Director, IT Cybersecurity Operations

Overview

Title: Director, IT Cybersecurity Operations

Location: Fairfax, VA

Department: Information Technology

Classification: Administrative Faculty

Job Category: Administrative or Professional Faculty

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Workplace Type: On Site Required

Sponsorship Eligibility: Not eligible for visa sponsorship

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

Opening on: Feb 6 2026

Posting Open Date: February 6, 2026

Open Until Filled: Yes

George Mason s Information Technology Services (ITS) organization provides information technology resources, systems, services, tools, and training to the university community. ITS s mission is to advance George Mason s strategic goals, support learning, enable scholarly endeavors, and improve institutional management by effectively leveraging the resources of ITS s supporting groups. The organization consists of five groups:
Enterprise Infrastructure Services;
Enterprise Applications;
Learning Support Services; IT Security; and Enterprise Service Delivery.

The Director, IT Cybersecurity Operations is responsible for ensuring the daily protection of the Mason enterprise by developing secure business processes, monitoring cyber threats, and responding to security incidents. The Director executes the strategic cybersecurity goals outlined by the Chief Information Security Officer.

• Work with Mason leadership to identify risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of university systems and data;
• Provide leadership in the enforcement of security and associated policies;
• Provide leadership to the team in the analysis, discussion, and development of security policy, standards, and practices, and guide the acquisition of advanced security technology;
• Provide guidance and influence the university with regard to network and computing security needs in selecting hardware and software technologies, choosing between commercial and open source software, and determining whether services should be local or cloud-based;
• Collaborate with and support IT colleagues to monitor, assess, and test security solutions;
• Supervise IT Cybersecurity Operations staff;
• Prepare staff to respond around the clock (24/7/365) to security incidents (as required);
• Assess risk in proposed, new, or current IT systems;
• Maintain technology to detect and prevent cyber threats to Mason s business enterprise including network sensors, firewalls, endpoint protection, anti-virus, and security information and event management tools;
• Lead the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT);
• Prepare meaningful cybersecurity and risk metrics to inform the CISO and Chief Information Officer (CIO) and guide future Mason expenditures;
• Ensure Mason compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and requirements, including: NIST 800-171, FERPA, GLBA, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and the DMCA;
• Respond to audit findings;
• Monitor and close assigned security tickets;
• Research, test, and propose new technology or processes to improve Mason cybersecurity;
• Communicate with Mason system administrators, faculty, staff, and students within and outside of ITS about cybersecurity issues;
• Provide cybersecurity advice to senior Mason leadership including the CISO, CIO, and Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance;
• Brief the Board of Visitors committees (as required);
• Work with internal and external parties to resolve incidents including University Counsel, Mason Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
• Maintain annual CISSP currency;
• Participate and exchange information with industry and higher education security groups including VASCAN and REN-ISAC;
• Responsible for ensuring Mason s IT security policies are up to date and provide appropriate protections for Mason;
• Responsible for ensuring Mason s IT security procedures are up to date and provide appropriate protections for Mason.

• Bachelor s degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Generally, 10+ years in cybersecurity, with generally 5+ years leading security operations or incident response teams in complex enterprises;
• Generally, 3+ years managing SOC functions (in house, MSSP, or hybrid);
• Demonstrated Systems Administration experience;
• Direct experience in higher education or similarly decentralized, open network environments, or equivalent experience supporting academic/research missions in government or non profit sectors;
• Familiarity with ransomware targeting universities, intellectual property theft, and nation state driven research espionage;
• Understanding of open-access networks typical in higher ed;
• Demonstrable consensus building skills and excellent communications skills, especially in writing and presentation;
• Demonstrated leadership across decentralized or federated IT environments;
• Ability to lead a cybersecurity operations program…