Principal Technical Program Manager, Cyber Defense

TransUnion•Chicago, IL

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

TransUnion's Cyber Defense organization helps protect the enterprise by strengthening detection, incident response, threat intelligence, and security operations capabilities across the business. The team supports the broader TransUnion story by helping the business respond effectively to cyber risk, continuously improve from incidents and near-misses, and provide leadership with clear visibility into Cyber Defense health, priorities, and progress. This role reports to the SVP, Cyber Defense. This is a hybrid position and involves regular performance of job responsibilities virtually as well as in-person at an assigned TU office location for a minimum of two days a week.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in Technical Program Management, Security Operations, or Engineering Program Management, with demonstrated ability to operate at both strategic and execution levels in complex, cross-functional environments.
Experience working in or alongside Detection & Response, SOC, or Reliability/SRE teams, with sufficient technical depth to engage credibly with detection engineers, incident responders, and threat intelligence analysts.
Proven track record building operating systems, including cadences, metrics frameworks, feedback loops, and governance structures that drive measurable organizational improvement.
Demonstrated ability to own and run post-incident or post-mortem review programs focused on systemic learning, action tracking, and durable improvement rather than one-off remediation.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
Cyber Defense, SOC (Security Operations Center), Detection Engineering, SIRT (Security Incident Response Team), and Threat Intelligence operating concepts.
Incident response and post-incident review frameworks, including blameless review practices, systemic learning, remediation tracking, and action closure management.
Operational metrics design and governance, including detection effectiveness, detection coverage, response quality, response speed, and learning throughput.
Cross-functional program management practices, including milestone planning, dependency management, risk escalation, stakeholder alignment, and executive decision support.
MITRE ATT&CK and detection operations concepts sufficient to partner effectively with technical security teams.

Nice To Haves

Cyber Defense, SOC, or Detection Engineering program management experience.
Prior Chief of Staff or leadership-adjacent experience in a technical organization.
Experience building knowledge management or organizational learning systems that improve how teams capture, share, and apply lessons learned.
Financial services, fintech, or similarly regulated enterprise experience.
PMP, CISSP, or equivalent program/security management credentials.

Responsibilities

Serve as a key leader and strategic partner to the Head of Cyber Defense, increasing operational rigor, learning velocity, and executive effectiveness across the organization.
Build and own the Cyber Defense closed-loop learning system, connecting incidents, near-misses, detections, and exercises into a continuous improvement engine that drives durable changes across people, process, and technology.
Own the post-incident review framework and cadence, driving blameless, high-quality reviews focused on systemic improvement while tracking remediation actions to closure.
Define, implement, and evolve Cyber Defense operational metrics, including detection effectiveness and coverage, response quality and speed, and learning throughput, ensuring metrics drive leadership decisions rather than reporting alone.
Operate the Detection Council as a structured decision-making forum, owning agendas, materials, follow-through, prioritization of detection gaps, strategic coverage decisions, and cross-team alignment.
Lead critical cross-functional Cyber Defense initiatives end-to-end, managing milestones, risks, dependencies, execution blockers, and escalations with clear options and trade-offs.
Deliver clear, structured executive communications on Cyber Defense health, translating detection posture, incident trends, program progress, and decisions needed into executive-relevant narratives.
Build and maintain the Cyber Defense wins and maturity narrative by capturing key wins, improvements driven by learning, and maturity progress over time.
Improve leadership operating rhythm and meeting hygiene by driving clear agendas, documented decisions, and accountable follow-ups across Cyber Defense leadership forums.

Benefits

Day-one eligibility for medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus supplemental plan options.
Spousal, domestic partner, and other eligible dependent coverage is available on select plans.
Tax‑advantaged HSA and FSA accounts.
Company‑paid basic life and AD&D.
Optional voluntary life and AD&D for you and your family.
Short‑ and long‑term disability.
Legal plan.
Pet insurance.
Travel accident coverage.
Adoption assistance.
Fertility planning coverage.
Caregiver support.
Dependent Care FSA for possibility of an employer match.
Complimentary Care@Work membership.
Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave with eligibility for a thoughtful, gradual return.
401(k) with employer match.
Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP).
Financial wellness resources.
Career coaching.
Optional long‑term care insurance.
Tuition reimbursement.
Flexible time off for exempt employees or paid time off for nonexempt employees.
Up to 12 paid holidays per year.
Commuter benefits.
Employee discounts.
Charitable gift matching.
Paid volunteer time off.
Corporate volunteer events.
24/7 support including professional therapy, coaching, and emotional well‑being programs.
Guided meditation and resources that support physical, mental, social, and financial wellness.