Staff Application Security Architect

Rocket Mortgage•Seattle, MI

3d•$149,000 - $318,000•Onsite

About The Position

As the Senior Application Security Architect, you work strategically with engineering and product teams to enable the delivery of secure application patterns and software solutions. You design standard security requirements for how applications should be built, deployed, and maintained, ensuring security is baked into the software development lifecycle from the start. You also build and mature team processes that empower development teams to own their software's security posture while mentoring internal security team members. Perform Security Reviews of applications throughout the SDLC including at the design and implementation phases through formal threat modeling and source code reviews, focusing on designing secure applications from the start and ensuring secure design principles are correctly implemented. Help to set strategic direction for application security initiatives, shift-left processes, and secure coding standards across the enterprise with a focus on treating security as quality. Build relationships and collaborate with software engineering, product, and architecture teams to ensure alignment of company vision and secure coding goals. Continually identify opportunities for improvement within software delivery pipelines and work with engineering leadership to implement automated security guardrails and remediations. Collaborate with business, product owners, architecture, and information security teams to enable the delivery of secure software patterns that support business velocity Coordinate and drive initiatives for AppSec engineers to build, execute, and scale application security strategies. Help to build processes that test the compliance and effectiveness of software security requirements through automated guardrails and continuous security testing. Influence decision-makers in the areas of secure application architecture, API design, authentication/authorization controls, and modern cloud deployment. Create and evangelize application security policy sets and secure design patterns to be used throughout the company that balance velocity and external compliance requirements. Work directly with development and audit teams to help align security architectures against upcoming compliance, regulatory (e.g., SSDF, Executive Orders on Cybersecurity), and contractual landscapes. Mentor software engineers and information security team members on threat modeling, secure code design, and modern vulnerability remediation techniques.

Requirements

10 years of experience in an information security, application development with a secure coding background or software engineering role with a focus on secure code & design principles, OR bachelor’s degree in computer science, information security, or a related field and 5 years of experience.
Proven experience performing architectural threat modeling on complex systems and applications using formal frameworks (e.g., STRIDE, DREAD, PASTA)
Strong ability to read, write, and audit code for security vulnerabilities, with the ability to provide engineering teams with precise, actionable remediation guidance
Deep technical familiarity with Java ecosystem (strongly preferred), as well as .NET and/or Python
Proficiency in at least one scripting language (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, Python) for automation and custom tooling
Demonstrated aptitude for leveraging AI-assisted engineering tools to drive operational efficiency, balanced with the critical thinking required to identify, validate, and correct AI inaccuracies or hallucinations
Practical experience or working knowledge of the following: Secure SDLC frameworks
DevSecOps pipeline integration (CI/CD)
SAST /DAST/SCA/Secret Scanning tooling
Identity and access management (OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML)
Container security (Docker, Kubernetes)
OWASP Top 10 / ASVS mappings
Familiarity with the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
Strong knowledge of fundamental InfoSec concepts, such as least privilege, zero trust architectures, secure input validation, layered security, secure defaults, etc.
Deep understanding of modern enterprise security risks such as software supply chain Security, securing & hardening development environments, and identifying and mitigating risk at scale.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in computer science, information security, or a related field
Advanced expertise in architectural threat modeling and building automated threat modeling capabilities into developer workflows
OSCP, OSWE, GWAPT, CISSP, CCSP, or other relevant security certifications
Hands-on experience scaling AppSec programs across large engineering organizations, including, integrating secure solutions across an organization’s SDLC, and/or experience administering a developer security champion program
Strong technical experience with Java

Responsibilities

Perform Security Reviews of applications throughout the SDLC including at the design and implementation phases through formal threat modeling and source code reviews, focusing on designing secure applications from the start and ensuring secure design principles are correctly implemented.
Help to set strategic direction for application security initiatives, shift-left processes, and secure coding standards across the enterprise with a focus on treating security as quality.
Build relationships and collaborate with software engineering, product, and architecture teams to ensure alignment of company vision and secure coding goals.
Continually identify opportunities for improvement within software delivery pipelines and work with engineering leadership to implement automated security guardrails and remediations.
Collaborate with business, product owners, architecture, and information security teams to enable the delivery of secure software patterns that support business velocity
Coordinate and drive initiatives for AppSec engineers to build, execute, and scale application security strategies.
Help to build processes that test the compliance and effectiveness of software security requirements through automated guardrails and continuous security testing.
Influence decision-makers in the areas of secure application architecture, API design, authentication/authorization controls, and modern cloud deployment.
Create and evangelize application security policy sets and secure design patterns to be used throughout the company that balance velocity and external compliance requirements.
Work directly with development and audit teams to help align security architectures against upcoming compliance, regulatory (e.g., SSDF, Executive Orders on Cybersecurity), and contractual landscapes.
Mentor software engineers and information security team members on threat modeling, secure code design, and modern vulnerability remediation techniques.