Application Security Architect – Cloud & DevSecOps

CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen); Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision, and 401k

Job summary

CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen) is seeking an Application Security Architect to join our technology team in Austin, TX. The role bridges application security architecture, engineering, DevOps, and cloud security, leading secure design reviews and defining security controls for CLA’s technology environment.

You will establish a Cloud Security Posture Management practice, govern security controls across CI/CD pipelines, and collaborate with Development, Cloud, Platform, Product, Data, IT, and Risk teams

Qualifications

• Experience leading or supporting secure design reviews for application, cloud, commercial, and hybrid solutions.
• Experience reviewing technical architecture, system interaction, and data-flow diagrams.
• Experience with application security architecture, cloud security, DevOps security, and security engineering.

Responsibilities

• Lead and participate in secure design reviews for proprietary, commercial, cloud, and hybrid solutions.
• Document identified risks, required mitigations, risk owners, exceptions, and residual-risk decisions.
• Review system interaction diagrams and data-flow diagrams to map trust and security boundaries.
• Develop reusable security standards, assessment patterns, and architectural guidance.
• Establish Cloud Security Posture Management practices across cloud deployments and CI/CD workflows.
• Provide technical security leadership across Development, Cloud, Platform, Product, Data, IT, EA, and Risk teams.

Skills

Secure design reviews

Cloud security

DevOps security

CI/CD pipelines

GitHub Actions

Infrastructure as code

Threat modeling

Security governance

Communication to stakeholders

Architectural guidance

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Azure

GitHub Actions

Black Duck Polaris

Job description

CLA is a top 10 national professional services firm where our purpose is to create opportunities every day, for our clients, our people, and our communities through industry-focused wealth advisory, digital, audit, tax, consulting, and outsourcing services.

We are seeking an Application Security Architect to join our growing technology team.

How You’ll Create Opportunities

The Application Security Architect will bridge application security architecture, engineering, DevOps, and cloud security. In this role, you will lead and support secure design reviews for proprietary and third-party solutions, assess technical and data flows, and identify the security controls needed to protect CLA’s technology environment.

You will also provide technical governance and automation support for security controls across CI/CD pipelines, GitHub Actions and workflows, infrastructure as code, containers, cloud environments, and the software supply chain. A key focus of this position will be establishing a Cloud Security Posture Management practice that connects cloud infrastructure security with automated development workflows.

In This Role, You Will

• Lead and participate in secure design reviews for proprietary, commercial, cloud, and hybrid solutions.
• Document identified risks, required mitigations, risk owners, exceptions, and residual-risk decisions.
• Review system interaction diagrams and detailed logical, functional, physical, and data-flow diagrams.
• Identify trust boundaries, security boundaries, integration points, administrative interfaces, data stores, and external dependencies.
• Develop reusable security standards, assessment patterns, review templates, control baselines, and architectural guidance.
• Establish and build a Cloud Security Posture Management practice by coordinating the appropriate people, processes, technology, governance, and service expectations.
• Assess cloud permissions, secrets management, deployment architecture, infrastructure as code, container images, orchestration configurations, and cloud-native deployment patterns.
• Identify opportunities to prevent configuration issues and policy violations before deployment through policy-as-code, automated validation, and reusable engineering guardrails.
• Provide technical security leadership across Development, Cloud, Platform, Product, Data, Information Technology, Enterprise Architecture, and Risk teams.
• Connect code, pipeline, identity, integration, data, and cloud architecture risks to practical security controls and business outcomes.
• Distinguish mandatory security requirements from recommendations and risk-based enhancements.
• Escalate unresolved material risks through established risk-acceptance processes.
• Communicate technical risks, required controls, exceptions, ownership, and residual risk to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Build strong partnerships, improve developer engagement with Application Security, and influence teams without direct authority.

What You’ll Need

• Experience leading or supporting secure design reviews for application, cloud, commercial, and hybrid solutions.
• Experience reviewing technical architecture, system interaction, and data-flow diagrams.
• Experience with application security architecture, cloud security, DevOps security, and security engineering.
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, GitHub Actions and workflows, infrastructure as code, containers, and software supply-chain security.
• Experience assessing cloud permissions, secrets management, deployment architecture, container images, orchestration configurations, and cloud-native deployment patterns.
• Experience connecting technical security risks to practical controls and business outcomes.
• Ability to communicate technical risks and security requirements to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to build relationships and influence cross-functional teams without direct authority.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certification such as CISSP, CCSP, or a comparable security, cloud, DevOps, or architecture credential.
• Experience with Azure cloud services, cloud-native security patterns, and enterprise cloud identity platforms.
• Experience with Black Duck Polaris or a comparable software composition analysis and application security platform.
• Experience with Cloud Security Posture Management, container security, policy-as-code, artifact integrity, secrets management, and automated compliance controls.
• Experience conducting threat modeling, architecture risk analysis, secure design reviews, vulnerability management, and risk-acceptance activities.
• Experience working with NIST security and risk-management frameworks.
• Familiarity with API security, integration platforms, citizen-development governance, and secure container orchestration patterns.

Job Requirements

• 7 years of general IT experience required. 4 of which are with security of IT systems, and 2 with security design/stratgy.
• Bachelor's degree is required. Combination of relevant experience, education, and training may be accepted in lieu of degree.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

Wellness at CLA

To support our CLA family members, we focus on their physical, financial, social, and emotional well-being and offer comprehensive benefit options that include health, dental, vision, 401k and much more.