Expert Technical Governance & Operational Readiness Manager

Topstep

7d•$140,000 - $160,000•Hybrid

About The Position

As the Expert Technical Governance & Operational Readiness Manager, you will be the technical execution lead for our IT governance, risk, and readiness frameworks, specifically scoped to protect and empower our Engineering, Technical Program Office, and Trust & Resilience organizations. We are looking for a builder who can own the entire lifecycle of technical compliance, from mapping technical frameworks and implementing lightweight IT workflows to driving continuous audit readiness and implementing automated monitoring. While embedded directly within the Trust & Resilience team, this role maintains a strategic dotted-line reporting relationship to the Chief Compliance Officer to ensure enterprise-wide alignment.

Requirements

6 + years of progressive experience in IT GRC, IT audit, or technical compliance within high-growth fintech, SaaS, or highly regulated technology environments.
Demonstrable track record of project-level ownership, specifically proving you can implement and scale technical control frameworks, readiness roadmaps, and automated evidence gathering in an immature program environment.
Deep working knowledge of core security and governance frameworks, including SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27701/27001, NIST CSF, and financial sector regulatory standards.
Technical tooling expertise with modern, cloud-native GRC platforms (e.g., Vanta, Drata, Anecdotes, or LogicGate), including hands-on experience configuring API integrations for continuous control monitoring and automated evidence gathering.
Engineering literacy necessary to speak the same language as Cloud Infrastructure and Product Engineering teams; ability to evaluate development/deployment pipelines, system architecture, and access controls for compliance risks.
Autonomy and execution depth to independently manage complex, cross-functional compliance initiatives from conception to execution without requiring daily managerial direction.

Nice To Haves

A distinct preference for modern, automated, and frictionless compliance solutions over traditional, legacy, spreadsheet-heavy "gatekeeping" models.

Responsibilities

Translate and execute the technical tracks of the IT governance roadmap, ensuring Product, Engineering, and Trust team operations align with firm policies and external requirements.
Establish and maintain a unified control framework that explicitly maps Topstep’s technical architecture, cloud infrastructure, and technical architecture to established governance standards.
Centralize, maintain, and operationalize a comprehensive technical procedures and documentation library based on policies established and authorized by the Chief Compliance Officer. Manage the technical review, attestation, and exception tracking processes for all engineering and technical partners.
Architect, launch, and manage an end-to-end, continuous audit readiness program. Partner with internal audit, enterprise compliance, and our product & engineering teams to replace point-in-time compliance checks with automated, real-time evidence collection pipelines.
Serve as the primary Individual Contributor (IC) and core escalation point for all technical governance queries, translating abstract framework criteria into concrete requirements for product and infrastructure engineering teams.
Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and technical compliance metrics to provide leadership with transparent reporting on control health, policy exceptions, and audit readiness trends.
Maintain an unwavering commitment to confidentiality and ethical conduct, particularly when handling sensitive system vulnerability data, internal access logs, or proprietary fintech intellectual property.