Director, Cybersecurity Engineering

USAA•San Antonio, TX

2d•$164,780 - $314,960•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Cybersecurity Engineering leads the engineering organization responsible for the technology foundation that enables USAA’s Cyber Threat Operations Center (CTOC). The role is accountable for the strategy, engineering, delivery, modernization, reliability, and lifecycle of critical cybersecurity platforms, infrastructure, applications, integrations, and automation supporting Endpoint Protection, Vulnerability Management, ASPM, SIEM, SOAR, and SSPM. The director will also help shape next-generation cyber defense through AI Security, Agentic SOC, Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM), and increased security-operations automation. This role leads engineering strategy and multi-year roadmaps, establishes standards and operating practices for critical platforms, and partners with Cyber Threat Operations to translate threat-defense requirements into engineering capabilities. It owns an assigned information-security domain’s strategy, policies, standards, governance, assurance, risk management, and operational effectiveness, while coordinating with the CISO, senior leaders, and external regulators. The director is responsible for organizational budgets and workforce planning, building and developing a team, and ensuring business risks are identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies. The position is based in San Antonio, Texas, and requires working in the office four days per week. Relocation assistance is available.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Security, Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Administration, Information Systems/Management, or a related field, or four years of relevant education and/or experience.
Eight years of related information-security experience in one or more domains, such as cybersecurity, identity and access management, information assurance and governance, operational risk management, or information technology, including significant accountability for projects, programs, processes, or policies.
Three years of direct team-lead, supervisor, or management experience in an information-security or information-technology domain.
Four years researching, designing, or implementing technology, information-security, or cybersecurity solutions in a large financial institution or large enterprise information-security program, with demonstrated results compliant with federal, state, and regulatory information-security and risk-management policies, standards, and guidelines.
Expert knowledge of relevant risk-management and information-security regulations and standards, such as FFIEC, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, the FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and PCI DSS.
Strong knowledge of security technologies, including cryptography, authentication, authorization, and controls.
Strong knowledge of IT risks and experience implementing security solutions.
Knowledge of threats, vulnerabilities, attack methods, and countermeasures for web-based applications, networks, and cybersecurity solutions.
Demonstrated financial acumen involving budgets, forecasting, and budget execution for an information-security, cybersecurity, or technology-support function.
Expert business acumen in business operations, risk management, industry practices, and emerging trends.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical analyses to non-technical audiences.

Nice To Haves

10 or more years of progressive experience across cybersecurity, security engineering, security operations, infrastructure engineering, or related technology disciplines.
Five or more years of leadership experience managing cybersecurity engineering, platform engineering, security-operations technology, or comparable technical organizations.
Demonstrated experience leading large-scale cybersecurity platforms and engineering capabilities in mission-critical environments.
Strong technical understanding of Endpoint Security, Vulnerability Management, ASPM, SIEM, SOAR, SSPM, threat detection, incident response, and security automation.
Experience with CrowdStrike Falcon, Qualys, Splunk/Splunk SOAR, or comparable enterprise security technologies.
Demonstrated experience developing multi-year technology strategies and roadmaps and translating cybersecurity requirements into engineering priorities and investments.
Experience leading technology modernization, platform consolidation, technical-debt reduction, lifecycle management, and complex enterprise integrations.
Working knowledge of AI/ML security, Generative AI, agentic technologies, security automation, and AI governance.
Knowledge of CTEM and risk-based approaches to vulnerability and exposure management.
Strong understanding of cloud, APIs, automation, modern software and engineering practices, and security architecture.
Demonstrated ability to lead complex technology transformations while maintaining operational stability of production security services.
Experience with financial management, workforce planning, capacity management, vendor management, and technology-investment prioritization.
Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to translate complex engineering and cybersecurity risks into business impact, investment needs, and strategic decisions.
Relevant industry credentials such as CISSP, CISM, GIAC, or comparable cybersecurity or technology certifications.

Responsibilities

Lead the Cybersecurity Engineering organization, its engineering strategy, and multi-year technology roadmap for platforms, infrastructure, applications, and integrations supporting the CTOC.
Ensure the reliability, resiliency, availability, scalability, and recoverability of critical cybersecurity platforms through engineering standards, health metrics, lifecycle practices, capacity management, and operational-readiness expectations.
Partner with Cyber Threat Operations to turn operational and threat-defense requirements into engineering capabilities that improve prevention, detection, investigation, containment, and response.
Lead the evolution of security operations, including AI Security, AI-assisted cyber operations, Agentic SOC capabilities, and CTEM, with appropriate security, governance, architecture, and human oversight.
Own critical security domains or capabilities, develop multi-year roadmaps, and/or lead senior managers.
Establish and ensure compliant execution of the assigned information-security domain’s strategic vision, goals, and metrics, and govern its policies, standards, and procedures.
Direct effective operation of an enterprise information-security domain, including capacity, resilience, dependability, and assessment of how changes in conditions, operations, or the environment affect system operation.
Develop, review, and communicate information-security risk-management policies and procedures with the CISO and other senior leaders, ensuring alignment with industry practices and regulatory requirements.
Represent USAA in discussions with external regulators regarding the assigned information-security domain.
Oversee continuous monitoring of cybersecurity activities and alert senior management to potential risks, compliance issues, and operational inefficiencies.
Develop, design, and deliver a sustainable governance and assurance model across multiple domains and the enterprise.
Identify, monitor, and evaluate operational solutions that reduce information-security risk, meet compliance requirements, and improve workforce efficiency, business agility, and workforce scalability.
Promote information-security awareness across the enterprise and with the external security community.
Manage organizational budgets and manpower as a financial steward, ensuring they cost-effectively meet organizational needs.
Build and oversee a team through recruiting, development, retention, coaching, support, performance management, and other managerial activities.
Ensure risks associated with business activities are identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.