Program Manager, Security Sciences Research Governance

The Program Manager of Security Sciences reports to the Director of Research and is responsible for driving and ensuring the success of academic partnerships as well as playing a key role in orchestrating and driving Open Source initiatives. The programs in focus include the launch of new joint research initiatives and developing strong governance to drive meaningful outputs. In this role, you will serve as a primary coordinator for the launch of new research initiatives, and ensure these meet the strategic imperatives of Rapid7, thereby enabling the company to cement its reputation as one of the most successful and highly respected technology companies in the world through its understanding of the threat landscape. 

About the Team

The Security Sciences organization is responsible for multiple initiatives, usually centered around security research, which in turn informs Rapid7 product and service teams about the ground truth of the risks and threats modern companies face. In addition, the team is responsible for driving a collaborative approach in enabling Rapid7's Open Source strategy and technical research to articulate the wider threat to key stakeholders. 

About the Role

The core responsibilities for this role include the program management of its academic partnerships, driving the governance, and implementation of joint research, promoting diversity within the participants of said programs. Beyond just executing on a strong program management foundation, we are also looking for someone who brings ownership, a strong business sense, curiosity and creativity to the role. This role will also act as the initial quality check for deliverables and will draw upon cybersecurity expertise to ensure high quality output.

The successful candidate will be a self-starter, comfortable with defining the program, have strong attention to detail, and will have an aptitude for structuring and managing agile programs. They should also have a demonstrated ability to think strategically and analytically about business processes and complex systems. Equally important, the successful candidate will be responsible for driving strong thought leadership, helping Rapid7 articulate its understanding of the threat landscape to a broad set of stakeholders. 

In this role, you will:

• Manage strategic relationship with academic partners, ensuring strong governance is implemented on agreed research initiatives that incorporate a diverse set of participants. 

• Work with cross-functional stakeholders to:

  • Initiate joint research projects with academic partners to ensure the agreed projects align closely with the objectives of the Rapid7 Security Sciences organization. 

  • Provide thought leadership to articulate the unique insight Rapid7 has within the threat landscape.

  • Coordinate with core and extended team members to waterfall outbound research.

The skills you’ll bring include:

• 5-10 years of demonstrated Security practitioner experience with examples having driven security research outputs. 

• High EQ and ability to connect, listen and understand different perspectives from university students through executive leadership. 

• Experience working closely with key stakeholders (academic partners, cybersecurity practitioners, media, executive leadership).

• Strong analytical capabilities and the ability to translate insights into recommendations.

• Intellectual curiosity and the ability to solve problems and work collaboratively.

• Demonstrated ability to adapt to the program management needs of an organization instead of simply applying rinse-and-repeat program management templates.

We know that the best ideas and solutions come from multi-dimensional teams. That’s because these teams reflect a variety of backgrounds and professional experiences. If you are excited about this role and feel your experience can make an impact, please don’t be shy — apply today.

About Rapid7

Rapid7 is creating a more secure digital future for all by helping organizations strengthen their security programs in the face of accelerating digital transformation. Our portfolio of best-in-class solutions empowers security professionals to manage risk and eliminate threats across the entire threat landscape from apps to the cloud to traditional infrastructure to the dark web. We foster open source communities and cutting-edge research–using these insights to optimize our products and arm the global security community with the latest in attackers methods. Trusted by more than 10,000 customers worldwide, our industry-leading solutions and services help businesses stay ahead of attackers, ahead of the competition, and future-ready for what’s next.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.