Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) US Government & Public Sector

EY is seeking a Chief Information Security officer (CISO) for the US Government & Public Sector (GPS). The CISO is the senior executive responsible for enterprise cybersecurity strategy governance and execution across both classified and unclassified environments. This includes compliance with DFARS/CMMC NIST SP 800-37 NIST SP 800-171 NISPOM and FedRAMP; secure software development; cloud security in Azure Government and Microsoft 365 GCC High; and enterprise incident response. The CISO partners closely with the COO CIO Legal/Contracts Risk Management and the Facility Security Officer (FSO). US GPS encompasses EYs US Federal state and local government client portfolio. This senior leadership role will have significant team leadership responsibilities with visibility to internal and client stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• The successful candidate will work with GPS engagement teams supporting functions and EYs Client Technology and Global Information Security organizations to develop and maintain a security and compliance program across all environments platforms and applications used or desired for use by GPS. Responsibilities include:
• Strategy Governance and Risk Management
• Development and execution of a multiyear cybersecurity strategy and investment roadmap aligned to business objectives and federal contract requirements.
• Development management and maintenance of the GPS IT security risk management policy and/or procedural documentation mapped to NIST SP 800-37 (RMF) NIST SP 80053 NIST SP 800171 NIST SP 800161 (CSCRM) and NIST SP 800218 (SSDF)
• Ownership of the enterprise risk assessment (ERA) business impact analysis (BIA) and security metrics; present posture and material risk to the COO on a recurring cadence.

Defense Industrial Base Compliance (Classified & Unclassified)

• Manage GPS compliance with DFARS 252.204-.204-7020 and 252.204-7021. This includes:
  • Leading DFARS/CMMC readiness and ongoing compliance.
  • Serving as the Affirming Official (AO) and maintaining an accurate SPRS selfassessment score with defensible Plans of Action and Milestones (POAMs).
  • Achieving and maintaining CMMC certification at level 2.
  • Overseeing management and maintenance of POAMs.
• Ensure systems operated for the government are designed properly and assessed against the appropriate requirements such as FedRAMP Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide IRS 1075 and MARS-E.
• Ensure safeguarding and incident reporting obligations for CUI (e.g. DFARS 252.2047012 72hour reporting) are met; coordinate with DC3/DIBNet and affected customers when necessary.
• Oversee NISPOM compliance for classified systems; partner with FSO to achieve and maintain Authorizations to Operate (ATOs).
• Ensure proper handling of exportcontrolled data (ITAR/EAR).
• Prepare for and lead Program through contractually required assessments and customer audits; keep evidence policies configurations and logs auditready.
• Respond to government inspections or audits in coordination with EY Information Security and Risk Management.

Secure Cloud Identity & Enterprise Platforms

• Own security architecture and controls for Azure Government (Azure Gov) and Microsoft 365 GCC High tenants including Conditional Access PIM/PAM encryption logging/retention and data governance for CUI.
• Implement Zero Trust principles across identity endpoints networks and workloads; drive continuous verification and leastprivilege.
• Deploy and operate EDR/XDR SIEM/SOAR DLP CASB/SSE/SASE MDM key management/HSM and vulnerability/configuration management at scale.
• Oversee user authorization process and ongoing attestation of user authorization and access.
• Assist to resolve GPS practitioners access or other issues with Enclave environments.
• Ongoing development coordination and sustainment of Information Security Continuous Monitoring (ISCM) Program across all applications within the environment.

DevSecOps & Secure SDLC

• Establish a software security program aligned to NIST SSDF (SP 800218) and EO 14028 expectations; integrate security into SDLC across GitHub and Azure DevOps.
• Govern AppSec tooling and policy: SAST (e.g. Checkmarx) DAST (e.g. Qualys/AppScan) SCA/OSS (e.g. Mend) IaC/container/K8s scanning and Wiz/Wiz Code; enforce buildtime gates and remediation SLAs.
• Require SBOM generation artifact signing/provenance (e.g. SLSA targets) and secrets management across all repositories and pipelines.

Detection Response & Resilience

• Develop manage and maintain GPS incident response program.
• Lead SOC and CSIRT functions: 247 monitoring threat intelligence purple/redteam exercises and executive tabletop drills.
• Maintain and test the Incident Response Plan and Cyber Crisis Playbook including regulatory/customer communications and forensics preservation.

Effective Business Integration

• Ensure development of fit-for-purpose solutions that support the business activities.
• Manage integration of Firm applications into the GPS Enclave environment.
• Understand and facilitate communication of EYs IT disaster recovery and business continuity plans to GPS clients potential clients and engagement teams (including engagement team responsibilities).
• Augment existing Client Security Assurance reviews of data protection requirements contained in RFPs/RFQs to adequately respond and assist in development of GPS client security and data protection (confidentiality) plans.
• Monitor regulatory or other developments in INFOSEC principles regulatory requirements and leading practices.

Leadership Team and Budget

• Role model a leadership style that brings infrastructure application and cybersecurity professionals together to collaborate constructively on the design implementation and operation of controls.
• Build and mentor a highperforming organization spanning Policy/GRC AppSec/DevSecOps Security Engineering/Architecture SOC/IR and ThirdParty & SupplyChain Risk.
• Own the cybersecurity budget and vendor portfolio; rationalize tools and services for value performance and compliance.
• Participate in purchasing and enhancement of third-party tools for GPS.
• Augment and potentially streamline existing Vendor Supplier Risk Assurance Program during evaluation of subcontractor compliance with applicable cybersecurity and data protection clauses.
• Drive a securityfirst culture: ongoing training phishing simulations secure coding education and leadership engagement including data protection and awareness and role-based training programs.
• Coordinate and respond to annual (or more frequent) independent risk assessments and cyber security reviews.

Qualifications:

• 12 years of progressive cybersecurity leadership including 5 years at the enterprise or businessunit executive level.
• 5 years FISMA related experience
• Bachelors degree in IT-related field or bachelors degree in non-IT related field with a total of 10 years of information security experience
• Masters degree preferred
• Ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret clearance
• US citizenship required
• Clearance: The ability to obtain and maintain top secret required
• Thorough knowledge and understanding of:

• • FAR 52.204-21 Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems
  • DFARS 252.204-7012 Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting
  • NIST SP 800-171 Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations
  • NIST SP 800-53 Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations
  • GSAM 552.239-70 Information Technology Security Plan and Security Authorization 552.239-71 Security Requirements for Unclassified Information Technology Resources and similar clauses in agency FAR supplements
  • FISMA
• Specialized knowledge and experience with the implementation of the NIST Special Publication (SP) 800 family of publications particularly those associated with the Risk Management Framework
• Proven experience in the Defense Industrial Base with DFARS/CMMC and NIST SP 800171 implementation and audits (including POA&M and SPRS management).
• Experience with FEDRAMP compliance authorization and monitoring
• Deep expertise securing Azure Government and Microsoft 365 GCC High environments
• Experience working with other Government cloud communities including AWS
• Experience working with classified environments achieving/maintaining ATOs overseeing classified systems under NISPOM and DoD RMF and working understanding of SCIF operations
• Knowledge and experience with vulnerability scanning execution assessment and analysis
• Knowledge and experience of networks including LAN and WAN
• Knowledge and experience with application security database security and network security
• Experience with evaluating system network or infrastructure security controls against requirements such as FISMA FIPS and NIST guidelines
• Handson leadership of DevSecOps and software security programs covering GitHub/Azure DevOps/Jenkins with SAST/DAST/SCA IaC/container security SBOMs and supplychain controls.
• Demonstrated analytical problem-solving organizational interpersonal and communication skills required.
• The ability to collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders including client-facing legal finance and contracting teams executives engineers customers and assessors on a wide variety of tasks as needed.
• Ability to foster professionalism and demonstrate integrity and confidentiality in all actions.
• Ability to demonstrate flexibility when required sense urgency organize and prioritize work and achieve against tight deadlines.
• The ability to interpret and communicate regulatory requirements related to cybersecurity and data protection.
• Possession of excellent written/verbal communications skills.
• Possession of excellent analytical skills including strict attention to detail.
• Ability to assess and weigh current and evolving security threats in an operational environment
• Possession of Information Systems Security Professional certification (CISSP)
• Certifications such as CISSP CISM CCISO CCSP CRISC CISA PMP and relevant GIAC credentials preferred