Main shared the news via LinkedIn, stating, “Over the past 25-plus years, I have truly been blessed to work alongside and collaborate with some of the finest human beings one could ever imagine.”
In North Carolina, this sense of collaboration included working with the chief information officer and other information technology department (NCDIT) employees to develop, deliver and maintain the state’s cybersecurity program.
Main served as the deputy chief risk officer for two years before being tapped to take over as chief risk officer in October 2021.
At the time, Main told Government Technology that he was “looking forward to the opportunity to strengthen our partnerships with state agencies, local governments and academic institutions in providing enterprise security and risk management capabilities in the right place at the right time.”
Since then, he and his team have worked on maturing North Carolina’s cybersecurity practitioner pipeline and its whole-of-state approach to cybersecurity by continuing to build on the work of the state’s Joint Cybersecurity Task Force in providing proactive and reactive defense capabilities.
Main also served in other areas of state government, including as CIO of the state’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Office of State Human Resources, and Department of Insurance. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Air Force and North Carolina Air National Guard.
As for his replacement, an NCDIT spokesperson said via email that Deputy State Chief Risk Officer Carly Sherrod has been appointed as the acting risk officer until a permanent replacement is named.
“Rob was instrumental in increasing the cyber maturity of North Carolina and strengthening our whole-of-state approach to cybersecurity,” the spokesperson said. “This critical work will continue to be a focus of our next state chief risk officer.”
The agency has posted the opening on its website.
