Senior Security Design Architect

Charles Schwab; Westlake (TX); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work

401k plan

Health insurance

Sabbatical after 5 years

Job summary

Charles Schwab's Cybersecurity Services (SCS) seeks a Senior Security Design Review Architect to lead security design decisions across cloud, on‑premises, and hybrid environments. You will collaborate with domain architects, product teams, engineering leaders, and IT partners to ensure architectures meet risk, regulatory, and business needs.

You will conduct secure design reviews, threat modeling, risk assessments, and develop security reference architectures and deployment models.

Qualifications

• Strong background in security architecture principles and risk-based decisions.
• Experience with designing and governing enterprise security controls and solutions.
• Deep expertise across AI security, CIAM, IAM, cloud security, application security, data protection, risk management.

Responsibilities

• Conduct secure design reviews, architecture assessments, threat modeling, and security risk evaluations for various environments.
• Collaborate with Domain Architects, Product Managers, Engineering Teams, and technical leaders to define security requirements and deployment patterns.
• Describe solution intent, identify trust boundaries, data flows, dependencies, and architectural risks.
• Review, approve, and sign off on projects for risk, controls, compliance, and policy adherence.
• Perform architecture risk assessments and threat modeling to identify vulnerabilities and gaps.
• Develop and maintain security reference architectures, deployment models, and control frameworks.
• Evaluate technology solutions against industry frameworks (NIST, CIS, OWASP, SSDLC) and standards.
• Present recommendations to executives and balance security with business priorities and innovation.
• Develop security requirements, non-functional requirements, and secure deployment models.

Skills

Security architecture

Threat modeling

Security reviews

IAM / CIAM

Cloud security

AI security

Risk management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Influencing skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

Your opportunity

The Schwab Cybersecurity Services (SCS) organization is a centralized First Line of Defense Center of Excellence (COE) that provides security services to advance Schwab's security posture and enhance the protection of Schwab's critical assets.

The Security Design team handles the Firm’s security strategy and security architecture vision and development. We drive and synchronize security strategies aligned with technology and business priorities along with validating future directions through security research and innovation. As a member of the team, you will serve as a Senior Security Design Review Architect responsible for providing security solutions, designs, architecture guidance, reviews, support, strategies across the entire organization to include security decision making through successful implementation while employing the highest levels of integrity. Every security decision must consider both direct and indirect impacts. You will collaborate closely with business leaders, product teams, engineering organizations, cloud teams, AI teams, infrastructure teams, and cybersecurity partners to ensure solutions are designed, deployed, and operated securely.

This role requires balancing security, business objectives, innovation, operational resilience, regulatory obligations, and risk management. You will be responsible for evaluating architecture decisions, documenting risks, recommending mitigations, and supporting risk-based decision making while ensuring solutions protect Schwab's clients, workforce, applications, data, and technology ecosystem.

Every security decision must consider both direct and indirect impacts to the organization, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, availability, resilience, and trustworthiness of systems entrusted with sensitive business and client information.

Responsibilities include, but not limited to:

• - Responsible for conducting secure design reviews, architecture assessments, threat modeling, and security risk evaluations for cloud, on-premises, hybrid, SaaS, AI, and application-based solutions supporting hundreds of internal and external business initiatives.
• - Works with Domain Architects, Product Managers, Product Owners, Engineering Teams, and Technology Leaders to define security requirements, non-functional requirements, secure deployment patterns, and security controls.
• - Describes solution intent and operating environments while identifying primary systems, trust boundaries, integration points, data flows, security dependencies, and architectural risks.
• - Reviews, assesses, approves, and signs off on projects with respect to risk, security controls, architectural decisions, compliance expectations, and adherence to security policies, standards, and industry best practices.
• - Performs architecture risk assessments and threat modeling activities to identify security vulnerabilities, attack paths, misuse scenarios, and control gaps.
• - Develops and maintains security reference architectures, secure design standards, reusable architecture patterns, security control frameworks, and deployment models.
• - Evaluates technology solutions against industry frameworks and standards including:
• - NIST Cybersecurity Framework
• - NIST Special Publication 800-53
• - NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF)
• - OWASP Top 10
• - OWASP LLM Top 10
• - CIS Benchmarks
• - Zero Trust Architecture Principles
• - Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC)
• - Experience with security architecture reviews and security controls across:
• - Identity and Access Management (IAM)
• - Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
• - Present recommendations to executive leadership
• - Experience developing security requirements, non-functional requirements, architecture standards, and secure deployment models.
• - Strong collaboration, communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
• - Demonstrates flexibility within a variety of changing situations while working across technical and business organizations.
• - Ability to balance security requirements with business priorities and technology innovation.

What you have

Required

• - 4-year college/university degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• - Minimum 10+ years of experience designing, implementing, assessing, and governing enterprise security architectures, security controls, and security solutions.
• - Deep expertise across multiple cybersecurity domains including AI Security, CIAM, IAM, Cloud Security, Application Security, Data Protection, Security Architecture, and Risk Management.
• - Demonstrated experience conducting: Security Design & architecture Reviews, Threat Modeling, Security Control Assessments and Security Governance Activities
• - Detailed understanding of security architecture principles and the ability to:
• - Document architecture security risks
• - Evaluate remediation options
• - Define compensating controls
• - Support risk-based decisions
• - Present findings to technical stakeholders
• - Present recommendations to executive leadership
• - Experience developing security requirements, non-functional requirements, architecture standards, and secure deployment models.
• - Strong collaboration, communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
• - Demonstrates flexibility within a variety of changing situations while working across technical and business organizations.
• - Ability to balance security requirements with business priorities and technology innovation.

Preferred

• - Experience securing AI/ML, Agentic AI solutions.
• - CISSP certification preferred.
• - CSSLP certification preferred.
• - CCSP, CISM, TOGAF, Cloud Security, AI Security, and other Information Security certifications are highly desirable.

What’s in it for you

At Schwab, you’re empowered to shape your future. We champion your growth through meaningful work, continuous learning, and a culture of trust and collaboration—so you can build the skills to make a lasting impact. Our Hybrid Work and Flexibility approach balances our ongoing commitment to workplace flexibility, serving our clients, and our strong belief in the value of being together in person on a regular basis.

We offer a competitive benefits package that takes care of the whole you – both today and in the future:

• 401(k) with company match and Employee stock purchase plan
• Paid time for vacation, volunteering, and 28-day sabbatical after every 5 years of service for eligible positions
• Paid parental leave and family building benefits
• Tuition reimbursement
• Health, dental, and vision insurance