Technical Lead, Chief Security Architect – Engineer

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Provide senior-level technical leadership and architectural guidance for enterprise cybersecurity architecture and engineering within the VA environment.

• Act as the primary security architecture and engineering subject-matter expert for Government leadership, program managers, architects, engineers, and technical teams.

• Convert customer, mission, business, cybersecurity, and regulatory requirements into enterprise security architectures, engineering prerequisites, technical strategies, and implementation direction.

• Lead and coordinate architecture and engineering teams.

• Conduct and oversee security architecture reviews at both enterprise and system levels.

• Evaluate threats, vulnerabilities, regulatory requirements, security controls, and enterprise risk tolerance.

• Execute architecture risk and gap analyses in line with VA and Federal policies, standards, frameworks, and strategic goals.

• Formulate risk-mitigation strategies and provide architectural recommendations.

• Implement Zero Trust, defense-in-depth, least privilege, and secure-by-design principles.

• Lead or supervise security threat modeling and mitigation planning.

• Direct the development of Security Reference Architectures, Solution Architectures, Security Patterns, and enterprise architecture artifacts.

• Offer technical leadership for the modernization of legacy and emerging health IT architectures.

• Assess and advise on cloud, mobile, IoT, APIs, VR/XR, 5G, DLP, cryptography, PQC, quantum computing, and AI adoption or integration.

• Investigate complex cybersecurity, architecture, engineering, and technology challenges.

• Conduct technical trade-off analyses and address requirements, architectural conflicts, risks, dependencies, and implementation challenges.

• Provide lifecycle architectural oversight from concept through implementation, operations, authorization, modernization, and retirement.

• Lead the establishment of security requirements baselines and ensure traceability through the final ATO.

• Review designs for systems, applications, cloud, networks, data, identity, and platforms.

• Develop compensating controls and mitigation strategies.

• Support cybersecurity risk assessment and management in accordance with NIST SP 800-53, OMB mandates, and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

• Guide the implementation of NIST, FISMA, FedRAMP, CIS Controls, and HIPAA.

• Provide technical input for Federal A&A, accreditation, ATO, continuous monitoring, and risk management.

• Participate in VA governance boards, technical review committees, engineering working groups, architecture forums, and modernization initiatives.

• Establish and communicate architectural positions, engineering decisions, technical standards, and security requirements.

• Assist in the development of VA security policies, guidelines, standards, technical positions, and white papers.

• Create executive and technical presentations.

• Present intricate cybersecurity and architecture topics to executive, Government, technical, and non-technical stakeholders.

• Provide technical oversight and quality assurance for architecture and engineering deliverables.

• Review architectural artifacts and technical documentation.

• Mentor and guide security architects, cloud engineers, DevSecOps engineers, AI engineers, cryptography specialists, and risk analysts.

• Foster collaboration across security, engineering, operations, governance, development, cloud, data, identity, and program management functions.

• Support pilots, prototypes, use cases, proof-of-concept activities, and enterprise transformation initiatives.

• Ensure that architecture and engineering decisions uphold secure modernization, confidentiality, integrity, availability, compliance, and mission effectiveness.

• May require up to two onsite travel visits.

⛳️ Requirements

• A minimum of 15 years of experience in Enterprise Security Architecture Information Security at a large organization or Government agency comparable in size/scope to GSA, IRS, DoD, or VA.

• An advanced degree (e.g., Master’s or PhD) in an IT-related field may substitute for up to 5 years of the requisite experience.

• Proficiency in project management, security architecture, and security engineering.

• Ability to interpret customer requirements and effectively communicate them to the team.

• Expertise in advancing both legacy and new health IT digital architectures, including cloud, mobile, IoT, APIs, VR/XR, 5G, PQC, DLP, cryptography, quantum computing, and AI technologies.

• Strong background in risk management.

• Proficient in using Enterprise Architecture (EA) tools.

• Experienced in guiding architecture tool processes and products, such as SABSA.

• Skilled in analyzing and researching complex subject-matter issues and processes.

• Capable of coordinating with program and project leaders to evaluate system architectures during design reviews and throughout the conceptual design lifecycle.

• Skilled in identifying strategies for requirements, risks, and issues, including detailed trade-off analysis related to fiscal, schedule, and performance considerations.

• Proficient in creating diagrams and documentation that encompass IT systems, including network topology.

• Knowledgeable in security frameworks and Federal policies, processes, and standards, including NIST, FISMA, FedRAMP, CIS Controls, and HIPAA.

• Selected applicants will be subject to a security investigation and may need to meet eligibility criteria for access to classified information.

🏝️ Benefits

• Medical insurance

• Dental insurance

• Vision insurance

• Voluntary Life Insurance

• 401(k)

• Basic Life A&D

• Short-term disability (STD)

• Long-term disability (LTD)

• PTO

• Telehealth

• Paid holidays

• FSA

• HSA

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

• Traveling Assistance

• Up to two onsite travel visits