Senior Security Architect

Location: Bethesda, MD

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

Are you ready to join Leidos all-star team? Through training, teamwork, and exposure to challenging technical work, let Leidos show how to accelerate your career path.

 

Leidos has an exciting opening for you, our next Cloud Cyber Security Engineer, to play a critical role in the accreditation of a state-of-the-art technology stack under the DOMEX Technology Platform (DTP) where we support our client’s mission to centralize and standardize Tasking, Collection, Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (TCPED) of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) across the Defense and Intelligence Community enterprises. We leverage cloud-based computing, artificial intelligence (Al), machine learning (ML), and cross-domain transfer systems to provide cutting edge data exploitation, enrichment, triage, and analytics capabilities to the Defense Intelligence Enterprise.

 

As a Cloud Cyber Security Engineer, you will be responsible for providing technical security expertise in securing, hardening, and maintaining compliance of cloud-based software platforms and infrastructure across multiple secure networks. You will lean on your experience with security technologies, industry best practices, vulnerability management, and risk management frameworks (RMF) to employ effective security solutions. In this role, you will collaborate closely with compliance personnel, software engineers, system engineers, system architects, and Government counterparts to perform the full spectrum of systems and cyber security engineering tasks to ensure system regulatory compliance and security posture. 

Key Responsibilities include:

• Validating and verifying system security requirements and establishing system security designs for large-scale systems, major system elements, and interfacing systems that are part of a large complex network environment with geographically distributed components.
• Recommending and developing technical solutions, products, and standards based on current and desired system security architecture.
• Effectively collaborating with other internal technical experts on a day-to-day basis.
• Communicating with Program Managers and POCs from customer organizations when necessary, regarding Security issues of significant importance.
• Participating in Program Increment Planning and related agile team activities. 
• Working closely with System Engineering, Test Engineering, and Integration teams to ensure that the hardware and software architecture and implementation meets security requirements.
• Evaluating the impact of new development on the operational security posture of the system.
• Serving as a subject matter expert in security architecture to include providing advice to Program Managers, Customer technical experts, and internal program teams.
• Continuously improve engineering processes, documentation standards, implementation playbooks, migration runbooks, technical standards, and execution models to accelerate delivery, reduce rework, improve operational handoff, and lower sustainment burden. 
• Multi-Cloud Security Architecture: Design security architectures and solutions spanning AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI, identifying common architectural patterns while accounting for CSP-specific capabilities and limitations.
• Security Platform Integration: Architect integrations between native security services and enterprise security platforms, including vulnerability management products, Stig evaluation, and SIEM.
• Containers & Kubernetes: Knowledge of Kubernetes and container security architectures, including image security, admission controls, secrets, identity, network policies, software supply chain security, security scanning, and runtime protection.
• Design, engineer, and implement enterprise network security architecture spanning next-generation firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention, web and TLS proxies, VPN and encryption services, network access control, DNS security, and east-west security controls. 
• Evaluate the current network security architecture, identify gaps and improvement opportunities, estimate level of effort, assess implementation risk, and develop practical engineering plans to strengthen enterprise security capabilities. 
• Provide specifications for network security architecture, evaluate and recommend emerging security technologies, and perform needs assessments to inform design and investment decisions. 
• Tune and optimize security controls to reduce false positives, close coverage gaps, and improve detection and enforcement without degrading network performance or availability. 

 

To be successful in this role you need these skills (required):

• Clearance: Active or current Top Secret/SCI and the ability to obtain Polygraph
• Bachelor of Science degree from an accredited university ideally in Computer Science, Information Assurance, Information Security System Engineering or related field with a minimum of 12 years of experience as an Information Systems Security Engineer (ISSE) or System Engineer on programs and/or contracts with the customer space.
• Certification: At least one IAT and one IAT Level II or higher certification e.g., CCNA Security, CySA+, Security+ CE, CISSP (or Associate) and the ability to obtain Privileged User Account (PUA)/elevated access per DoD policy.
• Must have a solid understanding of security practices and policies and hands-on vulnerability testing experience using Customer tools.
• Must have experience applying Risk Management Framework.
• Must have demonstrated knowledge of and experience with common security tools, such as ACAS, Prisma Cloud, and Splunk/Elastic.
• Experience with SCAP or STIG based tools and specifications.
• Extensive experience designing enterprise security solutions and translating security requirements into implementable technical architectures.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes and container security architectures, including image security, admission controls, secrets, identity, network policies, software supply chain security, and runtime protection.
• Experience designing solutions involving SIEM, vulnerability management, identity security, network security, secrets management, container scanning, and data protection technologies.
• Monitor system security status, identify risks and vulnerabilities, and coordinate remediation efforts with system owners, engineers, and other stakeholders.
• Experience with data modeling and mapping system data flows for the purpose of cybersecurity analysis.
• Understanding of microservices architecture and service mesh.

You will wow us even more if you have these skills:

• Active TS/SCI with polygraph
• Experience with Commercial Cloud Services (C2S) and cloud-based enterprise services, preferably AWS
• Five (5) years of experience with Defense in Depth Principals/technology (including access control, authorization, identification and authentication, public key infrastructure, network and enterprise security architecture) and applying risk assessment methodology to system development.
• DoD 8570 compliance with IASAE Level 2 or 3.
• Experience installing, configuring, testing, deploying, operating, and maintaining enterprise network based scanning and reporting tools such as Trellix/ESS, ACAS, Evaluate STIG, SteelCloud ConfigOS, Prisma Cloud and STIG Manager.
• Extensive experience hardening modern operating systems, such as Oracle Linux and RHEL, as well as Microsoft Windows environments using Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs).
• Information Systems Security Engineering Professional (ISSEP) Certification.
• Computer Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) Certification.
• Design and Architecture: Design, implement, and maintain Splunk environments including forwarders, indexers, search heads, and deployment servers.
• Hands-on experience with two or more of the following technologies: Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, Splunk, Elastic, or Evaluate Stig. 

 

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Original Posting:

October 26, 2026

Pay Range:

Pay Range $131,300.00 - $237,350.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.