Director, Cybersecurity - Remote or Hybrid in DC, NC and MN

UnitedHealth Group•Washington, DC

3d•$65 - $111•Hybrid

About The Position

Optum Tech is a global leader in health care innovation. Our teams develop cutting-edge solutions that help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. From advanced data analytics and AI to cybersecurity, we use innovative approaches to solve some of health care’s most complex challenges. Your contributions here have the potential to change lives. Ready to build the next breakthrough? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. The Director of Security Incident Response (SIR) is responsible for leading the organization’s incident response program, ensuring rapid detection, containment, eradication, and recovery from cybersecurity incidents. This role provides strategic oversight, operational leadership, and continuous improvement of incident response capabilities to protect enterprise assets, data, and reputation. You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week. You’ll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or related field
CISSP, CISM, GSTRT, and other technical certifications from ISC2, CompTIA, SANS, ISACA, CSP's, etc.
10+ years of experience in cybersecurity
5+ years of experience in incident response leadership of very large organizations
5+ years of experience managing global 24/7 SOC/IR teams and large-scale security incidents
5+ years of deep knowledge of incident response frameworks, forensic tools, EDR/XDR, Public Cloud, application security, networking and SIEM platforms
3+ years of Project management experience
Demonstrated ability to translate technical risk into business impact

Nice To Haves

Experience in regulated industries (healthcare, finance)
Familiarity with cloud security and hybrid environments
Expertise in automation and orchestration for incident response

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership:
Develop and maintain the enterprise-wide Incident Response Strategy, aligning with frameworks such as NIST, MITRE ATT&CK, and ISO 27035
Establish governance for incident response, including policies, playbooks, and escalation protocols
Serve as the primary liaison with executive leadership, legal, compliance, and communications teams during major incidents
Operational Management:
Oversee 24/7 incident response operations, including triage, containment, forensic analysis, and remediation
Direct Incident Response and Digital Forensic teams, ensuring readiness and resilience
Coordinate with Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), Threat Hunting, and Security Operations Center teams for proactive defense and post-incident analysis
Produce clear metrics and reporting of incident data and KPI's
Manage multiple projects and workstreams simultaneously
Incident Handling:
Lead response for critical and high-severity incidents, including ransomware, data breaches, network intrusions, and advanced persistent threats (APTs)
Ensure proper chain-of-custody for forensic evidence and compliance with regulatory requirements (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR)
Drive root cause analysis and lessons learned to strengthen security posture
Collaboration & Communication:
Partner with Legal, Privacy, and Compliance Officers for breach notifications and regulatory reporting
Communicate incident status and impact to executive leadership and internal stakeholders
Represent the organization in interactions with 3rd party incident response and legal firms
Collaborate with Security Officers, Merger & Acquisitions, Security Architecture & Engineering, Governance and other Global Security Operation teams
Continuous Improvement:
Conduct post-incident reviews and implement action plans
Develop and deliver training programs for incident response teams
Maintain awareness of emerging threats and integrate threat intelligence into response strategies