LightFeather is seeking a Principal Cloud Security Engineer with security engineering experience building and securing cloud infrastructure at scale across AWS/Azure/GCP and an understanding of development lifecycle phases as part of the DevSecOps methodology. A successful Principal Cloud Security Engineer knows one or more modern programming languages, has a cyber security background in the cloud, understands cloud architecture, development fundamentals, and has worked as part of an Agile team to deliver solutions across an organization. The Principal Cloud Security Engineer will utilize the DevSecOps methodology to successfully secure platform features and capabilities deployed onto Commercial and GovCloud AWS/Azure/GCP environments.
This role offers the opportunity to support high-impact cloud security and platform engineering initiatives within the federal sector, helping ensure secure, compliant, automated, and scalable cloud capabilities that meet mission-critical requirements.
- Location: In-Person (5 days/week) in Washington, DC 20036
- Job Type: Full Time
- Citizenship: U.S. Citizenship Required
- Clearance Requirement: Active Secret or higher clearance
Responsibilities:
- Design and implement secure architecture across AWS, Azure, and GCP, including Commercial, GovCloud, and IL6 enclaves.
- Define and enforce security baselines (CIS, NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, etc) and align security controls with compliance frameworks.
- Lead architecture reviews, threat modeling, and secure design guidance for cloud services and workloads.
- Automation & DevSecOp
- Build and maintain Infrastructure as Code modules (Terraform) to enforce security at scale across hundreds of accounts, subscriptions, and projects.
- Integrate CI/CD pipelines with automated security scans (SAST, DAST, IaC scanning, container security) and drive secure coding practices across the organization.
- Develop and enhance automated guardrails, policies, and remediation pipelines.
- Support ATO compliance efforts by embedding controls into the cloud buildout process and lead assessments.
- Partner with compliance officers, auditors, and platform engineers to ensure evidence and reporting readiness.
- Implement centralized logging, monitoring, and incident response across multi- cloud environments.
- Guide a team of security and platform engineers on secure cloud development and automation practices.
- Partner with architects, developers, and compliance teams to align security objectives between projects, stakeholders, and platform teams.
- Act as a cloud security subject matter expert for stakeholders, architects, and engineering leads.
Required Qualifications and Skills:
- Bachelor Degree in computer science or relevant technical degree; or equivalent industry experience.
- 8+ years of cybersecurity or cloud engineering experience, with at least 5+ in cloud security.
- Hands-on advanced experience securing and automating two or more cloud environments (AWS/GCP/Azure/Oracle).
- Experience with native cloud security tools (AWS Security Hub, GuardDuty, Defender for Cloud, Google SCC, etc)
- Strong background in infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM/Bicep) and CI/CD (GitLab, GitHub Actions, etc).
- Proficient in at least one programming/scripting language (Python, Go, PowerShell, Bash).
- Deep knowledge of cloud identity and access management (IAM/RBAC), key management (KMS/Key Vault/Cloud KMS), networking, and encryption.
- Experience with application security standards such as OWASP ASVS/Top 10 and CWE 25.
- Experience aligning security controls with NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, CIS Benchmarks, or equivalent frameworks.
- Proven track record embedding security into Agile/DevSecOps teams and pipelines.
- Strong communication and leadership skills, with demonstrated experience in successfully designing, delivering, and iterating on complex projects with a diverse set of stakeholders.
Preferred:
- Experience securing GovCloud, DoD IL6, or other restricted cloud environments.
- Knowledge of ServiceNow for CMDB integrations, discovery, and security workflows.
- Familiarity with supply chain security (SBOM, SLSA, dependency scanning, artifact signing).
- Strong background in zero trust architectures and enterprise identity platforms (Okta, Entra ID, AWS SSO).
- Certifications such as AWS Certified Security - Specialty, Azure Security Engineer Associate, Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer, OSCP, or CISSP.
- Experience with Kubernetes security (OPA/Gatekeeper, PodSecurityStandards, Prisma, Twistlock, etc.).
Why Join LightFeather?
At LightFeather, you're not just taking a job—you’re joining a purpose-driven team that delivers innovative, mission-critical solutions that make a real difference. You’ll work on diverse, meaningful projects that challenge and inspire you, alongside talented teammates who value delivery, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Top Skills
What We Do
LightFeather is a Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). We are a forward leaning and edgy startup that is ready to change the world and improve the federal government, one organization at a time.
We don’t just stay on the cutting edge, we push the edge further. LightFeather was founded in 2018 to be a different type of digital services company. Our mission is to empower people to get stuff done, to continuously drive business value and make a positive impact wherever we go. We are not afraid to disrupt and innovate to get stuff done with a focus on delivering business value continuously. We iterate and continuously improve processes, methodologies and products. Our software design and development is innovative from the start. Building sleek visualizations, we focus on delivering efficiencies and automated solutions to help our customers see their business processes in a totally new light. We transform business processes by infusing modern technologies and methodologies.
