Cyber Policy Advisor - Associate Director

Job Family:
Cyber Consulting

Travel Required:
None

Clearance Required:
Active Secret

The Cyber Policy Advisor at the Associate Director level, you will serve as a strategic leader in shaping and implementing cybersecurity policy across federal environments. This role combines deep expertise in cyber governance, risk management, and compliance with strong leadership and stakeholder engagement skills. The Advisor will translate federal mandates and industry best practices into actionable strategies, ensuring alignment with organizational mission objectives and technical implementation teams.

The Cyber Policy Advisor provides oversight of the personnel and ensures quality and relevant project management, change management and development of high-quality deliverables and approaches.

The key focus will be to deliver on three main functions:

1. Support the acceleration of cyber awareness capabilities for clients, serving as the point person responsible for developing and managing cyber strategy and policy teams. Provide a deep understanding of cyber practices that relate to development/maintenance, quality, governance, literacy and culture to support the enterprise cyber functions at a department/ agency or subagency level.

2. Drive clients focus on how policy can drive effective delivery of the critical cyber functions to the enterprise mission. Understand the larger organizational cybersecurity strategy and manage the delivery of current and future projects to align with, complement, and build on each other.

What You Will Do:

• Lead development and execution of cybersecurity policies aligned with EO 14028, OMB guidance, CISA directives, and NIST frameworks.
• Advise executive leadership (CISO, CIO, CDO) and interagency partners on cyber policy strategies and risk posture.
• Serve as liaison between policy teams and technical implementation groups to ensure seamless translation of policy into operational controls.
• Integrate ZTA principles in accordance with NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-207, DoD Zero Trust Reference Architecture and Zero Trust Capability Execution Roadmap, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) Zero Trust Maturity Model into policy initiatives.
• Ensure policy and strategy adheres to federal cybersecurity standards and requirements, including FISMA, and NIST Special Publications (especially SP 800-53, SP 800-137, SP 800-60, SP 800-53, SP 800-171 and SP 1800-39A).
• Define and monitor KPIs, maturity models, and compliance metrics to measure policy effectiveness and risk reduction.
• Provide thought leadership through participation in industry forums, conferences, and publications.
• Mentor and develop cyber policy specialists, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement

What You Will Need:

• An ACTIVE and MAINTAINED SECRET Federal or DOD security clearance
• Bachelor's Degree
• Minimum of TEN (10) years of experience leading cyber projects INCLUDING SEVEN (7) years of supervisory or managerial experience.
• Comprehensive understanding of Federal Information Technology (IT)/security and privacy procedures and techniques
• Ability to influence a data-driven mindset and drive a culture of collaboration, innovation, and best practices.
• Demonstrated ability to source and lead the formation and execution of successful partnerships between and across major stakeholders including technology partners and business end-users.
• Experience leading a team of cyber, data and IT specialists across a variety of functions to establish and deliver capabilities at the scale and pace necessary to enable the cyber and zero trust strategy initiatives.
• Experience with creation, coordination, and execution of evidence-based policy initiatives.

What Would Be Nice To Have:

• Master's Degree
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
• Change Management Practitioner (CMP)

What We Offer:

Guidehouse offers a comprehensive, total rewards package that includes competitive compensation and a flexible benefits package that reflects our commitment to creating a diverse and supportive workplace.

Benefits include:

• Medical, Rx, Dental & Vision Insurance
• Personal and Family Sick Time & Company Paid Holidays
• Position may be eligible for a discretionary variable incentive bonus
• Parental Leave and Adoption Assistance
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Basic Life & Supplemental Life
• Health Savings Account, Dental/Vision & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• Student Loan PayDown
• Tuition Reimbursement, Personal Development & Learning Opportunities
• Skills Development & Certifications
• Employee Referral Program
• Corporate Sponsored Events & Community Outreach
• Emergency Back-Up Childcare Program
• Mobility Stipend

About Guidehouse

Guidehouse is an Equal Opportunity Employer-Protected Veterans, Individuals with Disabilities or any other basis protected by law, ordinance, or regulation.

Guidehouse will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law or ordinance including the Fair Chance Ordinance of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

If you have visited our website for information about employment opportunities, or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Guidehouse Recruiting at 1- or via email at All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodation.

All communication regarding recruitment for a Guidehouse position will be sent from Guidehouse email domains including @guidehouse.com or Correspondence received by an applicant from any other domain should be considered unauthorized and will not be honored by Guidehouse. Note that Guidehouse will never charge a fee or require a money transfer at any stage of the recruitment process and does not collect fees from educational institutions for participation in a recruitment event. Never provide your banking information to a third party purporting to need that information to proceed in the hiring process.

If any person or organization demands money related to a job opportunity with Guidehouse, please report the matter to Guidehouse's Ethics Hotline. If you want to check the validity of correspondence you have received, please contact Guidehouse is not responsible for losses incurred (monetary or otherwise) from an applicant's dealings with unauthorized third parties.

Guidehouse does not accept unsolicited resumes through or from search firms or staffing agencies. All unsolicited resumes will be considered the property of Guidehouse and Guidehouse will not be obligated to pay a placement fee.