Senior Cloud Security Engineer

Job Summary Senior Cloud Security Engineer Serve as the subject matter expert for cloud security, particularly supporting VDOT's enterprise Azure migration. Architect, implement, and secure cloud environments in alignment with SEC530, Zero Trust, and enterprise compliance frameworks. Lead the design, implementation, monitoring, and continuous improvement of VDOT's cloud infrastructure and services. Provide senior-level technical leadership for cloud security architecture, identity and access management, network security, security monitoring, vulnerability management, incident response, and cloud governance. Collaborate with multiple teams (Cloud Engineering, Network Engineering, Security Operations, Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure, Application Development, DevOps, Risk Management, and IT leadership) to ensure secure, resilient, and compliant cloud environments. Identify and assess cloud security vulnerabilities, prioritize remediation based on business impact, track and validate corrective actions. Lead and guide complex cloud security initiatives, providing technical direction to engineers. Influence architecture and security decisions, and implement security gates within deployment pipelines. Assess security gaps and recommend remediations; create and maintain security documentation; support audits and assessments. Review proposed cloud solutions for security risks and define appropriate security controls. Develop Azure policies and automation runbooks to enforce standardization, compliance, and support incident response workflows. Monitor security events using SIEM tools and coordinate incident response with the SOC team. Investigate and contain cloud security incidents, diagnose system problems, and threats using various tools and logs. Review firewall and NSG rule requests for compliance. Produce documentation, architecture diagrams, IP schemes, and access controls as needed. Work independently on assigned projects and mentor junior engineers. Effectively communicate complex technical issues to both technical and non-technical audiences. Maintain required certifications (Azure Security Engineer Associate, Security+, Certified Cloud Security Professional) and ideally possess preferred certifications (CCSP, AZ-305). Experience & Skills Required 8+ years of enterprise cloud experience and 5+ years in cloud security. Hands-on expertise in cloud infrastructure, cloud engineering, and cybersecurity. Strong experience in networking, identity management, security operations, and risk assessment. Experience designing and implementing secure cloud solutions, including working with NSGs, Azure Firewall, WAF, Monitor, Application Gateways, and network segmentation. Skilled in incident response, security investigations, log analysis, threat intelligence, vulnerability management, and SIEM tools (Splunk, Sentinel, CNAPP). Ability to develop Azure policies, automation runbooks, and enforce security controls. Experience with SEC530, CIS Benchmarks, NIST CSF/800-53, Zero Trust, and regulatory compliance. Proficient in IAM, RBAC, PAM, least-privilege access, and multi-factor authentication. Experience in highly regulated/government environments. Excellent communication and mentoring skills. Relevant certifications required; additional certifications preferred.