Director for Research Security

The University of Texas at Arlington Portal•Arlington, TX

About The Position

The Director of Research Security Compliance and Risk Management plays a strategic role in creating a strong, responsible conduct of research culture at UTA . 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. Serving as UTA’s Research Security Officer and Empowered Official, the Director is a strategic partner to campus leaders and the research community. This role implements 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.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security, Justice, Intelligence, Risk Management or a related field.
Experience working with government agencies (DoD, NIH , NSF , DOE , etc.), or in regulated research environments with EAR , ITAR , OFAC , etc.
Seven (7) years of experience in a security or responsible conduct of research role within a federal contractor, higher education and academic setting, or research, health, and science environment. Examples include counterintelligence, investigations, insider threat, conflict of interest, or intelligence analysis
Three (3) years of progressive leadership responsibility and supervisory experience.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree or equivalent experience in research security and/or national security field.
Eight (8) or more years of experience in a security or responsible conduct of research role.
Five (5) or more years of progressive leadership responsibility and supervisory experience.
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.

Responsibilities

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.
Supervises staff including an intelligence analyst, export control specialist, and conflict of interest specialist.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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