Principal Security Architect – Internet Edge (DMZ/PAZ) & API Security

Wells Fargo & Company•San Leandro, CA

About The Position

Wells Fargo is seeking a Principal Engineer to serve as the foremost technical authority responsible for designing, securing, and advancing the enterprise’s Publicly Accessible Zone (PAZ/DMZ) architecture as part of the company’s large‑scale Data Center Migration and Transformation Strategy. This Principal Engineer will lead the strategy and resolution of highly complex technical challenges across Network Security, Cybersecurity, CTO Architecture, Digital, and multiple lines of business. The role operates with significant independence, owning the DMZ Neighborhood workstream under the Path to Production (P2P) pillar, and will directly influence transformation outcomes tied to secure ingress/egress, external user experience, and enterprise security posture. The position requires deep expertise across API security, network and application security, reverse proxy, firewall design, secure connectivity, multi‑cloud, and modern DevOps pipelines. The engineer will partner across diverse technical domains to design a secure, scalable DMZ environment, drive architectural alignment, and reduce friction for applications migrating to the new data‑center neighborhood. This Principal Engineer role sits at the Executive Director (ED) level, with high organizational visibility and cross‑enterprise impact, and is placed skip‑level to the Chief Development and Experience Officer.

Requirements

7+ years of Engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education
Deep technical expertise in designing and securing Publicly Accessible Zones (DMZ/PAZ) at enterprise scale
Extensive experience with network security architecture, including segmentation, secure protocol enforcement, traffic inspection, and firewall configuration
Strong knowledge of reverse proxy design, load balancers, API gateways, and secure ingress/egress patterns
Hands‑on experience with API security, web security, and application protection technologies
Expertise across multi‑cloud environments such as Azure, GCP, and OpenShift
Strong understanding of DevOps pipelines, CI/CD workflows, and the ability to identify and eliminate friction in Path to Production
Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical initiatives across multiple domains
Proven capability to drive architectural strategy with minimal oversight
Ability to analyze complex requirements and define secure, scalable, high‑performance solutions

Nice To Haves

Experience designing modern, cloud‑ready DMZ or external connectivity architectures
Background in cloud‑native development and container platforms
Strong understanding of enterprise security frameworks and regulatory requirements
Experience conducting architectural assessments, developing roadmaps, and introducing new technical patterns
Ability to influence senior leaders and align multiple technology teams around a unified architecture
Strong communication skills for explaining complex technical concepts to technical and non‑technical audiences
Experience leading or contributing to enterprise architecture governance forums
Track record of innovation—challenging the status quo and driving modernization
Experience mentoring engineers and building reusable architectural standards, patterns, and documentation

Responsibilities

Act as an advisor to leadership to develop or influence applications, network, information security, database, operating systems, or web technologies for highly complex business and technical needs across multiple groups
Lead the strategy and resolution of highly complex and unique challenges requiring in-depth evaluation across multiple areas or the enterprise, delivering solutions that are long-term, large-scale and require vision, creativity, innovation, advanced analytical and inductive thinking
Translate advanced technology experience, an in-depth knowledge of the organizations tactical and strategic business objectives, the enterprise technological environment, the organization structure, and strategic technological opportunities and requirements into technical engineering solutions
Provide vision, direction and expertise to leadership on implementing innovative and significant business solutions
Maintain knowledge of industry best practices and new technologies and recommends innovations that enhance operations or provide a competitive advantage to the organization
Strategically engage with all levels of professionals and managers across the enterprise and serve as an expert advisor to leadership
Design & Maintain the Enterprise Publicly Accessible Zone
Own the technical architecture of the new DMZ Neighborhood for the data center migration
Design secure, scalable ingress/egress patterns for external traffic
Configure and optimize firewalls, reverse proxies, load balancers, and related infrastructure
Ensure enterprise‑wide alignment with security, performance, and transformation goals
Lead Cross‑Functional Strategy & Governance
Drive architectural governance across Network Security, Cybersecurity, CTO Architecture, Digital, and LOB tech teams
Represent the DMZ architecture in design reviews, assessments, and cross‑functional forums
Embed DMZ and external‑connectivity requirements across all LOBs
Guide Long‑Term Planning & Innovation
Conduct architectural assessments, define roadmaps, and propose next‑generation patterns
Drive the long‑term strategy for secure external connectivity and cloud readiness
Influence enterprise direction in PAZ/DMZ design and modernization
Provide Operational and Incident Leadership
Ensure availability, reliability, and compliance of the DMZ Neighborhood
Lead incident response related to DMZ infrastructure
Conduct root cause analysis and drive corrective actions
Create Standards, Documentation & Mentorship
Develop architecture diagrams, runbooks, and technical standards
Mentor engineers and contribute to knowledge‑sharing across Technology
Promote reusable patterns and improve onboarding efficiency