TIERS Cybersecurity Operations Director

TX-HHSC-DSHS-DFPS • Austin, TX

16d

About The Position

This position is open to permanent residents or U.S. citizens only.

The TIERS Cybersecurity Operations Director serves as the executive leader responsible for cybersecurity operations supporting the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS) environment and associated platforms. This role provides strategic direction, operational oversight, and technical leadership to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of one of HHSC’s most mission-critical systems supporting benefits delivery to Texans.

The Director oversees Security Operations Center (SOC) activities specific to TIERS, including threat detection, SIEM strategy, vulnerability management, penetration testing coordination, and cyber incident response. This position ensures continuous monitoring of the TIERS ecosystem and drives rapid mitigation of threats to minimize operational and reputational risk to the agency.

Operating at a senior leadership level, the Director collaborates closely with infrastructure, application development, cloud engineering, privacy, and program leadership to embed security into the TIERS technology lifecycle. The role is accountable for operational security readiness, attack surface reduction, and maintaining a mature defensive posture against advanced threats targeting public-sector systems.

Risk management, governance, compliance oversight, audit coordination, and regulatory control validation are performed by the HHSC Risk and Compliance divisions. This position partners with those teams to operationalize controls but does not own compliance functions, ensuring clear separation of duties and alignment with enterprise governance.

The Director III exercises extensive independent judgment, leads high-impact cyber response activities, manages senior security personnel, and contributes to the long-term modernization of HHSC cybersecurity capabilities.

Requirements

• Executive-level knowledge of Security Operations and large-scale cyber defense programs.
• Deep knowledge in SIEM platforms such as Splunk, Sentinel, or equivalent enterprise tools.
• Advanced knowledge of penetration testing methodologies and remediation practices.
• Knowledge of hybrid and cloud security architectures.
• Knowledge of attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures mapped to MITRE ATT&CK.
• Skilled in building metrics, dashboards, and operational reporting for leadership.
• Skilled in leading vulnerability management programs utilizing platforms such as Qualys.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong leadership capability managing high-performing technical teams.
• Ability to translate cyber risk into operational and business impact for executive audiences.
• Ability to operate decisively during high-severity incidents.
• Proven ability to lead teams during high-impact cyber events.
• Ability to maintain the security and integrity of critical infrastructure systems by preventing unauthorized access and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations related to national security and foreign ownership restrictions
• Minimum 10+ years of progressive cybersecurity experience.
• At least 5 years in a senior leadership role within Security Operations or cyber defense.
• Experience managing SIEM, vulnerability management, and incident response programs.
• Experience securing large, mission-critical enterprise applications.

Nice To Haves

• CISSP or CISSP-ISSMP
• CISM
• GIAC (GCIH, GCIA, or GCED)
• Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
• AWS Security Specialty or Azure Security Engineer
• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

Responsibilities

• TIERS Security Operations Leadership
• SIEM Strategy & Detection Engineering
• Vulnerability Management & Penetration Testing
• TIERS Platform & Cloud Security
• Partnership with Risk & Compliance
• Other Duties as Assigned

Benefits

• comprehensive benefits package includes 100% paid employee health insurance for full-time eligible employees
• defined benefit pension plan
• generous time off benefits
• numerous opportunities for career advancement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed