Staff Cloud Security Engineer

AnswersNow; Richmond (VA); Remote; USD 151,000 - 179,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity options

Medical, dental, vision

Remote-first flexibility

Generous PTO

Job summary

AnswersNow is seeking a Staff Cloud Security Engineer to own security across our platform, infrastructure, and corporate environment. You will design scalable security programs, work closely with the CTO and engineering, and drive risk-based decisions with autonomy.

You will secure AWS environments, data layers, APIs, and AI tooling, while guiding compliance with SOC 2 and HIPAA. This role emphasizes strong technical leadership and hands-on execution.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in security engineering, with hands-on cloud experience
• Deep AWS security expertise (IAM, networking, encryption, logging)
• Experience securing PostgreSQL data stores and regulated data
• Strong API security and secure SDLC integration
• Experience owning SOC 2 audit and HIPAA compliance
• Familiarity with IaC and CI/CD security
• AI security and guarding against LLM vulnerabilities
• Excellent communication with engineers, executives, auditors

Responsibilities

• Architect, secure, and harden AWS environments (IAM, VPC, KMS, GuardDuty, etc.)
• Secure serverless and data layers (Lambda, S3, PostgreSQL) and enforce least privilege
• Implement infrastructure-as-code security guardrails and policy-as-code
• Own secrets management, key management, and certificate lifecycle
• Harden EKS infrastructure including cluster security and network policies
• Secure APIs and application stack (authentication, rate limiting, OWASP)
• Embed security into SDLC with threat modeling and SAST/DAST
• Run vulnerability management and penetration testing program
• Establish AI usage governance and model security controls
• Lead incident response planning, tabletop exercises, and DR planning
• Define security roadmap and mentor engineers
• Drive security tooling and vendor decisions

Skills

AWS security

Cloud security

Incident response

SOC 2

HIPAA compliance

AI security

CI/CD security

Security leadership

Tools

Pulumi

CloudFormation

CDK

Job description

Staff Cloud Security Engineer

Remote, Anywhere in the US

We’re looking for a Staff Cloud Security Engineer who thrives on designing scalable, secure cloud systems and enabling data-driven decision-making.

About AnswersNow:

AnswersNow is a venture-backed digital health company delivering virtual autism care to families. Our mission is to empower and enhance the lives of those affected by autism by making personalized therapy more accessible. We connect families with expert clinicians quickly — often moving from assessment to therapy within weeks, without waitlists or commutes — and deliver outcomes that parents describe as life-changing.

Why this role matters:

This is our first dedicated security hire and the single owner of security across our platform, infrastructure, and corporate environment. You'll set the strategy, build the program, and do the hands-on work. You'll partner directly with the CTO and engineering team, and you'll be the technical authority on security for customers, auditors, and leadership.

This is a Staff-level role. We expect you to operate with significant autonomy, make sound risk-based tradeoffs, and raise the security maturity of the whole organization.

What you’ll do:

Cloud & Infrastructure Security

• Architect, secure, and continuously harden our AWS environment (IAM, VPC design, KMS, CloudTrail, GuardDuty, Security Hub, Config, WAF, etc.)

• Secure our serverless and data layers, including Lambda, S3, and PostgreSQL (RDS/Aurora): encryption at rest and in transit, least-privilege access, network isolation, backup integrity, and audit logging

• Implement Infrastructure-as-Code security guardrails and policy-as-code

• Own secrets management, key management, and certificate lifecycle

• Manage and harden Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) infrastructure, including cluster security, network policies, and container runtime security

Application & API Security

• Secure our APIs and application stack: authentication/authorization, session management, rate limiting, input validation, and OWASP Top 10 / API Top 10 risks

• Embed security into the SDLC with threat modeling, secure design reviews, SAST/DAST, dependency and container scanning, and CI/CD pipeline security

• Secure our proprietary real-time video platform (WebRTC/media transport, session access controls, recording storage, and encryption)

• Run our vulnerability management and penetration testing program, including vendor selection, scoping, and remediation tracking

AI Security & Governance

• Establish company-wide AI usage policies and governance frameworks to ensure safe, ethical, and compliant adoption of internal and third-party AI tools

• Architect and secure in-product AI/ML capabilities, protecting against OWASP LLM Top 10 vulnerabilities (e.g., prompt injection, insecure output handling, data poisoning)

• Implement strict data privacy guardrails to prevent unauthorized exposure of PHI/PII in model training, fine-tuning, and prompt contexts

• Define and enforce model security controls, securing model artifacts, API endpoints, supply chain dependencies, and access controls

• Build continuous monitoring, telemetry, and comprehensive audit logging across all AI/ML workflows to support compliance, threat detection, and incident response

Compliance (SOC 2 & HIPAA)

• Own our path to SOC 2 Type I and Type II: scoping, control design, evidence collection, auditor selection and management, and ongoing readiness

• Own ongoing HIPAA Security Rule compliance, including risk assessments, policies, BAAs, breach notification procedures, and audit readiness

• Get the most from Vanta: tune integrations, automate evidence collection, and drive remediation of failing tests

• Maintain the security policy library, risk register, and vendor risk management program

• Support customer and payer security questionnaires and due diligence

Endpoint & Corporate Security

• Work with outsourced IT to manage security for laptops and workstations: MDM, disk encryption, EDR, patching, hardening baselines, and device compliance

• Own identity and access management: SSO, MFA, RBAC, joiner/mover/leaver processes, and periodic access reviews

• Work with People ops to run security awareness and HIPAA training programs

Detection, Response & Resilience

• Build logging, monitoring, and alerting for the platform and corporate environment (SIEM or equivalent)

• Develop and test our incident response plan, run tabletop exercises, and lead response when incidents occur

• Partner with engineering on disaster recovery, backup, and business continuity planning

Leadership

• Define the security roadmap and communicate risk clearly to the CTO and executive team

• Mentor engineers and build a security-conscious culture, such as a security champions model

• Build the business case for tools, vendors, and (eventually) additional security headcount

What you bring:

• 8+ years in security engineering, with significant hands-on experience securing production cloud environments, ideally AWS-heavy

• Deep AWS security expertise (IAM, networking, encryption/KMS, logging and detection services, serverless security)

• Experience securing PostgreSQL and other data stores containing regulated or sensitive data

• Strong application and API security background, and the ability to review code and architecture and work effectively with developers

• Direct experience owning or leading a SOC 2 audit (Type I and/or Type II) and HIPAA compliance, ideally in a healthcare or health-tech environment handling PHI

• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (Pulumi, CloudFormation, or CDK) and CI/CD security

• Experience with AI security, LLM application security, and guarding against OWASP LLM Top 10 vulnerabilities

• Strong incident response experience

• Excellent communication: you can explain risk to engineers, executives, auditors, and customers alike

Nice to have:

• Experience with compliance automation platforms such as Vanta, Drata, or Secureframe

• Experience securing real-time communication or video platforms (WebRTC)

• Familiarity with HITRUST, ISO 27001, or NIST frameworks

• Experience at a startup or scale-up where you built a security program from scratch

• Relevant certifications (AWS Security Specialty, CISSP, CCSP, OSCP, or similar)

• Experience with pediatric or behavioral health data and the added privacy considerations that come with minors' information

What we offer:

• $151,000- $178,500 annual salary

• Equity options in a high-growth, venture-backed company.

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision.

• Generous PTO and remote-first flexibility.

More About AnswersNow

AnswersNow welcomes applicants of all backgrounds, experiences, and abilities. We believe a diverse team is a strong team, and are committed to provide a fair and equitable experience for every candidate. If you require reasonable accommodations at any stage, we encourage you to reach out. We’re here to support!

Learn more about us at getanswersnow.com.

E-Verify & Right to Work
AnswersNow participates in E-Verify and electronically verifies the work authorization of all new hires upon employment. E-Verify is only used after a job offer has been accepted; it is not used to pre-screen applicants.
For more information, view the E-Verify Participation and Right to Work posters in English and Spanish.