Summary:
VIAVI (NASDAQ: VIAV) has a 90+ year history of technical innovations that have evolved to keep pace and address our customer’s most pressing business issues. We make equipment, software, and systems that help to plan, deploy, certify, monitor, and optimize all kinds of networks - like those for mobile phones, service providers, large businesses and data centers. VIAVI is also a leader in high performance thin film optical coatings and engineered diffusers, providing light management solutions to anti-counterfeiting, consumer electronics, automotive, defense and instrumentation markets.Duties & Responsibilities:
Senior Director, IT Security
Job Summary
VIAVI is seeking a visionary and execution-oriented Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to lead and transform the company’s global information security program. Reporting directly to the CIO and serving as a key advisor to the cybersecurity steering committee, the CISO will own VIAVI’s enterprise security strategy, architecture, operations, and culture. The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise, a track record of building mature security programs in complex global environments, and the executive presence to drive security-first thinking across engineering, cloud, product, and go-to-market functions.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
Define and execute the company’s global information and cybersecurity strategy aligned with business objectives, risk appetite, and growth plans.
Serve as the primary cybersecurity advisor to the CIO, executive leadership team, and Board of Directors on cyber resilience, threat landscape, and program maturity.
Partner with the CTO, CIO, CFO, General Counsel, and other senior leaders to align security investments with enterprise strategy, product direction, and operational priorities.
Embed security into VIAVI’s products and AI initiatives, extending secure-by-design principles to hardware, firmware, and software offerings.
Champion a security-first culture across VIAVI’s global workforce through training, clear policies, and executive engagement.
Security Governance, Risk and Compliance
Lead enterprise-wide security governance, policy development, standards, and oversight mechanisms.
Own and maintain the enterprise cyber risk register, including identification, prioritization, treatment, and reporting of material information security risks.
Establish and maintain security programs aligned to leading frameworks and regulatory requirements, including ISO 27001, CMMC/DFARS, FedRAMP, EU CRA, UK CEP, and other applicable standards.
Develop metrics and reporting to assess security program effectiveness, risk reduction, compliance status, and operational maturity.
Establish and lead a comprehensive third-party cybersecurity risk management program to assess, monitor, and mitigate risks associated with vendors, cloud providers, SaaS platforms, outsourced service providers, and strategic technology partners.
Security Operations, Incident Management & Business Continuity
Lead security operations across monitoring, detection, triage, escalation, containment, and remediation activities.
Oversee and optimize the company’s use of SIEM, DLP, endpoint security, vulnerability management, attack surface management, zero trust, SSE and related technologies
Ensure strong cloud security architecture and operations, including identity and access management, network security, logging, data encryption, secrets management, posture management, and cloud-native controls.
Own and continuously test the company’s incident response plan, playbooks, escalation procedures, stakeholder communications, and cyber incident preparedness through executive tabletop exercises, cross-functional simulations, and lessons-learned remediation.
Direct crisis response during security incidents and ensure effective executive communications and stakeholder coordination
Oversee coordination of business continuity and disaster recovery planning in partnership with IT and business leaders.
Product and AI security
Embed security into the software development lifecycle by partnering with Engineering, Product, and DevOps teams on Threat modeling, Secure design & coding practices, Vulnerability remediation, Penetration testing, and Secure release processes
Ensure security is designed into the company’s products, platforms, and AI initiatives, with appropriate controls for data protection, model security, access governance, and responsible use.
Pre-Requisites / Skills / Experience Requirements:
Required Qualifications
15+ years of experience in information security, cybersecurity, risk management, or IT leadership roles, with at least 5+ years in senior security leadership positions.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Information Systems, or a related discipline; Master’s degree preferred.
Proven success building, transforming, or maturing security programs in high-growth, global technology environments, including establishing a Security Operations Center.
Deep understanding of information security frameworks, technologies, and architectures, including cloud security, data protection, network security, and enterprise identity.
Experience/knowledge of the following technologies such as SIEM tools, DLP, Firewalls, EDR technologies, VPNs, authentication tools, etc.
Experience with ISO 27001, CMMC, FedRAMP, ITAR/EAR, and related compliance or regulatory environments.
Background in industrial technology, hardware/IoT security, manufacturing, defense, aerospace, or government-regulated sectors.
Professional certifications such as CISSP, CCISO, or equivalent is desirable.
VIAVI Solutions is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer – minorities/females/veterans/persons with disabilities.