Data Security Specialist Role

Location: Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Department: Roles

Workplace: hybrid

Employment Type: full

Description

The work

Data Security Specialists protect information where it is stored, processed, shared, and accessed. They design and maintain the data-facing controls that let organizations use valuable information while applying least privilege, strong authentication, encryption, classification, monitoring, and accountable access.

The role combines security architecture with operational discipline. Specialists work with data owners, platform teams, and governance practitioners to translate risk and control objectives into access policies, key-management practices, entitlement reviews, and auditable data flows. They focus on the protection of data itself, distinct from the infrastructure platform or software-delivery pipeline.

What you'll build

· Role-based and attribute-based access patterns for data platforms and services.

· Data-classification standards and protective handling patterns tied to access and monitoring.

· Encryption, key-management, tokenization, or masking implementations appropriate to the data use case.

· Entitlement-review and audit-trail processes that make access decisions visible and accountable.

· Data protection controls for exchange, storage, analytics, and artificial intelligence system inputs or outputs when applicable.

Who you are

You make security usable without making it optional. You can distinguish a control objective from a particular tool and work with teams to choose enforcement that fits the data, system architecture, and mission.

You are precise about identity, authorization, classification, and evidence. You recognize that data protection depends on clear owners and well-defined access decisions, not only on perimeter defenses.

What you bring

· Experience with data access governance, authorization models, and entitlement review.

· Working knowledge of encryption, key management, tokenization, masking, or similar data-protection controls.

· Experience with data classification, audit logging, monitoring, and security incident support.

· Knowledge of zero trust principles and how they inform granular data and service access.

· Ability to apply National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-53 security-control concepts to data platforms, exchanges, and analytical workloads.

About OPEN Data Jobs

OPEN Data Jobs connects AI, data, and software professionals with critical roles, primarily in the federal sector. Registering with ODJ can put your profile in view for multiple positions across several clients.

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Requirements

Openings may specify a data platform, cloud service, security toolset, classification regime, or authorization context. Systems handling artificial intelligence workloads may also require experience protecting training data, retrieval sources, model inputs, outputs, and service identities.

Some roles may emphasize design and engineering, while others may emphasize control operations, assessment support, or incident response. Data Security Specialists should coordinate with governance teams on policies and ownership, while retaining responsibility for technical data-protection implementation.

Benefits

Compensation, benefits, work location, and employment terms are set for each specific opening and will be stated with that opening