Security Specialist

About the role

The Application Security Lead is responsible for leading the end-to-end security readiness of applications, ensuring compliance with federal and enterprise security frameworks, ATO processes, and risk management requirements. The role drives security architecture design, secure configurations, threat modeling, and alignment with enterprise and regulatory standards. Additional responsibilities include coordinating and executing security assessments, vulnerability analyses, penetration testing reviews, and remediation planning. The lead partners with product, engineering, cloud, and compliance teams to understand system requirements and implement secure-by-design solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the end-to-end security readiness of applications, including compliance with federal and enterprise security frameworks, ATO processes, and risk management requirements
• Drive security architecture design, ensuring secure configurations, threat modeling, and alignment with enterprise and regulatory standards
• Coordinate and execute security assessments, vulnerability analyses, penetration testing reviews, and remediation planning
• Partner with product, engineering, cloud, and compliance teams to understand system requirements and implement secure-by-design solutions
• Develop and maintain security documentation, including SSPs, POA&Ms, security diagrams, control evidence, and continuous monitoring artifacts
• Establish and enforce best practices for application security, identity and access management, secure CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure hardening
• Provide guidance and mentorship on secure development practices, helping teams adopt and mature security capabilities across the SDLC
• Oversee the implementation and monitoring of security controls to ensure ongoing compliance, operational resiliency, and ATO sustainment
• Drive continuous improvement in security processes, tooling, and engineering workflows to reduce risk and elevate overall security posture

Requirements

• 7+ years of professional experience
• Extensive experience leading application or cloud security initiatives, preferably within regulated environments requiring ATO or equivalent compliance frameworks
• Strong practical expertise in security architecture, secure application design, and implementation of technical security controls
• Hands-on experience with cloud security services (Azure, AWS, or equivalent), IAM models, network segmentation, encryption, and monitoring solutions
• Familiarity with federal, enterprise, or industry security frameworks (NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, Zero Trust, CIS benchmarks)
• Proficiency with DevSecOps tooling, automated security scanning, and secure pipeline orchestration
• Experience producing high-quality security documentation, including SSPs, policies, diagrams, and technical control evidence
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate across engineering, compliance, governance, and operational teams to deliver secure and scalable solutions
• Strong understanding of security governance principles, risk management, and continuous monitoring practices

Qualifications

• Experience serving as a technical security lead on application development or modernization programs
• Knowledge of cloud-native architectures, container security, and serverless security controls
• Familiarity with enterprise transformation programs and secure cloud adoption frameworks
• Experience with governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) platforms and enterprise security management practices

Skills & Competencies

• Security leadership and the ability to influence across diverse technical teams
• Strong analytical reasoning, risk assessment, and problem-solving capabilities
• Exceptional communication skills for both technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to manage multiple security workstreams in fast-paced and evolving environments
• Commitment to security excellence, compliance discipline, and continuous improvement

Eligibility Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship required
• Ability to obtain a government TS clearance