Vice President, Cyber Defense

Fannie Mae; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Incentive program

Health benefits

Onsite opportunities

Job summary

Fannie Mae in Washington, DC is seeking a Vice President of Cyber Defense to define and execute enterprise cybersecurity strategy for a large financial institution. You will lead Threat Detection and Response, Cyber Incident Management, and cyber protection programs across on‑prem and multi‑cloud environments.

The role requires exceptional executive communication, strategic leadership, and strong risk management, with a focus on modernization, automation, and regulatory alignment.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership in cybersecurity within large, complex enterprises.
• Experience developing and executing cybersecurity strategies and major transformation programs.
• Strong executive communication translating cyber risk to business decisions.

Responsibilities

• Drive successful detection and containment of cybersecurity events.
• Oversee cyber incident response and management programs with cross‑functional partners.
• Develop strategies to mature enterprise cyber security posture in on‑prem/multi‑cloud environments.
• Provide oversight of cybersecurity risk management activities and audits.
• Lead adoption of best‑in‑class cybersecurity technologies and automation.
• Communicate cyber strategies and risks in business terms to stakeholders.

Skills

Executive leadership

Cyber defense leadership

Incident response

Threat intelligence

Detection engineering

Security operations

Executive communication

Risk management

Education

Bachelor's degree in cybersecurity, computer science, engineering, information technology, or related field

Advanced degree in cybersecurity, computer science, engineering, or related discipline

Tools

SIEM

Cloud security tools

Risk governance tooling

Job description

Playing an essential role in the U.S. economy, Fannie Mae is foundational to housing finance. Here, your expertise can help fuel purpose-driven innovation that expands access to homeownership and affordable rental housing across the country. Join Fannie Mae to grow your career and help people find a place to call home.

Job Description

The Vice President, Cyber Defense is a senior cybersecurity executive responsible for helping define and execute Fannie Mae's enterprise cybersecurity strategy. This leader will oversee a broad portfolio of cybersecurity capabilities and programs designed to protect the organization's information assets, technology platforms, business operations, customers, and reputation. The VP will set the strategic direction for the Threat Detection and Response, Cyber Incident Management, and cyber protection organizations. Strengthen our comprehensive cyber threat detection capabilities through a combination of internal and external resources. Oversee cyber incident response and management programs to address specific vulnerabilities and enable expeditious remediation. Ensure the relevance, viability and scalability of cybersecurity applications and systems. This executive will play a critical role in protecting the organization's assets, customers, reputation, and continued ability to operate. The successful candidate will strengthen the enterprise's ability to anticipate and disrupt threats, respond decisively when incidents occur, and continuously adapt to an evolving cyber environment. This executive will partner closely with business, technology, and risk leaders to strengthen the organization's security posture, drive modernization initiatives, enhance cyber resilience, ensure cybersecurity technologies implemented at Fannie Mae remain viable, scalable, and aligned to business needs, drive process optimization and efficiency through automation and enhanced technologies and platform capabilities, and ensure compliance with applicable regulatory and industry requirements. The VP will foster a culture of security, operational excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement while leveraging data, automation, and emerging technologies to improve cybersecurity outcomes across the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive successful detection and containment of cybersecurity events that threaten the security of Fannie Mae Systems.
• Ensures the availability of comprehensive cyber threat detection capabilities while leveraging external technical, forensic, and investigative resources as needed.
• Directs strategic intelligence activities to identify cyber threats and vulnerabilities relevant to Fannie Mae.
• Oversee cyber incident response and management programs, partnering with leaders across the organization to address specific vulnerabilities.
• Oversee the development and operationalization of strategies for maturing the enterprise cyber security posture to meet or exceed industry standards in a complex, on-prem/multi-cloud environment.
• Provides oversight of cybersecurity risk management activities, including audits, reviews and assessments of our cyber security program and manages audit issue remediation.
• Partners with corporate risk functions to ensure alignment of efforts and effective implementation of adopted frameworks as well as compliance with policies, standards and regulatory requirements with Lead cybersecurity governance and control health monitoring sustainment program to gauge cyber response readiness by orchestrating table-top exercises and coordinating critical patch procedures as well as provide support for executive Information Security initiatives.
• Applies an understanding of cloud security technologies and models (AWS shared responsibility model, SaaS, etc.) to ensure the relevance, viability and scalability of cybersecurity applications and systems. Provides leadership and direction in the innovation of bleeding edge cybersecurity technology.
• Provide leadership and direction in the adoption of best-in-class cybersecurity technologies.
• Drive process improvement through strategic continuous improvement plans; transform legacy manual processes using modern automation and technology.
• Effectively manage and coordinate changes by communicating cyber strategies, plans, and operational risks in business terms, working with key stakeholders to align priorities and ensure seamless and consistent execution.

Candidate Qualifications

Required Experience

• Significant progressive leadership experience in cybersecurity, technology, or technology risk, with substantial experience leading cybersecurity organizations in large, complex enterprises.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-scale Cyber Defense, Security Operations, Incident Response, Threat Intelligence, Detection Engineering, or closely related cybersecurity capabilities.
• Proven experience developing and executing cybersecurity strategies and major transformation programs across complex technology environments.
• Demonstrated leadership during significant cyber incidents, including the ability to make consequential decisions under pressure and communicate effectively with senior executives.
• Deep understanding of modern adversary behaviors and attack techniques, including AI-driven attacks, as well as threats targeting identity, endpoints, networks, applications, cloud environments, data, and third-party ecosystems.
• Strong knowledge of security operations, detection and response, threat intelligence, threat hunting, digital forensics, incident management, security engineering, and enterprise security architecture.
• Experience operating within a highly regulated environment and working effectively with Risk, Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Audit, and regulatory stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success building, developing, and retaining high-performing technical organizations and senior leadership teams.
• Exceptional executive communication skills, including the ability to translate highly technical cybersecurity matters into business risk, strategic choices, and executive decisions.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in cybersecurity, computer science, engineering, information technology, or a related field.

Preferred Experience

• Cybersecurity leadership experience within a large financial institution, critical infrastructure provider, systemically important organization, or other highly regulated enterprise.
• Experience modernizing a large-scale Security Operations or Cyber Defense organization.
• Strong knowledge of cloud-native and hybrid technology environments and the defensive challenges associated with large-scale technology transformation.
• Experience integrating offensive security, threat intelligence, and defensive capabilities to create a threat-informed defense program.
• Experience applying artificial intelligence, machine learning, advanced analytics, and automation within cybersecurity operations.
• Familiarity with leading cybersecurity frameworks and methodologies, including NIST CSF, NIST incident response guidance, MITRE ATT&CK, and related industry standards.
• Advanced degree in cybersecurity, computer science, engineering, business, or a related discipline.
• Relevant professional certifications such as CISSP, CISM, GIAC, or comparable credentials.

Target Pay Range: $250,000 - 350,000

Qualifications

Education: The future is what you make it to be. Discover compelling opportunities at Fanniemae.com/careers.

For most roles, employees are expected to work onsite on a regular basis at their designated office location. In-office work cadence is determined by your manager. Proximity within a reasonable commute to your designated office location is preferred unless the job is noted as open to remote.

Fannie Mae is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity/gender expression, marital or parental status, or any other protected factor. Fannie Mae is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities who are employees or applicants for employment, unless to do so would cause undue hardship to the company. If you need assistance using our online system and/or you need a reasonable accommodation related to the hiring/application process, please complete this form.

The hiring range for this role is set forth below. Final salaries will generally vary within that range based on factors that include but are not limited to, skill set, depth of experience, certifications, and other relevant qualifications. This position is eligible to participate in a Fannie Mae incentive program (subject to the terms of the program). As part of our comprehensive benefits package, Fannie Mae offers a broad range of Health, Life, Voluntary Lifestyle, and other benefits and perks that enhance an employee's physical, mental, emotional, and financial well-being. See more here.