Insider Risk and Threat Lead Investigator, Associate Director

The opportunity

EY is seeking an experienced Insider Risk and Threat Lead Investigator, Associate Director, to join the US Security team. This newly created role will lead sensitive, complex investigations involving potential insider risk, concerning conduct, workplace threat indicators, unauthorized access, information protection concerns, and other risks to EY people, assets, information, operations, and reputation. The role will also support counterintelligence-related responsibilities, including awareness of foreign influence, corporate espionage, elicitation, and other potential threats that may affect EY professionals, client work, or firm operations.

Your key responsibilities

• Lead sensitive and complex investigations related to insider risk, behavioral threats, workplace concerns, information protection, technology misuse, and business risk, leveraging multidisciplinary investigative methodologies to identify risks, inform decision-making, and protect the organization’s people, assets, and reputation.

• Assess potential insider risk indicators, concerning behaviors, unauthorized access, data handling issues, workplace threat concerns, policy violations, and other risks requiring coordinated security review.

• Make factual findings, synthesize complex information, assess credibility and context, and apply EY policies, procedures, investigative standards, and risk mitigation principles.

• Prepare clear, concise, and well-supported investigative documentation, including case summaries, findings, timelines, risk assessments, conclusions, and recommendations.

• Partner with US Security leadership, Cyber/IT, Data Loss Prevention, General Counsel’s Office, Ethics and Compliance Investigations Team, Talent, Employee Assistance, business leaders, and other stakeholders to coordinate investigative activity and mitigation strategies.

• Support an integrated investigative model that promotes timely triage, escalation, response coordination, and consistent handling of sensitive matters.

• Conduct root cause and trend analyses to identify emerging risks, recurring vulnerabilities, control gaps, policy clarification needs, training opportunities, and continuous improvement recommendations.

• Develop, refine, and apply investigative processes, protocols, playbooks, templates, and documentation standards that support thoroughness, fairness, confidentiality, consistency, and defensible decision-making.

• Provide consultation and subject matter support to leaders and stakeholders on sensitive, high-risk matters requiring discretion, sound judgment, and understanding of security, employment, compliance, and business considerations.

• Support awareness, prevention, and change management efforts designed to strengthen EY’s insider risk, workplace safety, information protection, and security culture.

• Maintain awareness of emerging insider risk, workplace threat, corporate security, counterintelligence, and information protection trends relevant to professional services organizations.

• Partner with intelligence and analytical teams to ensure investigations and risk mitigation activities are informed by timely, actionable intelligence and emerging threat trends.

Counterintelligence-related responsibilities

• Support counterintelligence-related activity in coordination with US Security leadership and appropriate internal stakeholders.

• Identify and escalate potential indicators of foreign influence, elicitation, corporate espionage, targeting of EY professionals, unauthorized collection efforts, or other matters that may require specialized review.

• Help translate counterintelligence awareness into practical guidance for relevant investigative, security, and business stakeholders.

• Coordinate with internal partners, and where appropriate through established channels, to support risk assessment, information gathering, documentation, and mitigation planning.

• Contribute to awareness materials, briefings, or prevention efforts related to counterintelligence risks in a manner aligned with EY policies and legal requirements.

• Participate in industry and government security forums (e.g., DSAC, InfraGard, OSAC) to maintain awareness of evolving counterintelligence threats and foreign adversary tactics.

Skills and attributes for success

• Strong investigative judgment, discretion, and ability to manage highly sensitive matters with professionalism, confidentiality, fairness, and respect.

• Exceptional analytical skills, including the ability to evaluate complex facts, identify patterns, assess risk, and recommend practical mitigation strategies.

• Excellent writing and editing skills, including the ability to prepare clear investigative summaries, findings, conclusions, memoranda, and executive-level briefings.

• Demonstrated ability to influence, consult, and build trust with senior leaders, cross-functional stakeholders, and business partners.

• Strong project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple complex matters, competing priorities, and urgent deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

• Ability to operate independently with broad decision-making responsibility while appropriately escalating significant risks or sensitive issues.

• Sound understanding of employee investigations, workplace risk, employment-related considerations, information protection, security operations, and risk management practices.

• Ability to quickly learn new business areas, systems, processes, and stakeholder environments relevant to investigations.

• Comfort working in ambiguity and making balanced recommendations where facts, policy considerations, and risk implications may be nuanced.

To qualify for the role, you must have

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.

• Approximately 12 or more years of relevant experience conducting investigations, security investigations, employee relations investigations, compliance investigations, law enforcement investigations, threat assessment work, insider risk work, or other closely related work.

• Experience leading complex, sensitive, or high-risk investigations in a corporate, professional services, government, military, legal, compliance, security, or law enforcement environment.

• Demonstrated experience building, formalizing, or maturing an investigative capability, process, program, or function within a complex organization.

• Experience working across multiple investigative or risk functions, such as Security, Cyber/IT, Legal/GCO, Ethics and Compliance, Talent, Employee Assistance, Compliance, Risk Management, business leadership, or external partners.

• Knowledge of Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM), workplace threat assessment, concerning behavior identification, threat escalation, or similar multidisciplinary risk assessment practices.

• Ability to identify behaviors of concern, determine appropriate escalation pathways, and coordinate with a Threat Assessment Team (TAT) or comparable multidisciplinary group.

• Strong knowledge of investigative best practices, documentation standards, confidentiality expectations, information-sharing protocols, and risk-based decision-making.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively and diplomatically with all levels of personnel, including firm and business leaders.

• Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex information, assess credibility and context, identify trends, recognize investigative overlap, and provide sound observations and recommendations.

• Ability to manage substantial hours, including nights, weekends/holidays, when urgent or sensitive matters require immediate attention.

• Ability to travel as needed based on business and investigative requirements.

Ideally, you’ll also have

• Experience with insider threat or insider risk programs, behavioral threat assessment and management, counterintelligence awareness, corporate security, cyber investigations, information protection, data loss prevention, or intelligence analysis.

• Experience as an US government 1811 investigator with a counterintelligence and/or insider threat background.

• Relevant certifications or training such as Certified Threat Manager, CPP, PMP, MBA, CFE, CCEP, LPEC, Wicklander-Zulawski, Reid, intelligence analysis, workplace violence prevention, behavioral threat assessment, or other investigative/security credentials.

• Experience designing or delivering training, guidance, playbooks, or consultation to help investigative partners recognize behaviors of concern and understand when to escalate matters to a TAT or similar multidisciplinary threat assessment body.

• Experience integrating distinct investigative teams or stakeholders by creating shared workflows, case coordination practices, intake protocols, referral pathways, or collaboration forums.

• Experience identifying or implementing technical, procedural, or governance solutions that help investigative teams coordinate active matters while preserving confidentiality, legal privilege, and appropriate case ownership.

• Experience in a large, matrixed, national or multinational organization with complex stakeholder, regulatory, and operational environments.

• Familiarity with professional services, client service environments, regulated work, confidential information handling, and reputational risk considerations.

What we look for

We are looking for a trusted, experienced investigator who can operate with independence, sound judgment, empathy, and discretion in matters that may be sensitive, ambiguous, and high impact. The successful candidate will be a practical problem solver, a strong writer, a credible advisor to senior stakeholders, and a collaborative partner who can help mature EY’s insider risk and threat investigation capabilities while supporting the broader mission of US Security.