---
title: 'Director - Governance, Risk, Compliance & Privacy (GRC) at Beacon Software'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-governance-risk-compliance-privacy-grc-beacon-software-san-francisco-5ak3drpet3cd'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Director - Governance, Risk, Compliance & Privacy (GRC) at Beacon Software

- **Company:** Beacon Software
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-09
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/beaconsoftware/aa18aaa1-7d79-489e-b888-1b046d010d51

## Job description

## About Beacon Software

[Beacon](https://beaconsoftware.com/) is acquiring and operating a portfolio of vertical SaaS companies. Most private equity firms scale by adding people. We are building Beacon to scale by adding software. The thesis is simple: portfolio operations, value creation, and deal sourcing are bottlenecked by human attention, and an agentic operating system can lift that ceiling by an order of magnitude.

We are looking for a GRC leader to build and scale the governance, risk, compliance, and privacy function for a growing portfolio of software companies. This is a founding, high-ownership role for someone who has built before and treats automation and modern AI tooling as the default way to operate.

Beacon has raised $550M+ from investors including General Catalyst, Lightspeed, D1 Capital, CPMG, and the family offices of the founders of Stripe, DoorDash, and Ramp.

## About the Role

Our GRC function is at an early, formative stage. You would shape it from the foundations and scale it across the portfolio, working directly with our portfolio companies to take them through their own audits and certifications, and designing a program that grows with the business rather than one built for a single audit. The mandate spans security compliance, data privacy, risk, and AI governance. We expect it to be built AI-first: modern automation platforms and LLM-assisted workflows over manual process.

## What You'll Do

The role spans two scopes:

- Beacon. The holdco's enterprise governance program: security policy, AI governance, data governance and privacy, enterprise and third-party risk, and posture reporting. Governance-led, including any frameworks Beacon itself elects to pursue.
- Portfolio companies. Taking our portfolio companies through their own audits and certifications (SOC 2, ISO 27001, accessibility conformance, and others as their customers require), delivered hands-on as a repeatable service that scales across the portfolio.

Underpinning both: a common control architecture that maps a control once to satisfy many standards, AI-first automation, and clear program reporting.

## Who You Are

- You have built or substantially matured a GRC program before and taken an organization through SOC 2 Type 2. Typically several years (5+) in GRC, IT governance, or security compliance, though what you have built matters more to us than the count.
- A builder with a bias for action. When you see a manual process, your first instinct is how to automate it.
- A strong systems thinker. You design scalable GRC architectures, not one-off fixes for the next audit.
- Fluent with a compliance automation platform (Vanta, Drata, Secureframe, or similar) and current on AI tooling in practice, not just in theory.
- Comfortable across both security compliance and data privacy, or able to ramp quickly on regimes you have not personally run.
- An excellent cross-functional communicator who works through influence and can translate compliance requirements into terms both technical and non-technical teams can act on.
- A clear writer.

Bonus Points

- Privacy or audit certifications (CIPP, CIPM, CISA, CISSP, or ISO 27001 Lead Auditor or Implementer).
- Experience with regimes beyond SOC 2 (ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP, StateRAMP) and accessibility conformance (WCAG, VPAT).
- Enough technical fluency to scope what the program needs and partner closely with engineering, even without building the tooling yourself.
- Multi-entity, private-equity, or holding-company experience.
- M&A security and privacy diligence experience.

## Our Values at Beacon Software

- Humility: We acknowledge that the path to getting to the right answer involves being wrong along the way. We have strong beliefs which are weakly held. We actively seek new ideas and believe we can learn from anyone at any time.
- Honesty: We are truth seeking in our approach to business problems. Business is a repeat game and we believe that human relationships generate alpha. We understand that trust is earned over a lifetime and can be lost in an instant.
- Hunger: We play to win. We hold ourselves to high standards and will not be outworked. We take pride in having a deep sense of responsibility to ourselves, each other, our partners, and our customers. We believe to whom much is given much is expected.
- Horizon: We seek to build a generational software company. This will take decades. We manage our expectations and those of our partners to take advantage of the 8th wonder of the world - compounding growth.

How We Use AI in Our Hiring Process: To ensure transparency, we want candidates to know that Beacon Software uses Artificial Intelligence and AI-enabled tools to assist with screening, reviewing, organizing and highlighting profiles and applications that match the key requirements for each role.

AI does not make hiring decisions: Every application is reviewed by a member of our team, and all decisions throughout the process are made by humans. We use AI to support efficiency and consistency, not to replace human judgment. We are committed to a fair, thoughtful, and equitable experience for every candidate.

## About Beacon Software

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Beacon Software is a permanent holding company that acquires and grows mission-critical software businesses serving Main Street and the real economy, providing a centralized platform of engineering, AI, and operational expertise.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B)
- **Headquarters**: Toronto, Canada (with offices in New York City and San Francisco)
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Nilam Ganenthiran (Founder & CEO) and Divyahans Gupta (Co-Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Software Development; Vertical SaaS for essential industries (e.g., campground management, municipal government, dance competitions, event management)
- **Target customers**: B2B – small-to-medium businesses and organizations that rely on mission-critical software; also enterprise-level customers through acquired companies
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Beacon is the permanent home for Main Street software and services supporting the real economy.”

## Products & Services
- **Permanent Holding Model**: Beacon acquires software companies outright and holds them forever, keeping the brand, team, and customers intact.
- **Integrated Operating Platform**: Provides acquired companies with shared resources including in-house engineering, AI, design, fintech expertise, back-office automation, and growth playbooks.
- **AI & Technology Enablement**: Leverages an AI platform to help portfolio companies ship faster, automate administration, and expand market share (e.g., collaboration with OpenAI to bring AI certifications to 500,000 Main Street workers).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – $250 million Series B (November 2025) led by General Catalyst, Lightspeed, and D1 Capital; previous rounds undisclosed but backed by experienced operators.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, D1 Capital; strategic advisors include Farhan Thawar (Shopify), Euan Blair (Multiverse), Nikila Srinivasan (Meta), Dani Dudeck (Instacart), Sagar Sanghvi (AbridgeAI), Will Petrie (Ramp), and Rob Crisci (Lineage Logistics).
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - 63 employees with +9.3% monthly headcount growth
  - 25 active job postings across engineering, product, legal, and AI roles
  - Acquired E2E Soccer Limited (April 2026)
  - Annual revenue estimated at $7.8M [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/beaconsoftware)
  - High-profile hires from Instacart, Databricks, Sequoia, and Constellation Software

## Competitive Advantages
- **Permanent ownership model**: Unlike private equity, Beacon does not flip companies – it holds them forever, aligning long-term incentives with founders and customers.
- **Integrated platform at portfolio scale**: Acquired businesses gain immediate access to a centralized engineering bench, AI tools, design, and GTM resources that would otherwise be out of reach.
- **Founder-centric deal structure**: Beacon uses its own capital to close within 60 days and tailors terms to each founder, preserving the acquired company’s name and team.
- **Network effect**: Access to a broad ecosystem of seasoned operators, investors, and advisors across Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and Main Street.

## Strategic Focus
- **Expand portfolio through disciplined acquisitions**: Target essential software businesses with strong product-market fit and loyal customers in verticals like local government, recreation, and professional services.
- **Deepen AI integration**: Continue building AI capabilities across the platform (e.g., automation of administrative tasks, AI certifications) to drive growth and efficiency for portfolio companies.
- **Scale the operating platform**: Hire top-tier engineering, product, and operational talent to build a “common layer” that compounds across every owned business.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & Values**: Beacon emphasizes a long-term mindset (“Horizon”), relentless execution (“Hunger”), truth-seeking (“Honesty”), and continuous learning (“Humility”). The team is described as ambitious, driven, and humble.
- **Work Environment**: Remote-friendly with hubs in Toronto, New York City, and San Francisco. Some roles may require in-office presence (e.g., NYC).
- **Impact at Scale**: Engineers and product builders work on software that affects thousands of essential businesses and their customers – every project lands across the entire portfolio.
- **Career Growth**: Early-stage startup energy with strong financial backing; opportunity to shape the platform from the ground up alongside experienced operators.
- **Notable Perks**: Access to a world-class network of advisors, high-autonomy culture, and the chance to work on “real industry” problems that matter.

## Sources
1. [beacon.inc](https://beacon.inc/) – Company overview, values, and operating model
2. [beaconsoftware.com/team](https://beaconsoftware.com/team) – Founder background, advisors, and leadership
3. [beacon.inc/careers](https://beacon.inc/careers) – Careers page with culture and hiring philosophy
4. [linkedin.com/company/beaconsoftware](https://www.linkedin.com/company/beaconsoftware) – Financials, headcount, employee growth, and recent announcements
5. [builtin.com/company/beacon-software](https://builtin.com/company/beacon-software) – Job postings and office locations

## Other roles at Beacon Software

- [Product Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/product-lead-beacon-software-toronto-hm4pg5e89hjd) — Toronto, Canada
- [Product Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/product-lead-beacon-software-san-francisco-h39qmxvyd65b) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/product-lead-beacon-software-new-york-j3f8jbdzmx8r) — New York, NY
- [Director, Association Partnerships & School Growth](https://feeny.ai/job/director-association-partnerships-school-growth-beacon-software-united-states-scfpzwz2j3th) — United States
- [Member of GTM Staff - San Francisco](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-gtm-staff-san-francisco-beacon-software-san-francisco-0e9dmxt4st0r) — San Francisco, CA
- [Member of GTM Staff - Toronto](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-gtm-staff-toronto-beacon-software-toronto-csqthabvp7vf) — Toronto, Canada
- [Member of GTM Staff - New York](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-gtm-staff-new-york-beacon-software-new-york-cfnxry0cdjyc) — New York, NY
- [Tech Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/tech-lead-beacon-software-toronto-58etjxs5ah5b) — Toronto, Canada
- [Staff/Lead Application Security Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-lead-application-security-engineer-beacon-software-san-francisco-jd9rfp7nzg21) — San Francisco, CA
- [Strategic Finance Director](https://feeny.ai/job/strategic-finance-director-beacon-software-toronto-23z9j58eff08) — Toronto, Canada