Cybersecurity Lead Jobs in Virginia
Cybersecurity lead jobs in Virginia are among the most active in the country, concentrated in federal contracting, defense, and financial services, with demand at every level from early-career practitioners through senior team leads. The densest hiring is in the Northern Virginia corridor, Richmond, and Hampton Roads, where employers like Booz Allen Hamilton, Leidos, and SAIC maintain large security operations. Cloud security, zero-trust architecture, and incident response are the specialties Virginia employers pursue most consistently. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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As a Cybersecurity AI/ML Lead - Data Scientist - Data Scientist at JPMorgan Chase within the Cybersecurity & Technology Controls, you will be an integral part of a team that develops advanced analytical and machine learning solutions to address complex cybersecurity and technology risk challenges. As a core technical contributor, you will help design and deliver scalable, auditable, and data-driven solutions that support our Cyber Operations teams.
You'll be conducting data analysis, statistical modeling, machine learning, and deep learning techniques to solve cybersecurity and technology risk problems. You will be able to prepare and analyze complex datasets, develop and evaluate models, and communicate findings clearly to technical and business stakeholders. You'll understand when Generative AI, transformer architectures, and related techniques are appropriate for applied security use cases.
Job responsibilities
- Partner with stakeholders, business leaders, cybersecurity engineers, and data engineers to understand security needs, define use cases, and acquire the data required to address them.
- Perform exploratory data analysis on security and technology datasets, identify meaningful patterns, and communicate findings to stakeholders.
- Select, develop, and evaluate statistical, machine learning, deep learning models that are appropriate for cybersecurity use cases and business outcomes.
- Prepare model-ready datasets through feature engineering, data quality assessment, and other data preparation techniques.
- Leads reuse-first adoption of enterprise-authorized AI capabilities within the work environment to accelerate data architecture and model analysis and strategic decisioning, with human-in-the-loop validation and appropriate handling of sensitive data.
- Establishes portfolio-level guardrails for AI-assisted and agentic workflows used in data engineering design and delivery, including traceability/auditability and control expectations aligned to resiliency and security standards.
- Support model governance by documenting model selection, interpretability, testability, performance, limitations, and results.
- Design, build, review, debug, and maintain secure, high-quality production code for analytical and machine learning solutions.
- Contribute to security control effectiveness by applying industry insights, internal standards, and regulatory expectations to improve security processes and protocols.
- Add to a team culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect.
Required qualifications, capabilities, and skills
- Obtain 5 plus years of experience with formal training or certification in security engineering concepts
- Working knowledge of probability, statistics, statistical distributions, and their application to cybersecurity or technology risk use cases.
- Advanced Python skills, including Pandas, SQL, and data visualization tools such as Matplotlib, Seaborn, or Plotly.
- Experience leading teams in the safe use of enterprise-authorized AI capabilities within the work environment for security engineering workflows, including validation habits and awareness of data sensitivity.
- Ability to review and validate AI-assisted security recommendations before adoption, escalating uncertainty and ensuring outcomes align to security, resiliency, and auditability expectations.
- Experience using notebooks such as Jupyter, SageMaker, or VS Code to analyze data, document methods, and communicate results.
- Working knowledge of Scikit-Learn for classification, regression, and clustering models, plus machine learning or deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch.
- Experience preparing complex datasets for modeling, including data cleaning, feature engineering, and data quality assessment.
- Ability to explain model selection, interpretability, performance metrics, and limitations verbally and in writing.
- Proficiency with Software Development Life Cycle, CI/CD practices, application resiliency, and secure software delivery.
- In-depth knowledge of the financial services industry and related IT systems.
Preferred qualifications, capabilities, and skills
- Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, or a related field, plus 3+ years of applied data science experience.
- Experience with TCP/IP networking, cybersecurity technologies, and security-related telemetry.
- Experience monitoring models in production and identifying data quality, drift, or performance issues.
- Experience deploying statistical or machine learning models in production environments, including AWS SageMaker.
- Working knowledge of Large Language Models, natural language models, vector embeddings, and responsible AI practices such as fairness, reliability, and safety.
ABOUT US
We offer a competitive total rewards package including base salary determined based on the role, experience, skill set and location. Those in eligible roles may receive commission-based pay and/or discretionary incentive compensation, paid in the form of cash and/or forfeitable equity, awarded in recognition of individual achievements and contributions. We also offer a range of benefits and programs to meet employee needs, based on eligibility. These benefits include comprehensive health care coverage, on-site health and wellness centers, a retirement savings plan, backup childcare, tuition reimbursement, mental health support, financial coaching and more. Additional details about total compensation and benefits will be provided during the hiring process.
We recognize that our people are our strength and the diverse talents they bring to our global workforce are directly linked to our success. We are an equal opportunity employer and place a high value on diversity and inclusion at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute, including race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital or veteran status, pregnancy or disability, or any other basis protected under applicable law. We also make reasonable accommodations for applicants' and employees' religious practices and beliefs, as well as mental health or physical disability needs. Visit our FAQs for more information about requesting an accommodation.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including Disability/Veterans
ABOUT THE TEAM
Our professionals in our Corporate Functions cover a diverse range of areas from finance and risk to human resources and marketing. Our corporate teams are an essential part of our company, ensuring that we're setting our businesses, clients, customers and employees up for success.
See All 20 Cybersecurity Lead Jobs in Virginia
Find roles in Virginia that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Cybersecurity Lead JobsCybersecurity Lead Jobs by City in Virginia
Where Virginia roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Cybersecurity Lead Job Market in Virginia
A snapshot from current Virginia openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring



What Virginia Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in cybersecurity lead jobs across Virginia.
- Active security clearance, typically Secret or Top Secret, required for most Virginia positions
- Five or more years of hands-on cybersecurity experience, including team leadership
- CISSP, CISM, or equivalent certification recognized across Virginia federal and commercial employers
- Demonstrated experience with NIST frameworks, RMF, and federal compliance standards
- Proficiency securing cloud environments such as AWS GovCloud, Azure, or Google Cloud
- Bachelor's degree in cybersecurity, computer science, or a closely related technical field
Cybersecurity Lead Jobs in Virginia: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a cybersecurity lead in Virginia?
The path to a cybersecurity lead role in Virginia runs through a combination of technical credentials and clearance eligibility rather than a state-issued license. Virginia employers, especially in Northern Virginia's defense corridor, expect candidates to hold certifications like CISSP or CISM and to be clearable at the Secret or Top Secret level. A bachelor's degree in a technical field is a common baseline, and experience managing security operations or leading small teams is what distinguishes lead candidates from senior individual contributors.
How much do cybersecurity leads make in Virginia?
Cybersecurity leads in Virginia earn a median of about $134,900 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $81,410 for the lowest 10% to over $205,750 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire cybersecurity leads in Virginia?
Employers hiring cybersecurity leads in Virginia right now include Millennium Corporation, HII, and SAIC, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. Virginia's dense concentration of federal contractors and defense agencies means hiring stays consistent throughout the year, even when broader tech hiring slows nationally.
Which Virginia cities have the most cybersecurity lead jobs?
McLean, Arlington, and Alexandria are the Virginia cities with the most cybersecurity lead openings. Northern Virginia dominates because of its proximity to federal agencies like the Department of Defense and intelligence community partners, while Richmond draws demand from financial services firms and state government, and Hampton Roads reflects the region's large military and naval installations.
Are there remote cybersecurity lead jobs in Virginia?
Yes, and more than most fields. About 50% of cybersecurity lead openings tied to Virginia are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, reflecting how much of the role centers on monitoring tools, policy work, and team coordination rather than physical hardware. Strategy-focused and governance-heavy positions tend to offer the most location flexibility, while roles tied to classified systems or secure facilities typically require on-site presence.
How can I get hired as a cybersecurity lead in Virginia with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry point is a security analyst or SOC analyst role at one of Virginia's large federal contractors, where structured rotations and mentorship programs exist specifically for candidates building toward a lead position. Employers like Booz Allen Hamilton and Leidos hire analysts who can grow into leadership. Obtaining a CompTIA Security+ certification and demonstrating the ability to obtain a clearance are the credentials that move a low-experience candidate to the top of early-career lists in Virginia.
Where can I find and apply to cybersecurity lead jobs in Virginia?
You can find and apply to cybersecurity lead jobs in Virginia on Migrate Mate, which lists current Virginia openings across industries and experience levels. Find roles that fit your background and apply directly to the ones that match.
See All 20 Cybersecurity Lead Jobs in Virginia
Find roles in Virginia that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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