Navigating the Transition: From Public Service to the Private Sector

By Danielle Snyder, FBI AIA Board Member

If you're feeling lost or intimidated about transitioning from public service to the private sector, trust me, I’ve been there. A few years ago, I had no idea where to start or how to translate my skills. Some jobs seemed obvious—intel or security—but those roles are highly competitive, and many corporate security positions tend to go to former 1811s. So I broadened my search and landed on Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Compliance.

Why Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)?

I equated risk to threat and considered the threats businesses face. As I researched more, I saw how risk prioritization in ERM looked strikingly like the FBI’s Threat Review and Prioritization (TRP) process, except ERM measures impact and likelihood instead of impact and mitigation. Unlike traditional security or criminal threats, ERM considers obstacles to business strategy—mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities, competition, pricing, valuation, currency conversions, and more.

Like intel, ERM aims to get ahead of threats, provide stakeholders with a holistic view, and help them decide whether to accept, avoid, mitigate, or share the risk.

Key skills:

• Engaging with various levels of management

• Gathering intel from all sources

• Proactively addressing problems rather than reacting to them

• Strong writing and BLUF skills

• Convincing stakeholders of the value in early risk identification

Understanding Compliance

Initially, I equated compliance to the FBI’s Inspection Division, but after three years, I see that’s not quite right. In my current company, we have three compliance teams:

1. Corporate Compliance: Develops policies and controls around anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions, bribery, ethics, gifting, and codes of conduct… a great fit for someone with a white collar crime background.

2. Global Licensing: Ensures regulatory compliance across various jurisdictions.

3. InfoSec GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance): Creates cybersecurity policies regarding device usage, thumb drives, storage and networking, user and third party access, etc.

Key skill:

• Strong analytic skills and attention to detail to conduct risk assessments and test the effectiveness of controls

Internal Audit: The Inspection Division of the Corporate World

Internal Audit (IA) operates like an inspection division, scrutinizing processes and controls to ensure compliance and readiness for third-party audits. It is independent, reporting directly to the Board’s Audit Committee and a dotted line to the Chief Financial Officer.

Key skills:

• Conducting interviews and reviewing logs to assess policy adherence

• Relaying findings to executives and the Audit Committee

• Tracking mitigation progress

While no one loves an audit, it helps businesses prepare for external scrutiny, reducing the risk of fines, reputational damage, and regulatory penalties.

Crisis Management: Where I Found My Niche

My role evolved into major incident and crisis management—an area where my skills from the FBI translated almost seamlessly.

Why?

1. You can’t ignore crises; cooperation is immediate

2. Clear, concise communication is a rare but valuable skill in high-stress situations

3. Our experience in command posts and high-pressure environments and our ability to remain calm reassures executives

What is a crisis?

Pending the scope of a role, a crisis could be a climate-related disaster, terrorist events, pandemics, board member or executive officer incapacitation, data breaches, or reputational issues (e.g. major lawsuit with extensive media coverage).

Key skills:

• Coordinating responses, including internal and external communications, regulatory compliance, and law enforcement contact

• Ensuring stakeholders stay informed and escalate when necessary

• Conducting post-mortems to identify gaps and improve processes

Other Roles to Consider

• Security Operations Center (SOC) – Cybersecurity monitoring

• AML Analyst – Anti-money laundering investigations

• Fraud Roles – Detecting financial and identity fraud

• Communications teams

Final Thoughts

Transitioning to the private sector can feel overwhelming, but roles in ERM, Compliance, Internal Audit, and Crisis Management offer clear paths for those with public service backgrounds. Focus on your strengths, find the right industry fit, and ask the right questions before making your move. The skills you have are valuable—you just need to apply them in the right way.

Comment below and share your thoughts on these and other roles, and complete our post-government survey to help us continue identifying where intelligence professionals can apply their skills and thrive in the private sector.