Director of Security Resume Example

A concise, ATS‑friendly resume with measurable outcomes you can adapt.

Director of Security Resume Sample

Marcus Washington
marcus@washington.com
(415) 555-0391
linkedin.com/in/marcus-washington
Director of Security
Director of Security with 12+ years building and scaling enterprise security programs from the ground up. Expert in enterprise security strategy, regulatory compliance, and leading cross-functional security teams across global organizations. Built security programs for 3 companies through hyper-growth (50→500+ employees), achieving SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP compliance while maintaining zero breaches. Managed $3.5M security budget, led team of 15+ security professionals, and established security-first culture that reduced risk by 80%.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Director of Security
Jan 2020 – Present
HyperScale Tech (Series C SaaS)
  • Security Program Leadership: Built enterprise security program from ground up for 500-person organization, leading team of 15 security professionals and managing $3.5M budget while achieving SOC 2, ISO 27001, and FedRAMP compliance with zero breaches
  • Strategic Security Architecture: Architected zero-trust security framework for cloud-native infrastructure processing 10M+ daily transactions, reducing attack surface by 75% and enabling $50M Series C funding through demonstrated security maturity
  • Compliance & Governance: Led enterprise compliance programs achieving SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and FedRAMP authorization, passing 12 consecutive audits with zero findings while reducing compliance overhead by 60%
Security Manager
Mar 2017 – Dec 2019
CloudVentures (Series B Startup)
  • Security Team Development: Grew security team from 2 to 8 professionals during hyper-growth from 50 to 200 employees, establishing SOC, GRC, and AppSec functions while maintaining 95% team retention
  • Compliance Achievement: Led SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certification in 9 months, unblocking $10M in enterprise sales and enabling expansion into regulated industries
  • Risk Reduction: Implemented enterprise vulnerability management and incident response programs, reducing high-severity risks by 80% and achieving zero security incidents during 3-year tenure
Senior Information Security Analyst
Jun 2014 – Feb 2017
FinTech Solutions
  • Security Architecture: Designed and implemented security architecture for PCI DSS Level 1 compliance, processing $500M+ annual payment volume while maintaining zero breaches
  • Incident Response: Established 24/7 security operations center and incident response capability, reducing mean time to detect from 48 hours to 15 minutes
  • Security Awareness: Developed enterprise security awareness program reducing phishing susceptibility by 75% across 300+ employees through quarterly training and testing
Security Analyst
Jan 2012 – May 2014
Enterprise Security Group
  • Security Monitoring: Monitored security events for 5 enterprise clients using Splunk SIEM, analyzing 50,000+ daily events and responding to 200+ incidents annually
  • Vulnerability Management: Conducted vulnerability assessments and penetration tests across 1,000+ endpoints, achieving 95% remediation rate within SLA
  • Compliance Support: Supported HIPAA and PCI DSS compliance audits for healthcare and financial services clients, maintaining 100% audit success rate
SKILLS & COMPETENCIES
Enterprise Security Strategy and Architecture | Security Program Development and Scaling | Team Leadership and Development | Budget Management and Financial Planning | Board and Executive Communication | Compliance and Regulatory Management (SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP) | Cloud Security (AWS, Azure, GCP) | Zero-Trust Architecture | Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) | Incident Response and Crisis Management | M&A Security Due Diligence | Vendor Risk Management
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Jan 2015
ISC2
Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
Jun 2018
ISACA
Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC)
Mar 2019
ISACA
Certificate in Cybersecurity Leadership
Aug 2021
MIT Sloan
EDUCATION
Master of Science in Information Security
2010-2012
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Security Architecture
  • Risk Management

Tools to build your Director of Security resume

Copy and adapt these proven examples to create a resume that stands out.

Resume Headlines

Use these attention-grabbing headlines to make a strong first impression.

Director of Security | Building Enterprise Security Programs Through Hyper-Growth | Zero Breaches
CISSP Security Executive | Led 3 Companies to SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP Compliance
Security Leader | Scaling Teams from 2 to 15 While Reducing Enterprise Risk by 80%
Director of Information Security | $3.5M Budget | 500+ Employee Organizations
Security Executive | Zero-Trust Architecture | Cloud Security Strategy Leader
Director of Security | Board-Level Risk Communication | Compliance & GRC Expert
Security Program Builder | Hyper-Growth Startups to Enterprise Security Maturity

💡 Tip: Choose a headline that reflects your unique value proposition and matches the job requirements.

Power Bullet Points

Adapt these achievement-focused bullets to showcase your impact.

Security Program & Strategy

• Built enterprise security program from ground up for Series B SaaS company, establishing security team, policies, and controls that enabled $50M Series C funding and achieved SOC 2 Type II certification in 9 months
• Architected zero-trust security framework for cloud-native infrastructure supporting 10M+ daily transactions, reducing attack surface by 75% and achieving 99.99% uptime
• Developed 3-year security roadmap aligned with business objectives, securing $3.5M annual budget and executive buy-in for security initiatives across engineering, product, and operations
• Established enterprise security architecture standards for AWS and Azure environments, implementing automated security controls that prevented $2M+ in potential breach costs

Compliance & Risk Management

• Led SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and FedRAMP compliance programs across 3 companies, achieving 100% audit success rate with zero findings across 12 consecutive audits
• Managed enterprise risk management program assessing 500+ risks quarterly, reducing high-severity risks by 80% through systematic remediation and security controls
• Directed GDPR and CCPA compliance initiatives for global operations, implementing privacy-by-design controls and conducting 20+ DPIAs without regulatory violations
• Built GRC program from scratch implementing OneTrust platform, reducing compliance overhead by 60% while maintaining continuous SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance

Team Leadership & Development

• Grew security team from 2 to 15 professionals across SOC, GRC, AppSec, and Cloud Security, establishing team structure, career paths, and retention rate of 95%
• Hired and mentored 8 security leaders who went on to senior security roles at top tech companies, creating strong security culture and development pipeline
• Established security champions program across 50+ engineers, integrating security into SDLC and reducing production vulnerabilities by 85%
• Led quarterly security training for 500+ employees achieving 98% completion rate and reducing security incidents from user error by 70%

Executive Communication & Influence

• Delivered quarterly security briefings to board of directors, translating technical risks into business impact and securing funding for security initiatives
• Partnered with CEO and executive team on M&A security due diligence for 3 acquisitions valued at $100M+, identifying and remediating critical security gaps
• Presented security roadmap to investors during Series C funding round, demonstrating security maturity that contributed to $50M raise
• Established cross-functional security governance committee with C-suite participation, improving security visibility and decision-making at executive level

💡 Tip: Replace generic terms with specific metrics, technologies, and outcomes from your experience.

📝

Resume Writing Tips for Director of Securitys

1

Lead with Program Building

Executive security roles are about building and scaling programs, not individual tasks. Open with statements like "Built enterprise security program from ground up" or "Established security organization across..." Show you can create security infrastructure where none existed.

2

Quantify Business Impact

Connect security work to business outcomes. Don't just say "achieved SOC 2"—explain how it "enabled $50M funding round" or "unblocked $10M enterprise deal." Show security as business enabler, not cost center.

3

Demonstrate Executive Presence

Highlight board presentations, C-suite collaboration, investor briefings, and M&A due diligence. These demonstrate you operate at executive level and can communicate with non-technical stakeholders effectively.

4

Show Team Leadership

Executive roles require people management. Include team size built (2→15), retention rates (95%), people mentored, and security culture established. Show you can attract, develop, and retain security talent.

5

Balance Strategy and Execution

Directors must be strategic but also deliver. Show you can develop 3-year roadmaps AND achieve quarterly compliance milestones. Include both vision (security strategy) and execution (zero breaches, 100% audit success).

🎯

Essential Skills & Keywords

Include these skills to optimize your resume for ATS systems and recruiter searches.

Executive Leadership

Security Program Development Strategic Planning and Roadmapping Team Building and Leadership Budget Management ($3M+) Board and C-Suite Communication Security Culture Development

Enterprise Security

Enterprise Security Architecture Zero-Trust Security Models Cloud Security Strategy (AWS, Azure, GCP) Application Security Programs Security Operations and SOC Threat Intelligence and Hunting

Governance, Risk & Compliance

SOC 2 Type II ISO 27001/27002 FedRAMP GDPR and CCPA Enterprise Risk Management Security Audit Management

Business Enablement

M&A Security Due Diligence Investor Relations and Reporting Security ROI and Metrics Vendor Risk Management Business Continuity and DR Cross-Functional Collaboration

💡 Tip: Naturally integrate 8-12 of these keywords throughout your resume, especially in your summary and experience sections.

Why this resume works

Role-Specific Strengths

  • Enterprise security program building: Built security programs from scratch for 3 companies through hyper-growth, demonstrating ability to scale security alongside business growth
  • Executive stakeholder management: Regular board presentations, C-suite security briefings, and ability to translate technical risks into business impact—critical for executive roles
  • Team building and leadership: Hired, trained, and managed 15+ security professionals across SOC, GRC, and AppSec teams—shows people leadership capability
  • Complex compliance achievements: Led multiple enterprise certifications (SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP) demonstrating ability to navigate complex regulatory environments

✓ ATS-Friendly Elements

  • Executive keywords: "security strategy," "board presentation," "program building," "compliance," "team leadership," "budget management"
  • Senior certifications: CISSP, CISM, CISA showing executive-level expertise
  • Clear progression: Security Analyst → InfoSec Analyst → Security Manager → Director
  • Enterprise-scale metrics: $3.5M budget, 15-person team, 500+ employee organizations
  • Compliance at scale: SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP, GDPR
  • Action verbs for executive level (Established, Built, Scaled, Led, Architected)

✓ Human-Readable Design

  • Executive-level metrics: $3.5M budget, 15-person team, enterprise-wide security programs
  • Business-focused outcomes: zero breaches, 80% risk reduction, successful exit/IPO
  • Strategic achievements: built programs from scratch, scaled through hyper-growth, established security culture
  • Leadership progression clearly shown: Analyst → Manager → Director over 12+ years
  • Board-level communication skills highlighted throughout
  • Balance of strategic vision and execution demonstrated

💡 Key Takeaways

  • At executive level, emphasize program building from scratch, scaling, and business outcomes over technical tasks
  • Quantify at enterprise scale: team size (15+), budget ($3.5M+), organization size (500+), risk reduction (80%)
  • Show business impact: zero breaches, successful funding rounds, IPO readiness, audit success
  • Highlight C-suite and board-level stakeholder management—critical for director roles
  • Demonstrate people leadership: hiring, team building, mentoring, creating security culture

📈 Career Progression in Cybersecurity

See how Cybersecurity roles evolve across career stages, from hands-on security analysis to strategic security leadership.

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