Principal Technical Risk Analyst

Toast creates technology to help restaurants and local businesses succeed in a digital world, helping business owners operate, increase sales, engage customers, and keep employees happy.

We are seeking a Principal Technical Risk Analyst to lead and mature Toast’s Technical Risk Program. This role will report to the Sr. Director of Technical Governance, Risk, & Compliance and is part of the Information Security Organization. This is a high-impact, senior individual contributor role responsible for owning the end-to-end cyber risk management program, including risk identification, assessment, reporting, and integration into enterprise risk and leadership decision-making. This role is not about maintaining a process — it is about building, operationalizing, and leading a program that drives real business decisions and outcomes.

You will partner closely with:

• Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)


• Security Engineering, Infrastructure, and Product teams


• Technical Compliance and Governance teams


• Senior leadership and executive forums

You will play a key role in advancing and scaling our Technical Risk program, further strengthening our data-driven approach to risk management and enabling informed, timely decision-making across the business.

A day in the life (Responsibilities)

Own and Lead the Technical Risk Program

• Own the end-to-end cyber risk lifecycle: risk identification, assessment, prioritization, mitigation tracking, and reporting


• Establish and operationalize a scalable risk operating model (risk discovery → intake → assessment → reporting → monitoring)


• Ensure the program operates with a predictable cadence, clear ownership, and strong execution rigor


• Drive adoption of the program across Security, Product, Engineering, and Infrastructure teams

Lead Technical Risk Management Across the Lifecycle

• Lead the end-to-end technical risk management lifecycle through close partnership with cross-functional stakeholders


• Establish and scale risk discovery mechanisms, including:




• Stakeholder engagement across Engineering, Product, Infrastructure, and Security


• Inputs from audits, incidents, assessments, and external signals




• Ensure continuous identification and prioritization of emerging and high-impact risks


• Translate technical issues into clear, business-relevant risk narratives


• Act as a trusted partner and challenger, influencing stakeholders to drive timely risk mitigation and resolution

Drive Risk Program Maturity and Transformation

• Lead the evolution of the technical risk program to support scale, consistency, and improved visibility In partnership with ERM, operate within, suggest enhancements to, and manage the following:




• Risk taxonomy and classification models


• Risk assessment and prioritization frameworks


• Risk-to-control mapping (linking risks to the controls and a Common Controls Framework)




• Own and evolve the use of Optro (fka AuditBoard) RiskOversight as the system of record


• Improve data quality, reporting capabilities, and workflow scalability


• Operationalize the program within AuditBoard RiskOversight (Optro) as the system of record


• Build scalable processes that enable automation, reporting, and AI use cases

Enable Risk Governance and Decision Making Through Risk Insights

• Develop and deliver clear, executive-ready risk reporting and dashboards


• Manage and lead the Technical Risk Subcommittee and related governance forums:




• Prepare committee materials to ensure meetings are structured, actionable, and decision-oriented


• Clearly articulate risks, impacts, and recommended actions




• Provide leadership with:




• Visibility into top risks, mitigation plan progress, and trends


• Clear trade-offs and prioritization inputs




• Partner with Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) to align on risk taxonomy, reporting, and governance

Communicate, report, and escalate upward to the Enterprise Risk and Compliance Committee (ERCC)

What you'll need to thrive (Requirements)

Core Experience

• 8–12+ years of experience in Technical Risk, Security GRC, ERM, or related fields


• Proven experience owning and leading a technical/cyber risk program


• Strong understanding of:




• Cybersecurity domains (cloud, infrastructure, IAM, application security)


• Risk frameworks (NIST CSF, ISO 27001, etc.)




• Experience operating in high-growth, complex, cloud-based environments

Program Leadership & Execution

• Demonstrated ability to:




• Build and operationalize programs from 0 → 1 and 1 → scale


• Drive predictable execution cadence and rigor


• Translate ambiguity into structured, executable plans




• Strong program management discipline (planning, tracking, follow-through)

Risk & Analytical Thinking

• Ability to:




• Translate technical issues into clear risk narratives and business impact


• Prioritize risks based on impact and likelihood


• Drive data-informed decision-making

Communication & Influence

• Exceptional communication skills:




• Executive-ready written and verbal communication


• Ability to structure updates: What / So What / Now What / Decision Needed




• Proven ability to influence:




• Senior stakeholders


• Cross-functional teams without direct authority

Tooling & Systems

• Experience with GRC tools such as:




• Optro (fka AuditBoard-preferred), ServiceNow GRC, Workiva, etc.




• Ability to:




• Drive tool adoption and configuration


• Translate business processes into scalable system workflows

Special Sauce or Bonus Ingredients (Nice-to-Haves)

• Experience integrating technical risk into ERM programs


• Experience building risk dashboards, metrics, and reporting frameworks


• Familiarity with automation, AI, or data-driven GRC approaches


• Relevant certifications (CISSP, CISM, CISA, CRISC)

AI at Toast

At Toast, one of our company values is that we're hungry to build and learn. We believe learning new AI tools empowers us to build for our customers faster, more independently, and with higher quality. We provide these tools across all disciplines, from Engineering and Product to Sales and Support, and are inspired by how our Toasters are already driving real value with them. The people who thrive here are those who embrace changes that let us build more for our customers; it’s a core part of our culture.

Our Total Rewards Philosophy
We strive to provide competitive compensation and benefits programs that help to attract, retain, and motivate the best and brightest people in our industry. Our total rewards package goes beyond great earnings potential and provides the means to a healthy lifestyle with the flexibility to meet Toasters’ changing needs. Learn more about our benefits at https://careers.toasttab.com/toast-benefits.