Director of Research Security

Overview

ORAU is conducting the search on behalf of the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) for a permanent, full‑time Director of Research Security in Arlington, TX.

The Director oversees an integrated research security, export control, conflict of interest, and conflict of commitment program designed to protect the institution’s scientific and scholarly work, financial resources, intellectual property, as well as regulated and sensitive data while supporting open academic engagement. The Director serves as UTA’s Research Security Officer. The role is a strategic partner to campus leaders and the research community and is responsible for implementing risk-based approaches that assure the integrity and security of the university’s diverse research and innovation enterprise. The Director actively leads efforts to mitigate risks related to foreign adversaries and influence as well as insider threats associated with domestic and international research efforts as required by federal and state law.

Responsibilities

• Leadership and Governance
  • Develops and supports institutional governance frameworks, policies, and processes for an integrated program.
  • Leads university’s efforts to meet certification and statutory requirements.
  • Monitor regulatory updates and industry best practices to ensure the university’s programs and employees remain compliant with applicable laws and regulations.
  • Serve as a primary institutional point of contact for research security matters with federal sponsors and external partners.
  • Responsible for the direct supervision of staff.
• Threat Intelligence and Risk Management
  • Engages with research community to explore, understand, and address issues.
  • Create and maintain suite of electronic and informational resources/tools to independently and collaboratively assess and mitigate risk.
  • Conduct periodic risk assessments to identify potential conflicts and institutional areas for improvement.
• Compliance Management
  • Leads coordination efforts with campus leaders and research stakeholders to examine and advance research security matters in research projects, international partnerships, and commercialization.
  • Ensure institutional compliance with sponsor disclosure rules as well as federal and state requirements.
• Training & Awareness
  • Implement foreign travel training to countries of concern, heightened intel collection and ITAR.
  • Partners with information security and campus compliance to develop and implement campus-wide certifications that promote awareness of disclosure and research security obligations.
• Investigations and Resolutions
  • Lead investigations into program violations ensuring documentation and reporting of findings.
  • Resolve non-compliance issues and refer serious cases as appropriate.
  • Prepare reports for senior leadership, sponsors and regulatory agencies as required.
  • Develop, implement and monitor management plans for compliance and/or identified cases of violations.
• Counterintelligence and Insider Threats
  • Evaluate and mitigate risks related to foreign affiliations, talent recruitment programs, international collaborations, partnerships, foreign shipments and visiting scholars.
  • Develop processes and mitigation program for insider threat risks in partnership with information security and information technology.
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security, Global Security and Intelligence, Risk Management or a related field. 
• Seven (7) years of experience in a research security role with a federal contractor or within higher education, research, health, or a related industry in a role responsible for counterintelligence, investigations, insider threat, conflict of interest, intelligence analysis or related experience. 
• Experience must include a minimum of three (3) years of supervisory experience. 
• Experience working with government agencies (DoD, NIH, NSF, DOE, etc.), or in a regulated research environment subject to EAR, ITAR, OFAC, or similar compliance requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ten or more years of experience in security or responsible conduct of research role.
• Five (5) or more years of progressive leadership responsibility and supervisory experience.
• Advanced degree or equivalent experience in research security and/or national security field.
• Holds a federal security clearance of Secret or above.
• Certified Insider Threat Analyst (CITA) and/or GIAC Open-Source Intelligence Certification (GOSI)
• Certification or experience examining data logs in User Entity Behavior Analytical (UEBA) tools and/or other data aggregate tools.
• Certification in trade compliance or export control.
• Experience as a Contract Program Security Officer (CPSO) familiar with safeguarding Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and Classified information.
• Experience in developing risk matrices and intelligence report writing.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Knowledge of current suite of available Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) / Publicly Available Information (PAI) tools, databases, and repositories,
• Strong proficiency in OSINT research and methodology.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross‑functional initiatives and influence senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated customer service and policy development skills.
• Strong analytical with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills with attention to detail.
• Ability to exercise discretion, judgement and integrity when making discissions
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Skilled in making sound decisions when minimal information is available.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and multitask on a variety of projects.