Veterans Affairs hiring new CISO
The Department of Veterans Affairs is looking to hire a permanent replacement for former CISO Roopangi Kadakia.
The department posted a job listing earlier this month to USAJobs.gov career portal for the CISO position, which Kadakia held until she was moved to a role as a cloud implementation expert in the VA’s Enterprise Program Management Office.
Dominic Cussatt is acting as VA’s CISO in the interim.
The new CISO — also known as the deputy CIO for information security —would be responsible for “ensuring Department-wide compliance with security and Enterprise Cybersecurity Strategy Team (ECST) policies and standards through compliance management processes,” according to the job listing.
Former VA CIO LaVerne Council, who left her position with the change of administrations, created the ECST as one of her first moves in office in 2015, reinvigorating the department’s focus on cybersecurity.
The larger role includes direction of the the VA Data Security Management and Identity Management programs, setting “the direction and strategy for the development and implementation of global security and ECST policies, standards, guidelines and procedures to ensure ongoing maintenance of security and ECST in accordance with Federal laws and policies,” and coordinating the ECST with other principal teams within VA’s Office of Information and Technology, and the department at large.
Interested applicants have until Match 2 to apply for the senior executive service position, which offers a starting salary between $124,406 and $187,000.
The VA has had more continuity in its leadership that most other Cabinet departments under President Donald Trump. Secretary David Shulkin was the VA’s undersecretary for health and worked closely with Council during the Obama administration.
