Cyber Command Director-Level Hirings Illustrate Leadership Organization

Four leadership openings at Texas Cyber Command (TXCC) are providing new detail on how the state’s new cybersecurity agency is structuring its work around information sharing, stakeholder engagement, cybersecurity practices and innovation.

The command is hiring directors for its Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO), Cyber Stakeholder Center, Cyber Practices Center and Cyber Innovation Center. The agency says it is recruiting as it stands up its operational components and support functions. Applications for the first two positions close Aug. 13, while the other two close Aug. 14.

The postings fill in part of an organizational structure outlined in TXCC’s 2027-2031 strategic plan. The plan describes a functional mission design consisting of the ISAO, Cybersecurity Threat Intelligence Center and Unified Cyber Task Force. The task force includes the Network Security Operations Center, Cybersecurity Incident Response Unit and Digital Forensics Laboratory.

The new postings show how the information-sharing organization itself is expected to operate.

The director of the ISAO will provide executive leadership for the organization and direct three centers: the Cyber Stakeholder Center, Cyber Practices Center and Cyber Innovation Center. The organization will serve as the command’s principal forum for cybersecurity collaboration and information exchange among governmental entities, private-sector organizations, institutions of higher education, critical infrastructure owners and operators and federal partners.

Through the three centers, the organization is expected to handle statewide information sharing, stakeholder engagement, cybersecurity practices, innovation, workforce development and situational awareness across the public and private sectors. Its director will also lead the exchange of cybersecurity threat intelligence, vulnerability information, emerging risks and operational practices with organizations across Texas.

The Cyber Stakeholder Center posting provides more detail on one piece of that structure. The center is described as TXCC’s primary interface with the statewide cybersecurity community, including state agency CIOs and chief information security officers, private-sector cybersecurity companies, critical infrastructure owners and operators, academic organizations and federal partners.

Its director will oversee stakeholder engagement and the development and distribution of cybersecurity advisories, directives, alerts, operational updates and other communications. The center will also gather feedback and identify emerging cybersecurity challenges, with that information feeding into organizational planning and information-sharing activities.

The ISAO posting also establishes roles for the Cyber Practices and Cyber Innovation centers within the larger organization, tying the centers to cybersecurity practices, workforce development, emerging technologies and research.

Those functions track with several priorities already identified in the command’s strategic plan. TXCC plans to build on workforce programs transferred from the Department of Information Resources through internships, fellowships, outreach, research, cyber innovation challenges, training platforms and collaboration with Texas institutions of higher education. The plan also calls for partnerships with universities, community colleges, military transition programs and professional networks.

The organizational buildout comes as TXCC continues separating itself from the Department of Information Resources. Statewide cybersecurity employees and functions transferred from the department to the command March 1. As of May, the department was still providing some human resources, IT and procurement support while the command developed its own administrative capabilities.

The strategic plan reported 48 full-time TXCC employees as of May and an anticipated workforce of 122 employees, along with additional knowledge-expert contractors.