Principal Security Engineer (Cloud & AWS) / AWS Security Lead

Covenant HR; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Covenant HR is helping a public-sector client in Ontario to hire a Principal Security Engineer (Cloud & AWS). Hybrid work with minimum 2 days onsite in Pickering, ON.

The role leads AWS security initiatives, designs secure architectures, and drives security maturity across the organization. Ideal candidates bring deep AWS security expertise, hands-on experience with IAM, VPC, WAF, CloudTrail, GuardDuty, and Terraform, plus strong DevSecOps and leadership capabilities.

Qualifications

• Deep hands-on AWS security expertise.
• Experience leading security discussions and challenging architecture decisions.
• Proven DevSecOps and automation experience including secure CI/CD pipelines, Terraform, container security, Python, and PowerShell.
• Experience as a technical lead or cloud security authority in enterprise or cloud-native environments.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the organization’s lead AWS security expert and trusted technical advisor across cloud security initiatives.
• Design, implement, and optimize secure AWS architectures across complex enterprise environments.
• Lead technical discussions with engineering, cloud operations, development, and executive stakeholders.
• Evaluate current cloud environments and recommend innovative security improvements and optimization strategies.
• Drive AWS security best practices across IAM, networking, logging, monitoring, encryption, and threat detection services.
• Develop and enhance secure DevSecOps pipelines, infrastructure-as-code standards, and cloud automation frameworks.
• Build and implement security automation using Terraform, Python, and PowerShell.
• Partner cross-functionally with infrastructure, development, and leadership teams to improve execution standards and cloud maturity.
• Influence cloud architecture decisions and elevate internal AWS technical capabilities across the organization.
• Participate in deep technical security assessments, incident response support, and cloud risk mitigation initiatives.
• Mentor peers and help establish stronger accountability, innovation, and operational excellence within the engineering organization.
• Support strategic cloud transformation and modernization initiatives with visibility across senior IT leadership.

Skills

AWS security expertise

Technical leadership

DevSecOps

CI/CD automation

Cloud security strategy

Tools

IAM

VPC

WAF

CloudTrail

GuardDuty

Security Hub

EC2

ALB

Route53

CloudFront

KMS

Security Groups

Job description

Company - Our client is a technologically progressive public-sector organization focused on large-scale property data, analytics, cloud transformation, and digital innovation initiatives. Known for leveraging modern cloud technologies, automation, and machine learning to improve operational excellence, the organization offers a collaborative environment with strong executive investment in cloud and cybersecurity leadership.

Job Title - Principal Security Engineer (Cloud & AWS) / AWS Security Lead

Location - Hybrid in Pickering, ON (minimum 2 days onsite)

Role Type - Direct Hire

Must Have Skills:

• Deep hands-on AWS security expertise with the ability to function as the strongest AWS technical resource on the team
• Strong experience across AWS services including IAM, VPC, WAF, CloudTrail, GuardDuty, Security Hub, EC2, ALB, Route53, CloudFront, KMS, and Security Groups
• Proven ability to lead technical discussions, challenge architecture decisions, and design creative multi-service AWS security solutions
• Strong DevSecOps and automation experience including secure CI/CD pipelines, Terraform, container security, Python, and PowerShell
• Experience operating as a technical lead or cloud security authority within enterprise or cloud-native environments

Responsibilities and Job Details:

• Serve as the organization’s lead AWS security expert and trusted technical advisor across cloud security initiatives
• Design, implement, and optimize secure AWS architectures across complex enterprise environments
• Lead technical discussions with engineering, cloud operations, development, and executive stakeholders
• Evaluate current cloud environments and recommend innovative security improvements and optimization strategies
• Drive AWS security best practices across IAM, networking, logging, monitoring, encryption, and threat detection services
• Develop and enhance secure DevSecOps pipelines, infrastructure-as-code standards, and cloud automation frameworks
• Build and implement security automation using Terraform, Python, and PowerShell
• Partner cross-functionally with infrastructure, development, and leadership teams to improve execution standards and cloud maturity
• Influence cloud architecture decisions and elevate internal AWS technical capabilities across the organization
• Participate in deep technical security assessments, incident response support, and cloud risk mitigation initiatives
• Mentor peers and help establish stronger accountability, innovation, and operational excellence within the engineering organization
• Support strategic cloud transformation and modernization initiatives with visibility across senior IT leadership