AI Security Architect

Job Summary:

• Pinnacle Financial Partners is seeking a pioneering AI Security Architect to lead the secure adoption of AI across the enterprise and embed advanced AI capabilities within our security program. This is a senior, hands-on engineering and architecture role with direct leadership visibility - reporting to the Chief Security Officer and carrying the mandate to build out a dedicated AI Security team.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

AI Security Architecture & Engineering

• Design, build, and maintain the secure architecture for Pinnacle''s AI environment, including Microsoft Copilot, Anthropic Claude, and future AI services integrated across the enterprise.
• Engineer security controls, guardrails, and monitoring pipelines for AI platforms, including prompt injection defenses, data leakage prevention, model access governance, and output validation.
• Develop and enforce AI security standards, reference architectures, and engineering playbooks aligned to NIST AI RMF, MITRE ATLAS, and emerging financial sector guidance.
• Collaborate with the AI team (led by Kevin Johnson) on new AI deployments to ensure security-by-design is embedded from inception through production.
• Own the technical integration of AI security tooling within Pinnacle''s Azure-centric stack, including M365, Entra ID, Defender, and Purview.

AI-Powered Security Operations

• Lead the engineering and deployment of AI capabilities within the Security Operations Center to accelerate threat detection, triage, and incident response.
• Build and optimize AI-assisted workflows within SIEM (Microsoft Sentinel), SOAR, and vulnerability management platforms to reduce analyst toil and improve mean time to respond.
• Develop and operationalize AI-driven threat intelligence and anomaly detection models tailored to Pinnacle''s environment and financial sector threat landscape.
• Identify and drive automation opportunities across the security program using AI - from phishing analysis and alert enrichment to policy compliance checks and reporting.

AI Risk & Compliance

• Assess AI-specific risks including model supply chain threats, adversarial inputs, shadow AI usage, and third-party AI vendor exposure across Pinnacle''s ecosystem.
• Partner with Legal, Compliance, and Risk teams to align AI security practices with applicable regulations (FFIEC, OCC, GLBA, SOX) and Pinnacle''s internal control frameworks.
• Establish and maintain an AI asset inventory and risk register; perform periodic AI security reviews and red-team exercises.
• Evaluate and advise on the security posture of AI vendors and SaaS platforms before and after procurement, providing risk-rated recommendations to the CSO.

TEAM LEADERSHIP AND EVANGILISM

• Recruit, mentor, and grow an AI Security team as the practice matures - establishing role definitions, career paths, and onboarding frameworks.
• Serve as the internal subject matter expert and evangelist for AI security, providing education and guidance to engineering, IT, and business teams.
• Maintain active engagement with the broader security community, staying ahead of AI threat trends, attack research, and defensive tooling advancements.
• Collaborate closely with Pinnacle''s AI team (AI Governance owner) to ensure alignment on AI strategy, risk tolerance, and control responsibilities.

The information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

Synovus is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to fostering an inclusive work environment.

Minimum Education:

• Bachelor''s Degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, or related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Minimum Experience:

• 8+ years in information security, with at least 3 years in a security architecture or senior engineering role.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience securing Microsoft Copilot (M365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, or Copilot for Security) in an enterprise environment.
• Practical experience with Anthropic Claude or comparable frontier LLM services, including enterprise deployment, API integration, and associated security controls.
• Proven background in security engineering - writing code, building automation, and deploying security tooling - not solely advisory work.
• Experience in financial services, banking, or another highly regulated industry strongly preferred.

Technical Skills:

• Deep expertise in Azure security architecture - including Entra ID, Defender XDR, Sentinel, Purview, and Azure OpenAI Service.
• Proficiency in scripting and development (Python, PowerShell, or similar) for building security automation and AI integrations.
• Familiarity with AI/ML model security concepts: adversarial attacks, prompt injection, jailbreaking, data poisoning, model inversion, and supply chain risks.
• Understanding of DLP, CASB, and data governance tooling in the context of AI-generated content (experience with Netskope or similar inline CASB a plus).
• Working knowledge of core enterprise platforms in scope: ServiceNow, Salesforce, FIS, and Microsoft 365.

Certifications (Preferred)

• CISSP, CCSP, or equivalent security architecture certification.
• Microsoft certifications relevant to Azure Security or AI (SC-100, SC-200, AI-102) are a strong plus.
• GIAC certifications (GCIA, GCED, GCSA) or equivalent are valued.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience leading or meaningfully contributing to the build-out of a security function, team, or center of excellence.
• Familiarity with the MITRE ATLAS framework and AI-specific threat modeling methodologies.
• Prior involvement in AI governance, responsible AI programs, or AI ethics review boards.
• Experience with red-teaming large language models or AI-integrated applications.
• Background in threat intelligence, SOC operations, or detection engineering.