Secure Every Identity, from AI to Human
Identity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence.
This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. We're all in on this mission. If you are too, let's talk.
We are seeking a visionary Senior Director, Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) to lead and scale our world-class GRC Security organization. We don't view Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) as a passive reporting function or an administrative checklist—we build engineering-forward, automated, and AI-driven GRC programs capable of operating in an evolving AI world. Reporting directly to Security Executive leadership, you will operate as a partner to the Senior Executives across Okta’s workforce, taking direct responsibility for cyber risk, data governance, security compliance and product certifications to enable Okta to ship world class, secure products.
You will blend deep domain expertise across enterprise cyber risk, audit, and global compliance with a forward-thinking engineering mindset—pioneering continuous control monitoring, compliance-as-code, and robust AI governance for generative and agentic architectures.
This is not just a leadership role. This is a builder’s role.
Key Responsibilities:- Drive AI-first Transformation: Execute a vision to integrate AI and agentic tools into daily GRC operations (automated evidence collection, automated risk scoring, intelligent policy mapping, and continuous audit readiness).
- Enterprise Risk & Governance: Operationalize Okta’s AI risk and governance framework—addressing training data protection, model risk management, responsible AI principles, and alignment with emerging frameworks (NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001, and the EU AI Act).
- Enterprise Cyber Risk Management: Lead enterprise-wide cyber risk identification, prioritization, treatment, and quantification
- Regulatory & Compliance Assurance: Maintain and expand Okta’s global compliance posture across major security and privacy frameworks, including SOC 1/2/3, ISO 27001/ENS High/MS DPR/PCI-DSS/CSA STAR/HDS
- Policy & Governance Lifecycle: Ensure our corporate information security policies and control standards to reflect evolving business priorities and emerging threats.
- Third-Party & SaaS Risk Governance: Direct high-impact vendor risk assessment programs, ensuring third-party SaaS tools and supply chain risks meet Okta’s stringent security controls program.
- Audit Management & Remediation: Serve as the primary executive lead for internal/external audits, customer assurances, and regulatory reviews. Drive rapid, engineering-led remediation of audit findings and control gaps.
- Cross-Functional Partnership: Collaborate closely with Product Management, Legal, Privacy, Infrastructure, and Business Technology teams to align compliance requirements with product roadmaps and commercial objectives.
Requirements:
- Proven Executive Leadership: 10+ years of progressive leadership in Security GRC within a high-growth SaaS, cloud-first, or enterprise technology environment.
- AI Governance Expertise: Demonstrated understanding of AI/ML governance challenges, including generative and agentic AI security, data lineage and global AI regulatory landscapes.
- Mastery of Security Frameworks: Extensive track record managing compliance for enterprise cloud environments
- Risk Quantification Skills: Deep knowledge of risk management methodologies and the ability to translate complex technical risks into operational context for executives.
- Team Scale & Mentorship: Track record of recruiting, mentoring, and retaining high-performing, technical GRC engineering and risk management professionals.
- Education & Certifications: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
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Below is the annual base salary range for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington. Your actual base salary will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable), bonus, and benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), flexible spending account, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. To learn more about our Total Rewards program please visit: https://rewards.okta.com/us.
The Okta Experience
- Supporting Your Well-Being
- Driving Social Impact
- Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community
We are intentional about connection. Our global community, spanning over 20 offices worldwide, is united by a drive to innovate. Your journey begins with an immersive, in-person onboarding experience designed to accelerate your impact and connect you to our mission and team from day one.
Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws.
If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation.
Notice for New York City Applicants & Employees: Okta may use Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT), as defined by New York City Local Law 144, that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated processes to assist in our recruitment and hiring process. In accordance with NYC Local Law 144, if you are an applicant or employee residing in New York City, please click here to view our full NYC AEDT Notice.
Skills Required
- 10+ years of progressive leadership in Security GRC within high-growth SaaS, cloud-first, or enterprise technology environments.
- Demonstrated expertise in AI/ML governance, including generative and agentic AI security, data lineage, and global AI regulatory landscapes.
- Extensive track record managing compliance for enterprise cloud environments and frameworks (SOC 1/2/3, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, CSA STAR, etc.).
- Deep knowledge of risk management methodologies and ability to translate technical risks into operational context for executives (risk quantification).
- Proven experience recruiting, mentoring, and retaining high-performing technical GRC engineering and risk management teams.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
Okta Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Okta and has not been reviewed or approved by Okta.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage spans medical, dental, vision, mental-health support, and income protection, complemented by preventive care options and wellness resources. These elements indicate robust coverage for both routine needs and more complex situations.
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Parental & Family Support — Policies include paid parental leave, adoption and surrogacy assistance, and fertility and family‑building benefits. Caregiving resources and flexible arrangements help employees navigate family responsibilities.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Flexible or unlimited PTO, separate sick time, paid holidays, and a company Wellbeing Week provide multiple avenues for time away. This breadth supports rest, recovery, and work‑life balance.
Okta Insights
What We Do
Okta is the leading independent identity provider. The Okta Identity Cloud enables organizations to securely connect the right people to the right technologies at the right time. With more than 7,000 pre-built integrations to applications and infrastructure providers, Okta provides simple and secure access to people and organizations everywhere, giving them the confidence to reach their full potential. More than 10,000 organizations, including JetBlue, Nordstrom, Siemens, Slack, T-Mobile, Takeda, Teach for America, and Twilio, trust Okta to help protect the identities of their workforces and customers.
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