I'm
JAMES KIMBLE
Enterprise Security Leadership, Risk and Compliance, Security Architecture, Identity and Zero Trust, Incident Preparedness, Fraud and Revenue Protection, Cloud and DevSecOps
James Kimble serves as Executive Director and Head of Cybersecurity & Compliance, accountable for enterprise security direction, regulatory assurance, and material risk reduction across a national retail footprint. His mandate is to protect the revenue path, identity, payments, uptime, and fraud, while preserving business velocity.
With more than three decades across the military, technology, and cybersecurity, James brings operational rigor and strategic clarity. He began in the Tennessee Air National Guard as an Aeromedical Evacuation Specialist during Desert Shield/Storm, experiences that shaped a bias for precision under pressure.
Career highlights include co-founding a public VoIP enterprise (VP Ops & CTO), securing global call center operations, and leading enterprise security architecture and BISO functions for Fortune 30 scale. His hallmark is turning policy into durable, repeatable outcomes that withstand board and regulator scrutiny.
James builds high-trust teams, aligns risk appetite to strategy, and communicates with precision, so leaders can make informed business decisions on time.
I lead cybersecurity as a business discipline, aligning risk appetite to strategy and defending the revenue path. My remit spans governance, architecture, and operations, with accountability for measurable risk reduction, regulatory assurance, and executive communication.
I partner with product, engineering, finance, and legal to convert priorities into credible delivery. The focus: clear standards, pragmatic architecture, and transparency up the chain so leaders can make informed decisions.
Core Competencies:
Standard: risk down, reliability up, and business velocity preserved.
Specialties: Leadership, Security & Compliance, Risk Management, Security Architecture, Executive Collaboration, PCI-DSS, SOX, ITGC, NIST, CIS, CISSP, C|CISO, CIPP/US.
University of the People | 2024 - PRESENT
Coursework in systems, networking, scripting, programming, and security fundamentals.
Western Governors University | 2016 - 2018
Security architecture, data management, and the business of IT.
Lipscomb University | 1986
Foundations in financial accounting and controls.
ISC2 | 2012 - PRESENT
Certified Information Systems Security Professional.
EC-Council | 2021 - PRESENT
Certified Chief Information Security Officer.
IAPP | Testing October 2025
Certified Information Privacy Professional (US).
CompTIA | 2018 - PRESENT
Certified Project Professional.
CIW | 2017 - PRESENT
Certified Internet Web Professional - Site Development Associate.
EXIN | 2008 - PRESENT
ITIL Foundations Certified.
Harbor Freight Tools | 2025 - PRESENT
Accountable for enterprise cyber risk, GRC, security architecture, and security engineering & operations across 1,800 locations and 28,000 associates. Prioritizing controls that protect identity, payments, uptime, and fraud—where risk most directly maps to revenue.
Lowe's | 2019 - PRESENT
Led BISOs and Enterprise Security Architecture for a Fortune 30 retailer (2,000 stores; 310k associates; 250k+ endpoints). Standardized enterprise patterns, modernized identity, and drove risk-based roadmaps across data centers and multi-cloud estates.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores | 2008 - 2019
Secured and operated a hybrid environment across 650 locations and 75k associates. Introduced repeatable architecture, strengthened compliance controls, and improved service reliability across AWS, Azure, GCP, and on-prem.
Asurion | 2006 - 2008
Directed network and security engineering for global call centers. Owned budgeting and staffing while standardizing security platforms and hardening perimeter, segmentation, and monitoring.
Two decades of vCISO support to two Judicial Drug Task Forces serving eight counties—governance, incident guidance, and secure operations for mission-critical work.
Read MoreServant leader for the Lake Norman IT Professionals CISO peer group—recruiting members, curating topics, and facilitating leadership dialogues that compound learning.
Read MoreCo-chaired sponsorship for SIM Charlotte—advancing STEM and Women-in-Tech through community events and partner engagement.
Read More
Aviation reinforces checklist mindset, situational awareness, and calm execution, skills I carry into incident leadership.
Coaching and officiating sharpen clarity under pressure and unbiased decision-making, useful when trade-offs are time-boxed.
Route planning, risk assessment, and redundancy, habits that translate directly to resilience engineering and contingency planning.
Tennessee Air National Guard (USAF) — Aeromedical Evacuation Specialist during Desert Shield/Storm. The work instilled procedural rigor, teamwork, and calm execution under pressure, principles I apply to incident leadership and enterprise risk decisions.
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