Senior Cloud Security Architect- Remote

Senior Cloud Security Architect
Remote- PT or ET
3-month contract
Pay Rate: $80.00-85.00/hr.

Our client is seeking an experienced Senior Cloud Security Architect to lead the design and implementation of secure cloud architectures across enterprise platforms, applications, and services. This role partners closely with engineering, product, architecture, compliance, and risk teams to integrate security throughout the software development lifecycle while supporting business innovation.
The successful candidate will be responsible for developing scalable security solutions, influencing secure engineering practices, and ensuring products meet regulatory and industry security standards. This position requires a collaborative leader who can effectively balance business objectives with security requirements in a fast-paced Agile environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted security advisor to engineering and product teams, translating complex security concepts into practical technical guidance.
• Define and promote secure architecture standards, design patterns, and security best practices throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Conduct architecture reviews, threat modeling, and security assessments for cloud infrastructure, applications, APIs, and enterprise platforms.
• Evaluate application and infrastructure designs to identify security risks and recommend effective mitigation strategies.
• Partner with development teams to embed security into new products and features from design through deployment.
• Review API security to ensure strong authentication, authorization, encryption, and input validation.
• Design security blueprints and implementation strategies for cloud-native applications and distributed systems.
• Develop security testing strategies and integrate automated security controls into CI/CD pipelines using Infrastructure as Code and Security as Code principles.
• Monitor emerging cloud security trends, vulnerabilities, and technologies while recommending improvements to the organization's security posture.
• Collaborate with risk, compliance, and governance teams to support security assessments, regulatory requirements, and policy development.
• Work with engineering teams to implement application security testing using industry-standard tools such as SAST, DAST, and Software Composition Analysis (SCA).
• Lead initiatives that strengthen enterprise security while maintaining scalability, performance, and user experience.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Eight or more years of experience designing enterprise infrastructure and application security architectures.
• Extensive experience designing cloud-native architectures, microservices, and large-scale distributed systems.
• Strong understanding of cloud security principles, including AWS services, SaaS security, AI security, and the AWS Well-Architected Framework.
• Experience implementing security controls within regulated environments and compliance frameworks such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX, GDPR, and GLBA.
• Experience performing threat modeling, architecture reviews, and enterprise security assessments.
• Deep knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes, and modern CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience securing APIs and distributed cloud applications.
• Working knowledge of networking concepts, including TCP/IP, HTTP/HTTPS, routing, VPNs, and IPsec.
• Expertise with Identity and Access Management (IAM) and authentication protocols, including OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), and SAML.
• Understanding of cryptographic standards, encryption technologies, and key management practices.
• Experience with network segmentation, service mesh technologies, and zero-trust security principles.
• Knowledge of vulnerability management, security monitoring, incident prevention, and cloud security operations.
• Experience implementing Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) and Shift-Left security practices.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across engineering, product, compliance, executive leadership, and business stakeholders.
• Ability to manage multiple initiatives and priorities in a fast-paced Agile development environment.

Preferred Certifications

• CISSP
• CISM
• GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC)
• AWS Certified Security Specialty

Additional Qualifications

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering, or a related field is a plus.
• Experience within highly regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare, or technology is preferred.