Director, Compliance & AI Governance

AKASA•South San Francisco, CA

4d•$150,000 - $185,000•Onsite

About The Position

AKASA is seeking a strategic, automation-minded Director of Compliance & AI Governance to own and evolve the company's compliance program as it scales. This role is designed for an individual who has experience leading compliance in a healthcare SaaS or AI environment and is interested in building a modern, engineering-focused program. The position involves end-to-end ownership of HITRUST, SOC 2, and HIPAA programs, operationalizing emerging AI governance frameworks like the NIST AI RMF, and managing the company-wide policy lifecycle. The ideal candidate views compliance as a product, emphasizing automated evidence collection, continuous control monitoring, and user-friendly policies. This role offers immediate ownership and growth potential within a fast-paced startup environment, requiring an agile and ownership-driven mindset. The position is on-site, with a requirement of 3+ days per week at the South San Francisco HQ.

Requirements

8+ years experience in security compliance, GRC, or risk management, including 2+ years leading a team or function.
Healthcare SaaS, health tech, or AI startup experience strongly preferred.
Deep, hands-on expertise across HITRUST CSF (r2 preferred), SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA Security and Privacy Rules, and emerging AI governance frameworks like NIST AI RMF.
Experience running certification and audit cycles from start to finish and translating AI governance standards into real controls for a company building on PHI.
An automation-first instinct: hands-on experience with GRC and continuous control monitoring platforms (Vanta, Drata, Hyperproof, or similar), evidence collection automation, and a track record of using AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) to push the boundaries of what a lean compliance function can do.
End-to-end policy ownership: drafting, cross-framework mapping, and running review/exception/attestation cycles.
Comfort in front of customers: enterprise security questionnaires, sales-cycle support, BAA/security terms negotiation alongside Legal, and managing customer audits.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience achieving or maintaining ISO 27001, ISO 42001, or HITRUST AI certifications.
Familiarity with the technical side of a modern security stack (Okta, MDM platforms like Kandji/Iru, SentinelOne, Nightfall, AWS) and the ability to partner credibly with Security and IT on control implementation.
Experience with privacy regulations beyond HIPAA, such as CCPA/CPRA, state health data laws, or GDPR.
Implementing Compliance Automation Tools and Trust Centers like Drata or Vanta.
Scripting or low-code automation skills (Python, Zapier, Tray.io) for building compliance workflows.
Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISA, CIPP/US, HCISPP, or HITRUST CCSFP.

Responsibilities

Own AKASA’s compliance certification portfolio end to end (including HITRUST CSF, SOC 2 Type II, and HIPAA) from control design and implementation through evidence collection, audit coordination, and remediation.
Evaluate and pursue new certifications and attestations (such as ISO 27001, ISO 42001, and HITRUST AI) as customer and market needs evolve.
Define compliance roadmaps and ensure org-wide adoption, driving cross-functional alignment and accountability on regulatory requirements.
Build our AI governance program grounded in the NIST AI RMF, partnering with Engineering, Product, and Legal to establish model risk assessments, AI use policies, and documentation that meets enterprise health system expectations.
Drive compliance automation as a first principle: implement and optimize GRC and continuous control monitoring tooling, automate evidence collection across our stack (Okta, Google Workspace, Kandji/Iru, SentinelOne, Nightfall, AWS), and use AI tools to streamline policy drafting, control mapping, and audit preparation.
Own the full policy lifecycle, including authoring, review cadences, exception handling, attestation campaigns, and version control; ensuring policies are clear, practical, and mapped to the frameworks we certify against.
Be the compliance face of AKASA for customers and prospects: lead security and compliance questionnaire responses, support enterprise sales cycles, manage customer audits, and maintain trust artifacts including BAAs, our trust center, and shared assessments. Find ways to automate these processes using AI first tooling.
Oversee vendor and third-party risk management, the annual risk assessment, security awareness and HIPAA training programs, and incident response documentation and tabletop exercises in partnership with Security and IT.
Partner with Legal and Security leadership on all security-related contractual obligations.