Director, Cybersecurity M&A Due Diligence - Remote or Hybrid in MN or DC

About the position Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. The Enterprise Information Security (EIS) team is responsible for cybersecurity across our organization. We support our business and members by reducing risk, rapidly responding to threats, focusing on business resiliency and securing new acquisitions. We are seeking a Director of Cybersecurity M&A Due Diligence to lead cybersecurity risk assessments for mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. This role is critical to protecting the enterprise by identifying, quantifying, and communicating cybersecurity risks associated with inorganic growth and separation activities. The Director will serve as the cybersecurity authority throughout the M&A lifecycle - partnering closely with Corporate Development, Legal, IT, and executive leadership to deliver clear, actionable risk insights. In addition to strategic diligence leadership, this role will conduct targeted technical investigations, including threat hunting and compromise assessments, for transactions that present elevated cyber risk. If you are located in MN or DC, you will have the flexibility to work remotely as you take on some tough challenges. This position follows a hybrid schedule with four in-office days per week. You’ll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.

Responsibilities

• Lead end to end cybersecurity due diligence for acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and divestitures
• Design and execute scalable diligence frameworks aligned to deal size, risk profile, and transaction timelines
• Assess target company security posture across governance, identity, cloud, infrastructure, application security, data protection, and incident response
• Identify material cybersecurity risks, control gaps, historical incidents, and regulatory exposures that may impact valuation or deal structure
• Produce clear, concise, and executive ready diligence reports highlighting:
• Key cybersecurity risks and findings
• Likelihood and potential business impact
• Recommended risk mitigations and remediation options
• Brief senior executives and deal teams on cybersecurity risk posture and tradeoffs to support informed decision making
• Partner with Legal and Corporate Development to support representations, warranties, and remediation commitments
• Translate diligence findings into prioritized post close cybersecurity roadmaps based on risk severity and business criticality
• Advise integration teams on security controls, operating model alignment, and risk acceptance decisions
• Manage the structured handoff of security findings, recommendations, and integration tasks to downstream operational teams, ensuring clear ownership, timelines, and expectations
• Facilitate cross team coordination to confirm that remediation actions are understood, resourced, and progressing, providing ongoing visibility into risk reduction activities
• Track remediation progress for high risk findings and provide visibility to leadership
• Perform or lead targeted threat hunting, forensic analysis, and compromise assessments for acquisitions requiring deeper technical scrutiny
• Evaluate indicators of compromise, adversary persistence, and historical breach activity
• Recommend containment, remediation, or deal level risk actions when active or prior compromise is identified
• Act as the cybersecurity subject matter expert for M&A activities across the enterprise
• Mentor team members and help build repeatable diligence playbooks, tools, and templates
• Influence security strategy by incorporating M&A risk trends into broader enterprise security planning

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in cybersecurity, with significant exposure to M&A security, or enterprise security assessments
• 6+ years of demonstrated experience leading cybersecurity risk or threat assessments for complex environments
• 6+ years of experience performing or overseeing threat hunting, compromise assessments, or forensic investigations
• Solid understanding of:
• Enterprise security architectures
• Cloud and SaaS security
• Identity and access management
• Incident response and digital forensics
• Proven ability to communicate complex technical risks to executive and non technical audiences
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively under tight timelines and ambiguity

Nice-to-haves

• Professional certifications such as CISSP, CISM, GCIA, GCED, or similar
• Experience in high growth, global, or highly regulated environments
• Experience working closely with Corporate Development, Legal, or Private Equity teams
• Experience working for a 'Big 4' or large professional services firm (e.g. PwC, Deloitte, Accenture, Deloitte)
• Experience working for a large cybersecurity firm (e.g. Mandiant)
• Background in incident response, threat intelligence, or red team operations
• Familiarity with regulatory and compliance considerations (eg, GDPR, PCI, SOX, HIPAA)

Benefits

• a comprehensive benefits package
• incentive and recognition programs
• equity stock purchase
• 401k contribution

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