Erika Lara

Delivered IT audit, SOX compliance, cybersecurity, and AI research services to banking and technology clients. Led multi-consultant engagements and managed complex deliverables across technical and commercial functions.

Led marketing and QA operations for a social networking mobile app. Managed social content and influencer outreach, executed QA testing cycles, and supported go-to-market execution.

Served as engagement leader and project manager for a full SOX cycle. Coordinated consultants, led onboarding/training, prepared PBCs, and managed audit deliverables.

Evaluated 20+ applied AI tools for IT/financial audit and GRC using vendor demos and comparative analysis. Developed business plan and go-to-market strategy for a social networking app.

Performed full CSET/CISA cybersecurity and network risk assessment for a healthcare IT provider. Produced IT security policies, a cloud controls matrix, and formal assessment reports.

Led control testing and evidence coordination for SWIFT and Fedline security assessments. Coordinated activities across a multidisciplinary team to support assessment delivery.

Designed and tested AI prompts for a cyber risk advisory tool. Evaluated model outputs against risk scenarios.

Managed documentation, stakeholder coordination, and regulatory compliance deliverables for SEC cybersecurity disclosure assessments. Coordinated assessment workstreams to support reporting needs.

Managed control testing, PBC coordination, evidence review, and formal report delivery for Fedline and SWIFT security assessments.

Provided internal audit support across multiple workstreams and coordinated issue tracking and stakeholder reporting.

Reviewed HIPAA Security Rule compliance documentation, identified gaps, and prepared HIPAA Security Rule attestation deliverables.

Developed an ERM framework defining risk categories, assessment methodologies, and governance structures.

Mapped IT controls to NIST SP 800-53 and COBIT 2019. Developed risk-control matrices and identified control gaps.

Executed IT audits per annual plan and designed audit work programs. Evaluated ISMS controls against COBIT and ITIL frameworks and monitored follow-up on recommendations.

Led data modeling and Big Data ingestion projects using Cloudera Hadoop. Managed vendors and data architecture policies and developed analytical architecture solutions and key metrics.

Researched emerging technologies aligned with banking strategy and managed vendor proof-of-concept testing. Produced evaluation matrices based on PoC outcomes.

Executed data reconciliations across provisioning platforms and developed automated reconciliation processes to verify CDR integrity. Prepared economic impact analyses for revenue losses and managed KPI tracking and alarm resolution with operations and IT teams.

Designed management information systems, OLAP cubes, and data warehouse architectures. Delivered ETL integration projects using MS SQL.

Served as documentation specialist for a cybersecurity tabletop exercise, capturing key findings, decisions, and participant responses.

Coordinated and documented a ransomware incident response tabletop exercise.

Earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil.

Earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from ESPOL.