Principal Research Analyst - Audit Professional Practices

ISACA•Schaumburg, IL

10d•$113,503 - $170,309

About The Position

A Principal Research Analyst at ISACA leads the development, delivery, and continuous enhancement of high-quality forward-thinking content, guidance, and practitioner aids for their assigned area of expertise, ensuring alignment with ISACA’s Professional Practices Program Strategy and industry standards. This role partners closely with business units, marketing, events teams, and ISACA leadership to integrate practice-area content consistently across conferences, webinars, publications, and other member-facing initiatives. Serving as a subject matter expert in their assigned practice area. This Principal Research Analyst recruits, mobilizes, and guides volunteer SME groups to co-develop and validate content, while providing expert guidance throughout content and research project cycles. The position represents ISACA externally at industry events, panels, and webinars, evaluates conference proposals, and ensures presentations meet technical and strategic standards. Additionally, the role supports knowledge advancement by responding to member inquiries, monitoring trends, and maintaining up-to-date expertise, and contributes to ISACA’s brand and marketing efforts to strengthen organizational visibility and credibility. This position requires consistent demonstration of critical thinking, collaboration, strong communication, analytical skills, and the ability to manage multiple priorities, embodying ISACA’s values of People First, Curiosity, Passion, and Collaboration.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field of study from an accredited university, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Minimum of 8 years of experience in a similar role or capacity, with a demonstrated record of success.
Experience responding to stakeholder inquiries, providing expert guidance and practical interpretation of industry practices and trends.
Proven experience collaborating cross-functionally with business teams
Experience conducting secondary research and reporting
Track record of public-facing thought leadership: conference speaking, webinars, podcasts, or published articles
Additional 5+ years of experience with enterprise IT audit processes: risk assessment, control design review, control testing, and audit evidence collection.
1+ year experience auditing artificial intelligence technologies
Deep working knowledge of relevant frameworks, standards, and regulations: COBIT, GDPR, NIST CSF, ISO, SOX
Practical understanding of IT governance, risk management, and compliance practices and how they map to business objectives
Working knowledge of artificial intelligence technologies, current applications within assigned area of expertise, identification of appropriate use cases, and related risk.
Vendor and market research – evaluating products, mapping capabilities, and performing competitive analysis
Critical thinking, collaboration, and cross-functional stakeholder engagement
Business writing
Proven ability to translate research into content deliverables: verbal presentations or written reports
CISA

Nice To Haves

Master’s Degree in Accounting, Business, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field from an accredited university.
10+ years of experience in a similar role or capacity, with a demonstrated record of success.
Related experience in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, energy) or working with regulators and compliance programs
Experience assessing AI technologies, e.g., models, MCP servers, etc.
Strong quantitative and qualitative analysis skills to synthesize data into actionable findings
Experience auditing cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP)
Experience assessing readiness against U.S. government mandates and/or public sector standards (e.g., CMMC, NIST)
AAIA, CCA, CCP

Responsibilities

Lead the creation, review, and delivery of content including articles, audit programs, whitepapers, secondary research reports, and practitioner aids.
Ensure content aligns with ISACA’s Professional Practices Program Strategy and industry standards.
Provide input on materials, frameworks, and references to maintain high-quality outputs.
Use AI responsibly and in compliance with organizational policies
Serve as internal SME within assigned professional practice (e.g., audit, emerging tech, GRC, information security, privacy).
Recruit, mobilize, and manage volunteer SME groups to co-develop and validate ISACA content.
Provide guidance and leadership during content and research project cycles e.g., exam prep materials, journal articles.
Represent ISACA at industry events, panels, podcasts, and webinars to promote the organization’s research and frameworks.
Evaluate conference proposals and review final presentations for technical and strategic accuracy.
Respond to member and partner technical inquiries within area of practice.
Maintain up-to-date knowledge by attending professional seminars, reviewing literature, and monitoring trends.
Partner with business units, marketing, and events teams to ensure consistent, relevant integration of practice-area content across conferences, webinars, podcasts, and publications.
Collaborate with ISACA leadership to align professional practice content with organizational messaging and priorities.
Support ISACA’s marketing and brand-building efforts through strategic communication and collaboration.
Participate in activities that foster partnerships and elevate ISACA’s visibility and credibility in the global ecosystem.