IT/OT Cybersecurity Lead

Freese and Nichols • Tampa, FL

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Freese and Nichols is seeking an IT/OT Cybersecurity Lead for a company-wide leadership role. The position sets the strategic direction, supports growth, and oversees the technical quality of the firm’s IT and OT cybersecurity consulting services. It leads business development by building client relationships and identifying, shaping, and winning new work; builds and develops a cybersecurity team; and provides senior technical leadership on complex client engagements. Working with firm and market leadership, the role expands service capabilities and guides practical cybersecurity solutions that protect client operations across enterprise networks, control systems, and field infrastructure.

The lead will serve water, wastewater, and critical infrastructure clients as a trusted cybersecurity advisor, shape service strategy and offerings, lead pursuits, and build visibility through industry activities. The role also establishes technical methods and quality standards, advises on secure IT/OT architecture and technology selection, mentors staff, and ensures cybersecurity considerations are integrated into design and construction work. The position may be based in any Freese and Nichols location and involves travel to client sites and industrial environments as project assignments require. The firm describes its work environment as hybrid, with up to 40% remote work.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity, information technology, computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, information systems, or a closely related discipline.
• 20+ years of cybersecurity experience, including significant experience in both IT and OT or industrial control system environments.
• Current CISSP, CISM, or CISA credential.
• Proven track record of winning and growing work with utility or critical infrastructure clients, including serving as primary client contact and leading scopes, fees, proposals, and interviews.
• Experience leading complex, high-visibility cybersecurity engagements from pursuit through delivery.
• Experience building or growing a cybersecurity service offering, including defining services, staffing, and market positioning.
• Experience building and leading teams, including hiring staff and developing them into project leads and technical leads.
• Experience applying cybersecurity frameworks and regulatory requirements to assessments, policies, plans, and roadmaps.
• Experience serving water, wastewater, or other critical infrastructure utilities, including AWIA risk and resilience assessments and water-sector cybersecurity guidance.
• Ability to travel to client sites and industrial environments as project assignments require.
• Deep knowledge of IT and OT cybersecurity and how security strategies support business objectives, operational reliability, and risk management.
• Understanding of cybersecurity consulting business practices, including market needs, service positioning, relationship development, pursuit strategy, scope and fee development, and project financials.
• Knowledge of workforce planning, competency assessment, mentoring, knowledge transfer, and leadership development for technical teams.
• Advanced knowledge of OT and industrial control system environments, including SCADA, PLC, RTU, HMI, and historian architectures, and related operational constraints.
• Knowledge of enterprise IT security domains, including identity and access management, endpoint protection, vulnerability management, logging and monitoring, and security operations, and their application across interconnected IT and OT environments.
• Knowledge of translating assessment results into investment plans and implementation roadmaps that account for risk, cost, system lifecycle, and operational requirements.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity frameworks, standards, and regulatory drivers relevant to client environments, including NIST, ISA/IEC 62443, CIS Controls, and AWIA.
• Current knowledge of emerging threats, vulnerabilities, regulatory changes, and technology developments and their implications for clients and service offerings.
• Understanding of cybersecurity implications of cloud-connected SCADA, IoT, and AI, and ability to help clients assess risks, opportunities, and adoption strategies.
• Sound judgment in balancing security with operational availability, safety, legacy equipment, and cost.
• Ability to develop practical policies, plans, and roadmaps within clients’ staffing, budget, and uptime constraints.
• Ability to ensure security requirements are incorporated into design, specifications, testing, and commissioning.
• Ability to engage in detailed design discussions and executive briefings as a credible technical authority.
• Ability to build long-term client relationships, grow services, collaborate across offices, and communicate cyber risk effectively.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in cybersecurity, information systems, engineering, or a related field.
• Consulting experience leading client-facing assessments, gap analyses, roadmaps, and advisory engagements.
• Existing relationships with water and wastewater utilities or other critical infrastructure clients in Freese and Nichols markets.
• Working knowledge of industrial protocols such as Modbus, DNP3, OPC UA, and EtherNet/IP, including ability to explain their security limitations to clients.
• Experience selecting and specifying OT security technologies, including OT monitoring and asset discovery, segmentation, secure remote access, firewalls, and SIEM platforms.
• Experience securing cloud and hybrid environments, including cloud-connected SCADA, edge computing, and IoT data pipelines.
• Experience leading incident response planning, tabletop exercises, post-incident reviews, and recovery planning for operational environments.
• Experience using approved AI tools responsibly to improve the quality and efficiency of deliverables.
• Leadership roles in professional organizations such as AWWA, WEF, ISA, ISACA, (ISC)2, InfraGard, or WaterISAC, including committee work, presentations, or publications.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain relationships with water, wastewater, and critical infrastructure clients, serving as a cybersecurity advisor to executive, IT, and operations stakeholders.
• Shape cybersecurity service growth strategy, including target clients, service offerings, pricing approach, and annual growth goals, in coordination with firm leadership.
• Lead pursuits from opportunity identification through award, including capture planning, win strategy, scopes, fees, proposals, and interviews.
• Partner with client service leaders and project managers across offices to incorporate cybersecurity into larger pursuits, such as SCADA master plans, treatment plant designs, and AWIA assessments.
• Track regulatory and funding drivers and translate them into client service offerings.
• Build firm visibility through conference presentations, technical papers, webinars, and leadership in industry organizations and committees.
• Define cybersecurity staffing needs, participate in hiring, and shape the team’s skills mix.
• Mentor staff and develop them into project leads and client-facing advisors through stretch assignments, technical review, and certification planning.
• Delegate project delivery to developing staff while maintaining oversight of quality and client outcomes.
• Establish career paths and succession plans for cybersecurity roles.
• Provide internal training to raise cybersecurity capability across I&C, SCADA, and electrical teams and integrate security into design work.
• Set technical direction, methodologies, and quality standards for cybersecurity services across the firm.
• Serve as technical lead on complex, high-visibility engagements and provide senior review on other work.
• Develop repeatable assessment methods, templates, and tools to support consistent and scalable delivery.
• Provide senior direction on secure IT/OT architecture and technology selection, accounting for OT availability, safety, and legacy constraints.
• Advise firm leadership on contractual, liability, and risk issues related to cybersecurity work, and help shape contract language and service terms.
• Translate cybersecurity assessments into prioritized investment plans and practical implementation roadmaps.
• Ensure cybersecurity requirements are incorporated into drawings, specifications, testing, and commissioning on design and construction projects.
• Communicate cyber risk to utility leadership, operations staff, and technical teams to support decisions and funding.
• Travel to client sites, treatment facilities, pump stations, control rooms, and industrial environments as project assignments require.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package.
• Paid overtime for salaried employees.
• Annual bonus.
• Access to company cabins in Red River, New Mexico, and Banner Elk, North Carolina.
• Flexible hybrid work environment with up to 40% remote work.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior