Keith Watson

Summary

I help people and organizations on their cybersecurity journey through the creation and delivery of consulting services, leading talented and engaged security professionals, and by creating engaging learning and development content. In my role as a director, I have the privilege to lead a talented group of entirely remote cybersecurity professionals. My leadership philosophy is based on empowerment through mentoring, training, and professional development. I am successful because every member of my team is a competent, thoughtful, and effective team player. I utilize a variety of open and honest communication methods and approaches, individual and group focused meetings. team-developed meeting agenda, documented methodologies, and consistency through tooling and automation. I do not micromanage. I remove roadblocks (when feasible) and redirect and cajole (when needed). We have fun! With over four years as Director of Application Security and Threat Management Services (Pre-Sales) at Optiv, my team of dedicated security advisors to help our clients with challenges in areas such as penetration testing, application security, vulnerability management and remediation, and incident response. Collaborating closely with consulting leaders and sales teams, we deliver standard and some customized security solutions while refining those services to meet market demands. Having an MBA and holding CISSP-ISSAP, CCSP, and CISA certifications, I have a broad understanding of the business-oriented cybersecurity challenges and the solutions needed for a programmatic approach to organizational cybersecurity. I am also a contract Pluralsight course author, which enables me to empower information security professionals through engaging, accessible training content. This part-time endeavor complements my passion for lifelong learning and professional development. By combining hands-on leadership with a commitment to knowledge-sharing, I strive to advance security practices and support the growth of individuals and organizations in the cybersecurity domain. My career is built on experiences in a variety of roles in the cybersecurity space with past roles as a systems administrator, security tool developer, consultant, security researcher, security architect, product manager, and pre-sales advisor.