Position Summary:

Around the world, digital security is increasingly seen as a foundational component of national security, as nearly all facets of global financial, political, and social systems are rooted in deeply interconnected information & communications technology (ICT). A recent World Economic Forum policy note has identified data fraud/theft and large-scale cyberattacks as two of the top five most concerning international security threats, as governments, international organizations, corporations, and individuals race to strengthen their infrastructure, reduce network vulnerabilities, and safeguard broader operational systems from malicious actors.

As a central part of their national security strategy, the government is investing heavily in protecting the critical infrastructure of our allies globally. In support of this strategy and building on our 25 years as a leader in global threat reduction, CRDF Global is implementing large-scale Cybersecurity programs in crucial geostrategic regions across Europe & Eurasia (including Ukraine, Moldova, the Western Balkans, and the Caucasus region) and Southeast Asia. CRDF Global is seeking a Central Asia Cyber & Digital Resilience Solutions Architect to serve as a thought leader and solution architect to support the organization in delivering effective, adaptive, and innovative Cybersecurity and host country capacity building programming in Europe and around the world. This position will require deployment to or residence in the Central Asia region. This position will require extensive travel throughout the region.

The ability to communicate effectively and to interact with subject matter experts in the government, academic, non-profit, and private sectors is essential. The ideal candidate will have spent 12+ years in progressively more responsible technical positions, and will have transitioned into project and program management, design, and solutioning.

Major Responsibilities:

This position most closely maps to the following NIST/NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (SP 800-181r1) work roles to ensure alignment with government workforce frameworks while being tailored to Central Asian countries’ digital resilience regional environment; (1) Security Architect (SP-ARC-001) – designing security systems/architectures, (2) Program Manager (OV-PMA-001) – overseeing cybersecurity strategy/programs, (3) Cyber Policy & Strategy Planner (OV-SPP-002) – developing and aligning policies., (4) Cyber Defense Analyst (PR-CDA-001) – conducting threat and risk analysis., and (5) Cyber Defense Incident Responder (PR-CIR-001) – advising on incident planning.

1. Assessment, Analysis and Strategy Development:

Conduct landscape and risk assessments: Identify, evaluate, and prioritize beneficiary digital and cybersecurity needs and matching solutions, including risk assessments, that will have a positive impact on national, domain, organizational and individual awareness and resilience capabilities. Consult and advise: Provide guidance to beneficiaries on digital and cyber security assessment, best practices, security frameworks NIS2, ISO, NIST), and regulatory compliance GDPR, DSA). Architect and Design: Ability to significantly contribute to the architect and design of Resilience Architectures and Ecosystems through the elicitation, assessment, definition and design of needed capabilities, functionality and capacity across end user domains.

2. Security Strategy and Policy Development:

Strategic planning: Work with stakeholders to align cybersecurity strategies with business objectives, ensuring both short-term and long-term goals are met. Create security policies: Support beneficiaries as they develop comprehensive cybersecurity policies and guidelines that establish standards for secure system design, data handling, and operations in their organizations.

3. Capacity Building and Change Management:

Contribute to wider capacity and change diagnostics and program design. Integrate and embed functional and technical change requirements into wider change plans to form holistic capacity building solutions. Lead tailored Central Asia country-focused cybersecurity training, tabletop exercises, technical assistance implementations, and other technical capabilities-building simulations aligned with NICE work roles. Integrate cyber workforce development pipelines for the government and academic institutions across the Central Asian region. Mentor Central Asia country counterparts in adopting and EU standards and building institutional resilience.

4. Demonstrated technical fluency in, and the ability to contribute to, one or more of the following areas of expertise:

Compliance and Regulatory Management: Recommend security practices to the beneficiary that comply with industry standards, regulatory requirements, and laws PCI DSS, DSA, GDPR). Help prepare beneficiaries for security audits by reviewing their documentation and confirming their systems are compliant with internal and external standards. Guide entities in preparing for NIST, ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI DSS.

Security Solution Integration: Assist with the identification of security technologies firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, encryption solutions, identity management systems) to protect the beneficiaries’ assets and recommend sustainable solutions. Recommend vetted, non-Russian/non-Chinese technologies and EU-origin).

Incident Response Planning: Help beneficiaries create (or improve) and implement plans for responding to security incidents and breaches. Support ministries, universities, CERT teams, and CNI operators in designing NIST SP 800-61R2 incident response plans.

Designing Security Architectures: Create secure architectures and frameworks that align with the beneficiaries’ goals while ensuring integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information systems and assess system requirements.

Threat Assessments: Understand potential attack vectors, vulnerabilities, and adversary tactics to design defensive measures that may be unique to individual beneficiaries. Mitigate vulnerabilities: recommend solutions that mitigate vulnerabilities. Analyze evolving state and nonstate threat actor and hybrid cyber tactics targeting the region; advise on defense-in-depth strategies.

REQUIREMENTS:

Established international knowledge and relationship network, with emphasis on the Central Asia region, and exposure to Eurasia, with a demonstrated track record in international donor programs across Eurasia. Demonstrated knowledge of, and interest in, current digital and cybersecurity policies, trends, issues and challenges in a global context, including threat actors, recent vulnerabilities and breaches of note, mitigation strategies, and security policy frameworks, Strong conceptual skills combined with the ability to take ambitious ideas and to break them into manageable, specific sets of objectives to plan and successfully implement creative, ambitious organizational change strategies relevant to and effective in a complex, multinational organizational setting, Demonstrated ability and track record in strategic, holistic and systemic thinking, managing resistance to change and understanding of organizational culture, learning and change experience in solution design/proposal development and budgeting, Advanced conversation and presentation skills that can influence senior decision makers, Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to engage and influence a wide range of individuals from varied backgrounds at all levels within their organizations. Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field 12+ years of progressively responsible work experience in information security/cybersecurity or a related field in support of government clients Fluency in spoken and written English, Russian, or another relevant regional language. Familiarity with industry standards and frameworks (NIST, ISO 27001, etc.). Strong analytical skills and the ability to understand offensive and defensive cybersecurity measures. Expertise in risk management Knowledge of compliance and regulatory frameworks GDPR, DSA, PCI DSS). Willingness and ability to travel extensively across Eurasia and internationally.

PREFERRED:

Master’s degree in a related field Experience with assessing, advising, and implementing in a developing country context strongly preferred Experience managing a global team of technical engineers Industry Professional certifications (CISSP, CISM, CEH, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, NIST CSF Practitioner). Experience of international development programming, particularly in the European Union Proficiency in other relevant European languages Demonstrated track record in international donor programs in Eurasia and/or Africa.

CRDF Global offers a competitive salary and benefits package.

CRDF Global is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). CRDF Global provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran, age, or disability status.