Job Description

IT Security, Compliance, & Risk Coordinator

Security Analyst II

Description

The Bureau of Information Technology Services (BITS) at the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) manages the technology and computer infrastructure that drives the Agency s business systems. The IT department manages infrastructure and software that supports the WHS Headquarters building, the State Archives Preservation Facility (SAPF), and twelve Historic Sites around the State. This position reports to the Deputy IT Director and works closely with IT team members, key internal stakeholders across all WHS divisions, and external partners such as the Department of Administration s (DOA) Division of Enterprise Technology (DET), providing expertise and support for a variety of complex cybersecurity technologies, IT risks, and compliance requirements.

The IT Security, Compliance, & Risk Coordinator serves as the lead facilitator for agency cybersecurity compliance, audit readiness, and risk oversight ensuring alignment with state IT policies and standards, PCI DSS, and industry recognized frameworks. This role helps to guide agency IT security policy and procedure development, oversee audit responses, coordinates IT solution security review intake processes, manages the agency IT vulnerability management program, triages IT security exception requests and initiates review workflows, and maintains systems documentation such as risk registers and security review assessments.

Regularly performing complex risk assessments related to cloud-hosted solutions (e.g., SaaS, PaaS, IaaS), Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and AI use cases, agency data governance and privacy protections, and application security governance; the IT Security, Compliance, & Risk Coordinator acts as a key liaison to external partners and collaborates closely with internal IT teams, division leadership, program staff, regulatory agencies, and vendors to strengthen the agency s security and compliance posture.

This IT Security, Compliance, & Risk Coordinator champions a security and compliance minded culture daily and plays an integral role in promoting agency-wide IT security and risk awareness.

Responsibilities

IT Compliance & Risk Assessment Management:

• Develop, implement, maintain, and monitor adherence to IT security or compliance policies and procedures, including data protection regulations or internal security policies, ensuring alignment with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
• Conduct regular scans and coordinate risk assessments to identify potential security threats and vulnerabilities within IT systems, including those related to use of cloud-hosted solutions, AI use cases, and emerging technology integrations.
• Develop and implement risk mitigation strategies while collaborating with partner agencies or managed service providers and internal technical teams to identify and address identified vulnerabilities, security, and compliance gaps.
• Maintain a risk register and ensure that all identified risks are documented, assessed, and addressed promptly.
• Oversee data governance activities to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance with privacy and security requirements.
• Support application security governance, including lifecycle management, secure design guidance, and vendor compliance reviews.
• Coordinate with legal and regulatory bodies to stay updated on compliance requirements and ensure organizational alignment.

IT Incident Response Planning and Execution:

• Assist in the development and maintenance of IT incident response plans and procedures. Test and evaluate existing IT incident response plans for effectiveness.
• Educate IT staff, and non-IT staff as appropriate, on IT incident response procedures providing clear actionable steps to assist staff in a timely resolution.
• Participate in incident response activities, including investigation, documentation, and notification or status updates of ongoing security incidents.
• Create and maintain post-mortem documentation or tracking of resolved incidents, tracking patterns, and informing IT or agency leadership on incident impact, root cause, and steps taken to avoid subsequent incidents.

IT Risk Reporting:

• Analyze incident trends to recommend improvements to security controls and processes.
• Utilize enterprise and agency resources for security monitoring and reporting of risk levels, network activity, email threat detection (e.g., spam, malware, phishing).
• Produce executive-level risk and security reports for IT leadership and other key stakeholders.

Cybersecurity Awareness and Training:

• Lead agency-wide cybersecurity education and compliance initiatives, ensuring awareness and adherence to PCI DSS, NIST-based, and state-level standards.
• Develop and deliver cybersecurity awareness programs to educate employees about security best practices and emerging threats.
• Regularly create engaging training materials and conduct workshops to promote a security-conscious culture.
• Regularly champion, provide guidance, and promote awareness on cybersecurity, data governance, and responsible technology use across the organization.

Audit Functions:

• Coordinate and prepare audit responses for oversight bodies including but not limited to the Department of Administration (DOA) or Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB).
• Plan and execute IT audits to evaluate the effectiveness of security controls and compliance with policies.
• Prepare detailed audit reports outlining findings, recommendations, and corrective actions.
• Follow up on audit findings to ensure that corrective actions have been implemented effectively.

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in cybersecurity compliance, audit coordination, or related risk management roles.
• Experience managing IT security review processes, IT security exception workflows, and developing security policies or procedures.
• Experience creating and automating reports from industry standard IT security tools (e.g., Splunk, IronPort, Tenable, Cloudflare).
• Experience coordinating vulnerability management programs and application security lifecycle oversight.
• Proven ability to coordinate complex risk assessments and compliance activities
• Strong knowledge of IT Security Incident Response planning and preparation
• Strong knowledge of PCI DSS standards and SAQ preparation.
• Strong knowledge of NIST-based frameworks and government security standards.
• Strong knowledge of both direct and indirect AI-related risks (i.e., AI as a default )
• Strong understanding of data governance and privacy protection practices.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional IT teams and program area staff, external auditors, and regulatory agencies.
• Excellent communication and analytical skills, with ability to translate complex IT security related topics for diverse often non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and deliver effective training programs.

Desired Qualifications

• Prior experience in public-sector compliance or multi-agency single tenant environments.
• Industry certifications such as Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), or Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), or Security+ (preferred but not required).

This is a hybrid position, on-site HQ work is required some days based on project and operational demands, but WHS is a great place to work right in the heart of downtown Madison and the UW-Madison Campus. Remote work may be permitted on a scheduled basis after an initial onboarding period. Candidates MUST be WI residents or willing to relocate to WI prior to starting the role at their own expense.

Public parking options are available nearby, public transportation is half a block away, and bike racks are available just outside of our HQ doors. Regular commuting expenses are not covered by WHS.