Security · Intelligence · Leadership

Rachel
Tenney

Associate Director, GRC & Security Awareness

Intelligence expert turned cyber operations leader with 15 years of experience across national defense and the private sector — building programs that protect organizations without sacrificing culture.

Rachel Tenney
15+ Years in Defense & Security
90% Predictive Accuracy — ISIS Advance
SecDef & JCS Awards
7 Security Engineering Teams Led

Ethics as a
competitive advantage.

"Principled motivator with a record of inspiring progress without sacrificing morale."

Rachel began her career as a Senior Counterterrorism Intelligence Officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency, where she authored the 2014 U.S. Military Operational Plan for Iraq — a document later presented to President Barack Obama. She correctly predicted ISIS's territorial advance with 90% accuracy.

She transitioned that tradecraft into the private sector, leading security operations, threat intelligence, insider risk programs, and concierge advisory practices across Fortune 500 companies. Today she serves as Associate Director for GRC and Security Awareness at nVent, expanding a culture of security across a global organization.

Rachel is also an Adjunct Professor at SET University in Lviv, Ukraine, teaching the required Insider Threat Program Management course for the Masters in Cyber Defense — voted best course of 2024.

Cyber GRC Insider Risk Intel Tradecraft People Leadership Security Awareness Adjunct Professor
Rachel Tenney professional photo

A track record built on
mission-critical work.

Jan 2026 – Present
nVent
St. Louis Park, MN · Hybrid
Associate Director, GRC & Security Awareness
  • Oversee strategic and operational aspects of cybersecurity governance, risk management, and compliance.
  • Expanding and enhancing the cybersecurity awareness program to foster a culture of security.
  • Collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.
GRCSecurity CultureCompliance
Jan 2026 – Present
MN ISSA
Minneapolis, MN
Board of Directors – Program Manager
  • Serving on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota chapter of the Information Systems Security Association.
Board GovernanceCommunity
Dec 2023 – Present
SET University
Lviv, Ukraine · Remote
Adjunct Professor
  • Primary lecturer for Insider Threat Program Management — a required Masters in Cyber Defense course.
  • Curated curriculum preparing business leaders for real-world insider risk scenarios.
  • Voted best course of the year (2024); top 5 in 2025.
EducationInsider Risk
Aug 2024 – Jun 2025
Pentair
Golden Valley, MN
Security Operations Center Manager
  • Reformed ad-hoc IR practices, advancing program maturity with roadmap, metrics dashboard, runbooks, and AI.
  • Restored functionality of existing SOC incident management system while designing strategic improvements.
  • Delivered strategy for 24/7 in-house IR coverage using JIRA Service Management configurations.
  • Performed daily hands-on incident investigations across global hybrid-cloud environment.
  • Enhanced confidentiality for Legal and Compliance matters — standardized BEC, fraud, and legal hold workflows.
SOC LeadershipIncident ResponseAI
Aug 2021 – Dec 2023
Arctic Wolf Networks
Greater Minneapolis–St. Paul
Manager, Concierge Security Engineering
  • Managed up to 7 security engineering teams, achieving highest Enterprise-level client retention during tenure.
  • Employee engagement scores consistently above company, division, and peer benchmarks — highest in Nov 2022.
  • Championed product features to enhance client relationships and prevent churn.
  • Cultivated relationships with CSM, Product, and R&D teams to steer XDR, Vuln Mgmt, and Awareness products.
  • Designed crowd-sourced content production process to rapidly expand advisory library.
People LeadershipClient SuccessXDR
Aug 2019 – Aug 2021
Honeywell International
Greater Minneapolis–St. Paul
Program Manager, Counterintelligence & Insider Risk
  • Designed, built, and operated CI & Insider Risk Program protecting multi-billion-dollar Quantum Computing trade secrets.
  • Organized strategy around risk assessment, centralized visibility, strategic warning, and awareness.
  • Developed risk assessment methodology from NIST RMF for CUI/CDI assets (NIST 800-171, 800-53).
CI ProgramNIST RMFTrade Secret Protection
Jan 2018 – Aug 2019
Best Buy Inc.
Greater Minneapolis–St. Paul
Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst
  • Professionalized intelligence operations using IC standards — cognitive bias controls, sourcing standards, estimative language.
  • Used national legislation to champion threat intelligence sharing with ISACs.
  • Wrote requirements and flow for IOC ingest and automated detection in Best Buy's SOAR environment.
Threat IntelSOARISAC
Aug 2010 – Nov 2014
Defense Intelligence Agency
Tampa, FL & National Capital Region
Senior Counterterrorism Intelligence Officer
  • Team Lead & Subject Matter Expert on ISIS capabilities across the Intelligence Community and Pentagon (2013–14).
  • Authored the 2014 official U.S. Military Operational Plan for Iraq — presented to President Obama by SecDef Austin.
  • Correctly predicted ISIS's 2014 territorial advance, including the fall of Mosul, with 90% accuracy.
  • Senior Intelligence Officer for U.S. Embassy Baghdad, supporting Ambassador, Joint Chiefs, and SecDef.
  • Managed force protection tactical intelligence operations for all U.S. military in Iraq.
National SecurityIntelligence CommunityAll-Source Analysis

You're not just hiring
a security leader.

🧠

Intelligence Tradecraft

15 years applying rigorous IC standards to analysis — bias control, sourcing, strategic warning, and estimative language — now applied to corporate threat environments.

🛡️

Program Builder

From scratch: a CI & Insider Risk program protecting quantum computing trade secrets. A SOC practice with AI-enhanced playbooks. An advisory content library built at scale.

🌍

Global Perspective

Operational experience in Iraq, the National Capital Region, and remote teaching in Ukraine. Arabic language skills. Fluent in the geopolitics that shape today's threat landscape.

👥

People First

Highest employee engagement scores in department. 7 engineering teams managed with above-benchmark retention. Open to opportunities that reward ethics alongside results.

📚

Knowledge Multiplier

Teaches the next generation of cyber defenders as an Adjunct Professor. Voted best course at SET University 2024. Designs curriculum that connects theory to real business risk.

🔍

GRC & Compliance

Deep expertise in NIST RMF, 800-53, 800-171, CUI/CDI frameworks, and building governance structures that scale across complex, global organizations.

Recognition

Honored by those
who set the standard.

October 2023
Patriot Award
U.S. Secretary of Defense · Employer Support of the Guard & Reserves
March 2014
Award for Analytic Excellence in Strategic Warning
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Presented for paper series highlighting escalation of Iraq instability — which proved prophetic.
May 2013
Secretary of Defense Medal
Department of Defense · Global War on Terrorism

Core competencies
& technical stack.

Domain Expertise
Security Operations Intelligence Tradecraft Insider Risk GRC Process Improvement National Security Compliance Frameworks Security Awareness People Leadership Coaching Change Management Innovation
Frameworks & Standards
NIST RMF NIST 800-53 NIST 800-171 CUI / CDI MITRE ATT&CK
Languages
Arabic (Modern Standard) Arabic (Egyptian Colloquial)
Microsoft Defender & Entra ID
CrowdStrike Falcon
Darktrace for Email and Identity
Arctic Wolf Platform & Analytics
JIRA Service Management (JSM)
Elastic / Kibana
Threat Quotient · MISP · Flashpoint
Risk IQ · Thomson Reuters Clear
Refinitiv World-Check
Veriato Cerebral
Zendesk · Confluence · Salesforce
Formation

Academic & professional credentials.

Bachelor of Arts
Near & Middle Eastern Studies
Florida State University
Minors: Arabic, Political Science · GPA 3.7 · 2004–2009
Language Program
Intensive Arabic Language
The American University in Cairo
Egyptian Colloquial & Modern Standard Arabic · 2009
Certifications
Multiple Professional Certifications
Georgetown · Elastic · Root9B · DIA
Cybersecurity Law Institute · Kibana Data Analyst · Cyber Threat Intelligence Analysis · DISAP I · Foundations for Responsible AI (LinkedIn Learning)
Get in Touch

Ready to build something
worth protecting.

Open to opportunities that reward ethics as well as achievement of security outcomes. Let's talk.