Director of Cybersecurity Governance, Risk and Compliance

The University of Texas at Austin•Austin, UT

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Cybersecurity Governance, Risk and Compliance leads the information security Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) program for UT Medicine and Dell Medical School. This role builds and operates a mature GRC function that enables the organization to assess, manage, and mitigate cybersecurity risk across a clinical, academic, and research environment on a path toward full hospital operations in 2030. Dell Medical School operates within UT Austin’s established enterprise security program, inheriting a baseline of policies, procedures, and tooling. This allows Dell Medical School’s cybersecurity governance program to focus on areas of risk specific to its clinical and research mission. Rather than rebuilding foundational controls, this role concentrates on assessing risk and developing security policies, standards, and procedures specific to healthcare delivery, clinical research, and regulatory compliance. Beyond GRC, this role owns Dell Medical School’s incident response coordination capability for events that exceed UT Austin’s initial response scope, including driving communication, escalation, and decision-making across clinical and business stakeholders through resolution. This includes maintaining business continuity and disaster recovery plans for clinical and business systems where Dell Medical School bears primary responsibility. The Director of Cybersecurity Governance, Risk and Compliance provides strategic leadership for Dell Medical School’s information security governance, risk management, and compliance program. This position develops and executes GRC strategy, evaluates cybersecurity risk, establishes healthcare- and research-specific security governance, oversees regulatory compliance, and provides executive-level reporting on organizational risk posture and program maturity. Operating within UT Austin’s federated security environment, the Director partners with technology, clinical, research, legal, privacy, audit, and compliance stakeholders to manage cybersecurity risk while supporting Dell Medical School’s continued growth toward full hospital operations. The role also provides leadership for third-party risk management, incident response coordination, business continuity and disaster recovery, research security governance, and application security governance.

Requirements

Master’s degree in Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Health Informatics, or a related field.
Minimum of five years of experience in progressive leadership roles in information security governance or Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC).
Minimum of eight years of experience in healthcare, banking, defense, or other high-security environments.
CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) or CISM (Certified Information Security Manager).

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated experience conducting HIPAA Security Risk Analyses in a covered entity or business associate environment.
Experience with CMMC or NIST 800-171 compliance programs in an academic or research setting.
Experience managing third-party cybersecurity risk programs in a highly regulated environment.
Experience designing cybersecurity awareness programs using behavior-based learning approaches.
HCISPP (Healthcare Information Security and Privacy Practitioner).
CRISC (Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control).
CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor).
Healthcare-specific GRC certifications.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the Dell Medical School GRC strategy aligned with organizational objectives, regulatory requirements, and the 2030 hospital opening.
Build and lead a team of GRC analysts and security compliance professionals, providing ongoing coaching and career development.
Deliver executive-level reporting on risk posture, compliance status, and program maturity to the Deputy CISO and governance bodies.
Develop a GRC metrics and KPI framework measuring program effectiveness, employee compliance behavior, and security posture improvement over time.
Evaluate cybersecurity insurance options and risk-transfer mechanisms as part of the organization’s residual risk strategy.
Coordinate with internal audit, legal, privacy, and enterprise compliance to align governance activities and manage risk consistently across organizational units.
Lead the annual HIPAA Security Risk Analysis and coordinate remediation planning with technology and operational leaders.
Conduct security risk assessments of infrastructure solutions and clinical platforms to evaluate control adequacy and identify gaps.
Maintain a risk register and hold technology and operational leaders accountable to remediation timelines across the clinical, academic, research, and administrative technology portfolio.
Perform business impact analysis to evaluate the effect of cybersecurity risks on critical clinical operations and business functions.
Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of security controls through structured cost-benefit analysis to optimize risk reduction relative to available resources.
Conduct cyber risk trend analysis and reporting to identify emerging threats and inform remediation priorities.
Execute security authorization reviews for new system acquisitions and major system changes, with authority to withhold security authorization until risks are reduced to acceptable thresholds.
Author and maintain Dell Medical School cybersecurity policies, including policies that are more stringent than UT Austin baseline requirements where HIPAA, clinical operations, or research compliance demands.
Ensure Dell Medical School security policies comply with applicable federal and state regulations and operate within the UT Austin enterprise security charter.
Leverage applicable UT Austin security standards and guidelines and develop Dell Medical School-specific standards for clinical, biomedical, and clinical trial environments.
Retain ownership of Dell Medical School security processes and procedures across operational domains.
Identify top human cybersecurity risks and design behavioral mitigation campaigns targeting clinical, research, and administrative staff populations.
Design and deliver a security awareness program using adult learning principles and maintain metrics to measure employee behavior change and program effectiveness.
Respond to regulatory inquiries and support external audit engagements in coordination with Legal and Privacy while maintaining comprehensive compliance documentation.
Develop and operate a vendor security assessment program covering new software acquisitions, SaaS platforms, and technology service providers.
Review Business Associate Agreements and technology contracts for security requirements and appropriate data-handling provisions.
Evaluate proposed vendor solutions through review of SOC 2 reports, penetration test results, and security questionnaire responses.
Develop and maintain vendor security onboarding procedures, including risk tiering and baseline assessment requirements for new technology partners.
Build escalation and communication plans for third-party risk events and develop remediation action plans when deficiencies are identified.
Approve vendor onboarding based on security assessment outcomes in coordination with Procurement and Legal and withhold approval when security requirements are not met.
Own and maintain Dell Medical School’s incident response capability for events requiring a response beyond UT Austin’s initial handling scope.
Develop business continuity and disaster recovery plans for clinical and business systems where Dell Medical School bears primary responsibility.
Design tabletop exercise scenarios and coordinate preparedness exercises with internal teams and UT Austin campus security operations.
Define escalation paths, communication protocols, and recovery playbooks for security events affecting clinical and business systems.
Coordinate with legal, privacy, and communications teams to incorporate regulatory notification obligations and crisis communication requirements into response plans.
Establish and maintain cybersecurity governance requirements for research computing environments involving Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), Protected Health Information (PHI), and export-controlled information.
Define application security standards and secure coding requirements integrated throughout the software development and integration lifecycle.
Oversee security testing activities, including static analysis and vulnerability scanning for internally developed and integrated applications.
Facilitate threat modeling for new applications and services to identify and address security design risks before deployment.
Develop and maintain cloud security governance policies covering SaaS platform adoption and cloud-hosted infrastructure.
Represent the organization at cybersecurity and healthcare security conferences and industry forums.
Participate in enterprise risk committees and strategic planning sessions.
Maintain awareness of industry trends, emerging threats, and regulatory developments to continuously improve the GRC program.
Perform related duties as required.