We are seeking a Subject Matter Expert (SME) Cybersecurity Architect to join our team supporting a large-scale federal modernization program. This role owns security architecture across enterprise solutions, platforms, networks, identity, mobility/endpoints, data, and cloud, bridging cybersecurity policy and controls with implementable designs, evidence, and risk decisions throughout the system lifecycle.
This is a hands-on architecture role. You'll be expected to produce real security designs and see them through review, implementation, and operations, not just set policy from a distance.
This is a hybrid role based out of Washington, DC. Candidates must be U.S. citizens.
Key Responsibilities
1. Security Architecture & Design
- Develop and assess security architectures, patterns, requirements, controls integration, trust boundaries, data flows, and identity and segmentation design.
- Design logging, resilience, and operational safeguards into solution architecture.
- Translate federal and agency security requirements into practical design decisions, implementation actions, and residual-risk statements.
2. Reviews & Governance
- Participate in architecture compliance, technical design, engineering, security, and phase-gate reviews.
- Evaluate proposed deviations and waivers, and provide risk-informed recommendations for approval.
- Maintain security architecture artifacts, review findings, decisions, and risks in approved repositories, with clear traceability.
3. Cross-Domain Coordination
- Coordinate with solution, data, cloud/platform, network, identity, endpoint/mobility, and operations stakeholders to embed security into design from the start.
- Identify design gaps, threats, vulnerabilities, technical debt, and noncompliance early in the lifecycle, and propose mitigation options.
4. Risk & Compliance
- Apply federal risk management framework and security control knowledge to real design decisions.
- Support authorization evidence, implementation readiness, and post-deployment validation as needed.
- Produce implementable security designs, review findings, mitigations, and risk decisions that engineers can act on.
5. Communication & Advisory
- Communicate security architecture decisions, tradeoffs, and residual risk clearly to engineers, architects, program managers, and Government stakeholders.
- Support incident and problem learning to feed back into architecture improvements.
Requirements
- 12+ years of experience in cybersecurity, including significant time in security architecture or enterprise technical leadership.
- Working knowledge of federal risk management, security controls, authorization, continuous monitoring, zero trust, identity, network, endpoint, cloud, application, data, and logging considerations.
- Ability to interpret security requirements and produce implementable designs, review findings, mitigations, and risk decisions.
- Strong communication skills, with experience engaging engineers, architects, program managers, and Government decision-makers.
- U.S. citizenship required.
Nice to Have
- Direct federal, government, or mission-critical system security architecture experience.
- CISSP, CCSP, CISM, SABSA, GIAC, cloud security, or comparable security credentials.
- Experience with NIST RMF/control families, zero trust, cloud security, identity, endpoint security, segmentation, logging/SIEM, and vulnerability management.
- Experience documenting security architecture views in Sparx/Prolaborate or comparable architecture/modeling tools.
Benefits
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Referral program
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision insurance
Skills Required
- 12+ years of experience in cybersecurity, including security architecture or enterprise technical leadership
- Working knowledge of federal risk management, security controls, authorization, and continuous monitoring (NIST RMF)
- Expertise in zero trust, identity, network, endpoint, cloud, application, data, logging considerations
- Ability to interpret security requirements and produce implementable designs, mitigations, and residual-risk statements
- Strong communication skills engaging engineers, architects, program managers, and Government decision-makers
- U.S. citizenship required
- Direct federal or mission-critical system security architecture experience
- CISSP, CCSP, CISM, SABSA, GIAC, or comparable security credentials
- Experience with NIST RMF/control families, zero trust, cloud security, identity, endpoint security, segmentation, logging/SIEM, and vulnerability management
- Experience documenting security architecture views in Sparx/Prolaborate or comparable architecture/modeling tools
What We Do
Passion and Purpose. We are a start-up borne out of a group of architects and engineers providing solutions that transform with digital breakthroughs. We Partner - Partnership to us means being all in - on the ground, in the weeds, producing and delivering mission solutions. We Innovate - driving digital innovation and experimentation to improve decision services for the American people. We Engage – co-creating to deliver HCD (human centered design) to solve tour customers digital challenges. We Deliver – and take pride and accountability in everything we do. We are Ignite IT. Ignite IT deploys teams that are customer-obsessed, delivering a CX (Customer Experience) renaissance to our Private and Public Sector customers. We combine Commercial BX (Business of Experience) with customer delivery experts to benefit agencies to innovate and improve services and launch new digital solutions. We have built a company foundation dependent on each of our employee’s success, and provide a healthy, engaging, community where learning and knowledge sharing are encouraged. We empower our employees to be bold, continually innovate and propose new ideas to improve processes and services. We engage daily on work that touches millions of people, always focusing on positive impacts and results. We enable mission services that enable Enterprise companies to succeed in digital transformation, protect Border Agents, deploy the Army Reserve and National Guard, providing decision dominance to make America safer. We apply these digital services across the Private and Public Sectors to include include HHS, DHS, AOUSC and Army. We aim to continually raise the bar for our customers to expect more from their digital services. For more information, visit www.igniteitservices.com
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