Ralph Lauren has named John Opala, Ph.D., Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Opala shared the career move in a LinkedIn post, where he said he looks forward to collaborating across the organization to advance cybersecurity as a strategic enabler of innovation, resilience, and trust.

Before joining Ralph Lauren, Opala served as Vice President, IT & Global Chief Information Security Officer at HanesBrands, where he led global IT infrastructure and cybersecurity. Prior to that, he was Vice President, IT & Global CISO at McCormick & Company and Director of Cyber Security Engineering & Operations at Sealed Air Corporation. Earlier in his career, he served as Principal Architect – Cisco IT at Cisco, providing enterprise and customer-facing architecture leadership focused on cloud and cybersecurity.

In addition to his executive leadership roles, Opala serves as an Advisory Board Member at CarolinaCISO and as a Global Ambassador for the Global Council for Responsible AI. He has also held adjunct and visiting faculty appointments at Colorado State University–Global Campus, Campbell University, Keller Graduate School of Management, ITT Technical Institute, and the University of Phoenix. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Information Security with a specialization in Information Assurance & Cybersecurity from Capella University.

Speaking about the new role, Opala reflected on his leadership philosophy, saying, “Leadership is not about titles, it is about building trust, developing people, fostering collaboration, empowering others, and creating an environment where people can accomplish extraordinary things together.”

He added, “I am excited for what lies ahead and look forward to serving Ralph Lauren with humility, purpose, and a relentless commitment to protecting the business while enabling innovation.”