DevSecOps Architect

National Student Clearinghouse•Herndon, VA

1d•Remote

About The Position

The Architect, DevSecOps is a senior individual contributor who defines and advances enterprise DevSecOps architecture, standards, governance, and technology roadmaps to enable secure, scalable, and resilient software delivery. The role partners with engineering, security, operations, product, data, and business teams to modernize development platforms, improve operational reliability, strengthen software supply chain security, and accelerate delivery through automation and platform engineering practices. The position provides technical leadership for enterprise initiatives involving cloud-native technologies, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, observability, resiliency, and secure software development. It is currently remote-first, with periodic on-site work at the Herndon office as department or division needs require. Candidates must live within a reasonable commuting distance or be willing to travel to the office when required, and must live in Herndon commuting distance or an approved state for hiring purposes. The role may require other duties. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The employee must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis; the employer does not intend to sponsor external applicants for work visas, though it may consider sponsorship if no qualified candidates authorized to work without sponsorship are available. Applicants must be at least 18 years old.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Cybersecurity, or a related field; a combination of education and experience, including military service, will also be considered.
At least 10 years of direct and relevant experience in software engineering, DevSecOps, cloud engineering, infrastructure automation, site reliability engineering, platform engineering, cybersecurity, or related technical disciplines.
Experience developing enterprise architectures, engineering standards, technology roadmaps, and governance frameworks.
Experience designing secure software delivery platforms and cloud-native technology solutions.
Knowledge of enterprise DevSecOps strategy, governance, architecture, and transformation principles.
Knowledge of CI/CD platforms such as GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, or similar technologies.
Knowledge of platform engineering and cloud-native architecture, including Kubernetes, container technologies, ECS, EKS, or OpenShift.
Knowledge of Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform, CloudFormation, and Ansible.
Automation and scripting skills using Python, Bash, or PowerShell, and familiarity with GitOps methodologies.
Knowledge of secure SDLC practices, including SAST, DAST, software composition analysis, container security, secrets management, SBOMs, artifact signing, and software provenance.
AWS expertise and working knowledge of Azure, OCI, or other cloud platforms.
Knowledge of observability, monitoring, logging, incident response, and operational reliability practices.
Knowledge of high availability, disaster recovery, business continuity, and production readiness principles.
Strong consulting, communication, presentation, collaboration, and influencing skills.
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
Demonstrate customer focus, optimize work processes, communicate effectively, collaborate, and be open and authentic.
Must live within commuting distance of Herndon, Virginia, or in an approved state for hiring purposes.
Must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. External work visa sponsorship is not intended, with possible consideration only if no qualified candidates authorized to work without sponsorship can be found.
Must be at least 18 years old.
Must be able to use a computer for 8 or more hours a day and frequently sit for 7 or more hours per day.
Must occasionally use hands and fingers to operate, handle, and reach; vision abilities include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.
Must be able to remain seated and work at a computer for extended periods while supporting production events, maintenance, incident response, and emergency service restoration.
Must be available to work extended hours and provide after-hours support for critical incidents and other business-critical operational activities.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field.
Professional certifications such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS), HashiCorp Terraform Associate, CISSP, GIAC certifications, or equivalent industry-recognized credentials.
Experience developing and implementing enterprise DevSecOps transformation programs in large-scale, highly regulated, or mission-critical environments.
Experience designing and operating Internal Developer Platforms and platform engineering capabilities.
Experience implementing software supply chain security programs, including SBOM management, artifact signing, software provenance, and secure build pipelines.
Experience establishing enterprise architecture governance processes, technical standards, and architecture review practices.
Experience leading cloud modernization, containerization, and application modernization initiatives across hybrid or multi-cloud environments.
Experience with advanced observability, site reliability engineering, and operational resilience practices.
Experience integrating AI and machine learning into software development, platform operations, engineering automation, or security processes.
Experience supporting federal, educational, financial services, healthcare, or other highly regulated industry environments.
Experience evaluating emerging technologies and developing business cases, cost-benefit analyses, and technology investment recommendations.
Demonstrated success influencing senior technical leaders and cross-functional teams without formal supervisory authority.
Experience mentoring architects, engineers, and technical teams while promoting engineering excellence and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

Define and evolve enterprise DevSecOps architecture, reference architectures, standards, governance frameworks, and strategic technology roadmaps.
Evaluate and integrate AI-assisted engineering capabilities into software development, testing, security, platform operations, incident response, and developer workflows.
Provide architectural leadership for software delivery platforms, CI/CD ecosystems, platform engineering capabilities, and cloud-native environments.
Champion secure software development practices, software supply chain security controls, and DevSecOps governance processes.
Establish architectural patterns and best practices for Infrastructure as Code, automation, GitOps, policy as code, and cloud infrastructure management.
Partner with engineering, cybersecurity, cloud, infrastructure, data, product, and business stakeholders to align technology investments and solution architectures with organizational objectives.
Evaluate emerging technologies, industry trends, and engineering methodologies, and develop recommendations and roadmaps to improve efficiency, resiliency, security, developer productivity, and cost effectiveness.
Lead architectural strategy for observability, monitoring, incident response, operational readiness, service reliability, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
Develop and maintain architecture standards promoting scalability, performance, availability, recoverability, operational excellence, and long-term platform sustainability.
Advise leadership, project teams, and engineering organizations on architecture decisions, technical risks, trade-offs, and implementation strategies.
Lead architecture reviews, technical assessments, and design governance to ensure solutions align with enterprise standards, security requirements, and strategic objectives.
Drive platform modernization and continuous improvement through automation, engineering innovation, data-driven decision making, and adoption of leading practices.
Mentor and influence engineers, architects, and technical teams by fostering engineering excellence, knowledge sharing, technical standards, and collaborative problem-solving.
Develop architectural approaches that balance business needs, technical requirements, operational supportability, security, and long-term investment value.
Provide architectural guidance and senior technical leadership during critical production incidents, disaster recovery events, complex implementations, and major service disruptions as needed.
Perform other duties as required.
Provide extended-hours and after-hours support during critical incidents, implementations, technology migrations, disaster recovery events, service disruptions, or other business-critical operational activities.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and qualified dependents.
Life and disability insurance benefits.
Health care, dependent care, and limited-purpose flexible spending accounts.
Health savings account with annual employer contributions of $300 for employees and $600 for employees enrolled with a spouse and/or dependents.
Voluntary supplemental Accident and Hospital Indemnity coverage and infertility coverage.
401(k) program with a generous matching contribution, pre-tax and Roth contributions, and catch-up contributions for eligible employees.
Paid vacation, sick, and personal time, including accrual of up to 13 vacation days and up to 10 sick days annually for new full-time hires.
At least 15 paid holidays per year, including company year-end close between Christmas and New Year's holidays.
Up to three weeks of paid parental leave during a 12-month period.
Up to five days of paid military leave per calendar year.
Option for new employees to use up to 32 hours of accrued sick time as personal time annually.
Reimbursement for basic wholesale company and roadside assistance memberships, such as Costco and AAA, subject to program terms.
Option to request a buyback of portions of unused accrued vacation, subject to tenure and other qualifications.
Employee Education Assistance Program reimbursement for qualified education expenses upon successful completion of the program.
Enterprise-wide LinkedIn Learning subscription.
Mental health benefit offering up to eight free therapy sessions for employees and family members.
Well-being reward benefits.
Eligibility for service credit toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness because the organization is an eligible nonprofit.