Are you not able to store the list as a role? You can update the role list from CSV as needed. That puts your users in the database with "native" tools for searching/lookup.
I recently added a block of code to our header to change one of the top links for users with certain roles. I imagine this would work similarly, and can share a code example if you'd like.
If that isn't an option, I might would consider a JSON or JS array stored in a custom content block (not a component) so that you can update it from Admin without needing to publish via Studio.
