Staff App Security Architect, Cloud-Native & Automation

IBM Computing; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM, in collaboration with Confluent, is seeking a Staff Application Security Engineer to drive security architecture across on-prem and cloud platforms. You will lead threat modeling, secure-by-design practices, and security automation within a distributed software ecosystem.

You will collaborate with Engineering and Product leadership to embed security into the product lifecycle, influence architectural direction, and mitigate complex risks while advancing a culture of secure software

Qualifications

• 10+ years of hands-on application security in large-scale distributed systems.
• Security fundamentals for web apps and cloud-native platforms.
• Partner with Engineering and Product leadership to embed security into architecture.
• Lead investigations and drive preventive improvements via architecture and automation.
• Secure CI/CD pipelines and automated guardrails in cloud-native deployment workflows.
• Experience in Go, Python, or Java; design scalable security automation frameworks.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives in distributed environments.
• Data-driven decisions balancing security with engineering velocity.
• Raise the organization’s security bar through architectural reviews and coaching.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Engineering, Product, and Platform teams to identify security risks and drive secure-by-design practices.
• Define and standardize threat modeling frameworks and security design standards.
• Serve as SME for product security implementation reviews, oversee code reviews and API security testing.
• Architect and drive the roadmap for security automation and tooling.
• Design and lead deployment of automation frameworks that integrate security into CI/CD pipelines.
• Identify new vulnerability classes and orchestrate security exercises to stay ahead.
• Deploy advanced technology controls to maximize observability and harden attack surfaces.

Skills

AppSec experience

Go/Python/Java

Security automation

Cloud-native

Architectural reviews

Job description

IBM, in collaboration with Confluent, is seeking a Staff Application Security Engineer to drive security architecture across on-prem and cloud platforms. You will lead threat modeling, secure-by-design practices, and security automation within a distributed software ecosystem.

You will collaborate with Engineering and Product leadership to embed security into the product lifecycle, influence architectural direction, and mitigate complex risks while advancing a culture of secure software