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Security Clearance GRC Jobs
Cleared governance, risk, and compliance roles, and a plain-English guide to what each clearance level actually means.
Open GRC roles requiring or sponsoring a clearance (9)
RMF/GRC Program Lead
EMEA Assurance Lead
Staff Security Assurance Engineer
Compliance Analyst - Policy, Process, and Procedure (R5253)
Continuity Plans and Policy Specialist
DHS Continuity Evaluation Program Lead
Program analyst (Cyber Operations)
Program Analyst (Cyber Operations)
Office Director, Office of Surveillance Strategy and Risk Prioritization
Security clearances in GRC, explained
On a lot of defense, aerospace, and federal GRC roles the clearance is the real gate, more than the skills. If a posting names one, it means it: the work touches classified information, and only cleared people can do it. Here is the ladder, lowest to highest.
- Public Trust. Not a classified clearance, but a federal suitability standard for roles that touch sensitive, not classified, government systems and data. Common on civilian-agency compliance and IT roles.
- Confidential. The entry tier of classified access, covering information whose disclosure could cause damage to national security.
- Secret. The most common clearance in defense work, covering information whose disclosure could cause serious damage to national security.
- Top Secret (TS). Covers information whose disclosure could cause exceptionally grave damage to national security. A deeper background investigation, and a much smaller candidate pool.
- TS/SCI. Top Secret plus access to Sensitive Compartmented Information, granted compartment by compartment, often paired with a polygraph (CI poly or full-scope poly). This is the top of the ladder, and the scarcest, highest-paid corner of GRC.
"Clearable" or "able to obtain" means the employer will sponsor the clearance if you are eligible, generally a US citizen who can pass the investigation. You do not always need it on day one, but you have to be able to get one.
Why it matters for your search: the clearance level decides the size of the pool and the pay. Cleared GRC roles, industrial security, government compliance, classified-systems risk and audit, are scarce, durable, and pay a premium precisely because the gate is hard to clear. If you hold one, lead with it.