards to university business.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and operate the university's Information Security and Privacy Control Requirements (ISPCR), ensuring alignment with institutional goals.
• Map institutional policies and controls to industry standards and regulatory requirements, such as NIST SP 800-53, NIST SP 800-171, CIS Benchmarks, HIPAA, FERPA, GLBA, and PCI-DSS.CIS Controls, ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, FERPA, GLBA, PCI DSS, or similar.
• Develop, refine, and implement new compliance practices, processes, maturity models, and key performance metrics to measure framework effectiveness over time.
• Lead highly complex, large-scope risk assessment initiatives that have a significant and long-term impact on the university's risk posture.
• Scope, execute, and oversee Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 risk assessments, evaluating critical campus infrastructure, cloud environments, third-party vendors, and research data environments.
• Provide actionable, technically sound mitigation strategies to system owners, researchers, and technical teams to remediate identified gaps.
• Provide guidance, mentorship, and technical oversight to less experienced colleagues across the distributed university IT and security organizations.
• Convey difficult, highly complex, or sensitive risk information to diverse campus stakeholders and leadership, from technical system administrators to non-technical academic leadership.
• Facilitate productive dialogue and use advanced communication skills to persuade others to adopt secure practices and consider alternative risk-treatment options.

Required Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in information technology, cyber security, computer science, or a related field (or equivalent professional experience).
• Minimum of 6 years of direct experience in information security governance, risk, and compliance. - Full technology stack knowledge - broad understanding and ability to explain identity and access management (IAM), server, networking, application development and database concepts.

Preferred Education & Experience

• 8 to 12 years of relevant governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) experience, ideally within a higher education, academic medical center, or highly decentralized corporate environment.
• Advanced degree (master's or equivalent) in a relevant technical or business field.
• Active professional certifications such as CISA, CRISC, CISM, CISSP, or equivalent specialized GRC certifications.
• Deep specialization in NIST SP 800-53 and HIPAA Security/Privacy Rules. Thorough understanding of how these controls apply to diverse IT environments (on-premises, cloud, SaaS).
• Full technology stack experience - provides expert guidance to securely implement IAM, server, networking, application development and database services.

Additional Information:

The salary range for this position is $103,000 -$134,500 and the offer for this position will be based on internal equity and the candidate's qualifications.

Function: Information Technology Sub-function: Information Security and Ri