Information Security Architect

Information Security Architect American University is a student-centered research institution located in Washington, DC, with highly‑ranked schools and colleges, internationally‑renowned faculty, and a reputation for creating meaningful change in the world. Job Summary The Information Security Architect serves as the university’s senior technical security architect and a key advisor on enterprise security strategy, architecture, and engineering. Reporting to the Chief Information Security Officer, this role leads the design and integration of security controls across a complex technology environment, including cloud platforms, infrastructure, identity, applications, and research computing. The position partners closely with technical and business stakeholders to ensure security is embedded into solutions by design, aligned with institutional priorities, risk management objectives, and regulatory requirements. The role also drives security engineering innovation through automation, Infrastructure as Code, DevSecOps, and platform integration. Essential Functions Security Architecture and Technical Governance Develop and maintain enterprise security architectures, reference architectures, and design patterns that integrate security into technology solutions by design. Lead architecture and security design reviews for infrastructure, cloud, networking, identity, data, and application initiatives. Establish technical security standards and requirements for technology procurement, implementation, and enterprise initiatives. Ensure security architecture aligns with university objectives, risk tolerance, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices. Security Engineering, Automation, and Platform Strategy Design and implement automation solutions using APIs, orchestration technologies, scripting languages, and Infrastructure as Code. Define engineering standards, reusable patterns, and technical roadmaps for enterprise security platforms. Lead integration efforts between security and enterprise technology platforms. Guide adoption of automation, DevSecOps, and Infrastructure as Code practices across the Information Security program. Security Reviews, Risk Assessment, and Advisory Services Lead security assessments of university technologies, cloud services, applications, vendors, and third‑party solutions. Evaluate security risks associated with strategic initiatives and recommend mitigation strategies. Provide technical security guidance to project teams, architects, engineers, and university leadership. Participate in Enterprise Architecture activities and strategic technology planning. Support compliance, audit, privacy, and regulatory initiatives through architecture and technical review activities. Security Program Leadership and Engineering Enablement Mentor and provide technical guidance to Security Engineers and Senior Security Engineers, building team capability and depth. Establish security engineering implementation guidance and operational best practices. Support roadmap development and security program planning. Contribute to development of security metrics, reporting, and maturity assessments. Research, Innovation, and Emerging Technology Evaluate emerging technologies, threats, and security trends, including the security roadmaps of major enterprise platforms such as Microsoft, Workday, Salesforce, and ServiceNow. Assess opportunities to improve security through automation, AI, analytics, and engineering innovation. Recommend improvements to university security capabilities and long‑term technology strategy. Participate in professional organizations, industry working groups, and technical communities. On‑Call Rotation Participates in a published on‑call rotation, typically one week out of every four weeks. The employee must be readily available throughout the day, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, to monitor alerts, queues, dashboards, and respond to incidents. During on‑call, the employee performs regular duties and is required to work remotely during unplanned closures or weather emergencies. Frequent interrupted nights and weekends may be required. Qualifications Education : Bachelor’s degree or equivalent. Experience : 8–10 years of experience in cybersecurity, systems engineering, cloud engineering, DevSecOps, infrastructure engineering, or related disciplines. Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and maintaining enterprise security architectures in complex organizations. Extensive experience with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform. Experience with Infrastructure as Code and automation technologies (Terraform, OpenTofu, CloudFormation, Bicep, Ansible, Git, CI/CD platforms, Python, PowerShell, Bash). Experience integrating enterprise platforms through APIs, automation frameworks, orchestration tools, and workflow development. Experience with security operations, including detection engineering, security automation, and SOAR platforms. Experience designing secure research, regulated, or high‑assurance computing environments. Knowledge of security standards and frameworks including NIST, ISO 27001, FERPA, HIPAA, and higher education security practices. Experience in higher education or similarly complex, decentralized organizations is preferred. Certifications (preferred) : CISSP, CCSP, GIAC, AWS Security Specialty, Azure Security Engineer Associate, Terraform Associate, or equivalent. Excellent technical, analytical, problem‑solving, written and verbal communication skills are required. Competencies Serving customers Displaying creativity Prioritizing and organizing Acquiring and analyzing information Supporting coworkers Salary Range $150,000.00–$160,000.00 annually. Benefits Competitive benefits package. EEO Statement American University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution that operates in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The university does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy), age, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, personal appearance, gender identity and expression, family responsibilities, political affiliation, source of income, veteran status, an individual’s genetic information or any other bases under federal or local laws (collectively “Protected Bases”) in its programs and activities. Contact For more information or assistance with the American University careers site, email View email address on click.appcast.io. #J-18808-Ljbffr