Associate Director, Security & Compliance

Who We Are

Great Minds is a high-growth, mission-driven organization founded by educators in 2007. As a for-profit, Public Benefit Corporation, we believe all students deserve access to meaningful, challenging content—and all teachers deserve tools that are intuitive, effective, and built for the realities of today’s classrooms.

We develop high-quality, knowledge-rich math, science and ELA curricula grounded in research and designed in collaboration with educators. Our materials reflect real classroom needs and are built to drive lasting student outcomes.

We are committed to usability, coherence, and practical implementation—supporting teachers not just through curriculum, but with professional learning, purposeful technology, and responsive service that enable strong adoption and impact.

What We Build

Our products—Eureka Math and Eureka Math², Wit & Wisdom, PhD Science, Geodes, and the newly launched Arts & Letters ELA—are trusted by thousands of schools and districts nationwide.

• Eureka Math is the most widely used math curriculum in the U.S., and is focused on balancing conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application.

• Wit & Wisdom® and Arts & Letters ELA™ anchor our reading strategy with content-rich, grade-level instruction that integrates literature, history, and the arts, grounded in the science of reading. Geodes® complements our reading suite with decodable texts that pair phonics with meaningful content to support early literacy.

• PhD Science is a hands-on K-5 Science program that sparks curiosity as students build enduring knowledge of how the scientific world works.

These programs reflect a shared belief in high expectations, joyful rigor, and deep respect for educators and students.

Where We’re Headed

Great Minds is entering a new stage of growth and product maturity. We are focused on building more connected, customer-informed experiences across the full educator journey—from curriculum to professional learning to platform and support.

Our long-term vision is to become a true partner in impact—not just delivering curriculum, but supporting educators in achieving outcomes at scale.

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Senior Director, Software Engineering, the Associate Director, Security & Compliance will lead the strategy, development, and execution of our security and compliance program. This is a leadership role responsible for building a mature compliance posture across the organization — with particular emphasis on the regulations governing student data privacy in the K-12 education space. This person will initially manage a team of two security professionals and serve as the primary cross-functional partner to Legal, Product, Engineering, and IT on all matters related to security, privacy, and compliance. The ideal candidate is a collaborative leader who can operate strategically while also rolling up their sleeves to build processes, drive audits, and close compliance gaps.

Responsibilities

● Establish security and compliance priorities and roadmaps aligned with Digital department risk and objectives

● Design, implement, and own a comprehensive compliance program, including policies, procedures, control frameworks, and training materials

● Provide strategic direction for application security practices, including secure SDLC, shift-left, and penetration testing

● Develop and track key metrics to measure program maturity and report progress to Digital leadership

● Coordinate and manage audit activities with third-party audit partners

● Partner with Legal to interpret regulatory requirements and translate them into actionable engineering and operational controls

● Drive security awareness initiatives across the broader organization

● Represent Great Minds interests in relevant industry groups or associations

Requirements

● 7+ years of experience in information security, compliance, or related field

● 3+ years in a leadership or management role

● 3+ years working in a SaaS (software-as-a-service) product environment, preferably in a security or engineering oriented role

● 2+ years managing third-party audits and vendor security assessments

● Demonstrated experience building or significantly maturing a compliance program

● Proven experience with compliance frameworks such as SOC 2, NIST, ISO 27001, or similar

● Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical risk into business terms

● Able to effectively collaborate cross-functionally amongst engineering, product, legal, HR, and corporate IT functions

● Familiarity with cloud security in AWS environments

Preferred Qualifications

●  2+ years working with GRC tooling and/or security automation

●  Strong working knowledge of K-12 education privacy regulations (FERPA, COPPA, state student data privacy laws)

Required Education

Bachelor’s degree Required

Master’s degree preferred

Status

Full-time

Location

Remote

The expected base salary range for this position is $167,000-$183,000, however the offered salary may be higher or lower than the above range dependent on numerous factors including, but not limited to location, work experience, skills and internal equity considerations. The base salary is not inclusive of benefits or other incentives.

A cover letter and resume are required to be considered for this position.

New employees will be required to successfully complete a background check.

Any communication to applicants relating to the Great Minds hiring process will only come from email addresses with the domains greatminds.org or greatminds.recruitee.com. If in the course of the application or hiring process with Great Minds you are contacted through another domain, are requested to provide banking or other sensitive information, or you note any other suspicious activity, please contact security@greatminds.org

Great Minds is an equal opportunity employer. We will extend equal opportunity to all individuals without regard to race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, disability, age, genetic information, or any other status protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws. Our policy reflects and affirms the organization’s commitment to the principles of fair employment and the elimination of all discriminatory practices.

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