Lead Governance, Risk and Compliance Manager

Opportunity Overview We’re looking for an experienced Lead Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Manager to lead and mature our enterprise security governance, risk management, regulatory compliance, and customer assurance programs. In this role, you will drive operational excellence across compliance frameworks, security risk management, third-party assurance, and customer-facing security initiatives while strengthening the processes and technology that support our growing business. This is a hands-on leadership role suited for an experienced GRC professional who can independently manage complex initiatives, influence cross-functional stakeholders, and build scalable, repeatable operations. You’ll work closely with Security, Engineering, IT, Legal, Sales, Customer Success, and executive leadership to advance our security posture, accelerate customer trust, and enable business growth.

What you’ll do:

Lead and mature Cohere’s GRC program, establishing scalable governance processes, operating procedures, risk management practices, and measurable performance indicators aligned with business objectives. Own the deployment, configuration, and optimization of enterprise GRC platforms, including control mapping, evidence automation, risk registers, continuous monitoring, and compliance reporting. Direct compliance and certification initiatives across HITRUST, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and applicable regulatory requirements, ensuring ongoing audit readiness and effective control execution. Lead customer security assurance activities, including security questionnaires, due diligence requests, customer audits, executive briefings, and security discussions with prospective and existing clients. Partner with Sales, Customer Success, and Marketing to develop security-focused go-to-market materials, establish and maintain a customer-facing Trust Center, and strengthen security as a competitive differentiator. Review and negotiate security-related contractual requirements in partnership with Legal, including Data Protection Agreements (DPAs), Business Associate Agreements (BAAs), security exhibits, and customer security obligations. Oversee enterprise risk management activities, including risk assessments, remediation tracking, exception management, and the enforcement and reporting of vulnerability remediation SLAs across Engineering, Platform, DevOps, and Data teams. Govern identity and access compliance, including periodic access reviews, privileged access certifications, segregation of duties, and remediation of access control deficiencies. Establish and maintain cross-functional GRC engagement with business units to align security policies, controls, risk ownership, and compliance obligations with operational priorities. Develop and deliver executive-level presentations, dashboards, and reporting that communicate compliance posture, risk exposure, remediation performance, customer assurance metrics, and program maturity. Build and scale a high-performing GRC function, establishing repeatable processes, developing team capabilities, managing external assessors and partners, and driving continuous improvement with minimal day-to-day oversight.