Subject Matter Expert (SME) Cybersecurity Architect

ActioNet; Suitland (MD); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life and AD&D Insurance

401(k) Savings Plan

Education and Professional Training

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

Paid Holidays

PTO

Job summary

ActioNet seeks a seasoned Subject Matter Expert (SME) Cybersecurity Architect to own security architecture across enterprise solutions, platforms, networks, identity, mobility/endpoints, data, and cloud. You will translate federal requirements into practical designs and drive evidence, risk decisions, and operation readiness through the lifecycle.

This hands-on role demands producing real security designs, reviewing implementations, and guiding engineers, not just policy creation.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in cybersecurity, including security architecture or enterprise leadership.
• Experience with federal risk management, security controls, and authorization.
• Ability to translate requirements into implementable designs.
• Strong communication with engineers and government stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develop and assess security architectures and controls integration.
• Lead architecture reviews and governance activities.
• Coordinate with cross-domain teams to embed security from design start.
• Produce implementable designs and risk decisions for engineers.

Skills

Security architecture

Federal RMF

Zero trust

Cloud security

Communication skills

Education

CISSP, CCSP, CISM

SABSA or GIAC certifications

Tools

Sparx/Prolaborate

Job description

Subject Matter Expert (SME) Cybersecurity Architect | Req#4737

Job Title: Subject Matter Expert (SME) Cybersecurity Architect

Location: Hybrid - 2 days a week on-site - Suitland, MD

Summary

We are seeking a Subject Matter Expert (SME) Cybersecurity Architect to join our team supporting a large-scale federal modernization program. This role owns security architecture across enterprise solutions, platforms, networks, identity, mobility/endpoints, data, and cloud, bridging cybersecurity policy and controls with implementable designs, evidence, and risk decisions throughout the system lifecycle.

This is a hands-on architecture role. You'll be expected to produce real security designs and see them through review, implementation, and operations, not just set policy from a distance.

This is a hybrid role based out of Washington, DC. Candidates must be U.S. citizens.

Key Responsibilities

1. Security Architecture & Design

• Develop and assess security architectures, patterns, requirements, controls integration, trust boundaries, data flows, and identity and segmentation design.
• Design logging, resilience, and operational safeguards into solution architecture.
• Translate federal and agency security requirements into practical design decisions, implementation actions, and residual-risk statements.

2. Reviews & Governance

• Participate in architecture compliance, technical design, engineering, security, and phase-gate reviews.
• Evaluate proposed deviations and waivers, and provide risk-informed recommendations for approval.
• Maintain security architecture artifacts, review findings, decisions, and risks in approved repositories, with clear traceability.

3. Cross-Domain Coordination

• Coordinate with solution, data, cloud/platform, network, identity, endpoint/mobility, and operations stakeholders to embed security into design from the start.
• Identify design gaps, threats, vulnerabilities, technical debt, and noncompliance early in the lifecycle, and propose mitigation options.
• Apply federal risk management framework and security control knowledge to real design decisions.
• Support authorization evidence, implementation readiness, and post-deployment validation as needed.
• Produce implementable security designs, review findings, mitigations, and risk decisions that engineers can act on.
• Communicate security architecture decisions, tradeoffs, and residual risk clearly to engineers, architects, program managers, and Government stakeholders.
• Support incident and problem learning to feed back into architecture improvements.

Requirements

· 12+ years of experience in cybersecurity, including significant time in security architecture or enterprise technical leadership.

• Working knowledge of federal risk management, security controls, authorization, continuous monitoring, zero trust, identity, network, endpoint, cloud, application, data, and logging considerations.
• Ability to interpret security requirements and produce implementable designs, review findings, mitigations, and risk decisions.
• Strong communication skills, with experience engaging engineers, architects, program managers, and Government decision-makers.

Nice to Have

· Direct federal, government, or mission-critical system security architecture experience.

• CISSP, CCSP, CISM, SABSA, GIAC, cloud security, or comparable security credentials.
• Experience with NIST RMF/control families, zero trust, cloud security, identity, endpoint security, segmentation, logging/SIEM, and vulnerability management.
• Experience documenting security architecture views in Sparx/Prolaborate or comparable architecture/modeling tools.
• Advanced and Managed IT Services
• Agile Software Development
• DevSecOps
• Cybersecurity
• Health IT
• C4ISR & SIGINT
• Data Center Engineering & Operations

Why ActioNet?

At ActioNet, our Passion for Quality is at the heart of everything we do:

• Commitment to Employees : We are committed to making ActioNet a great place to work and continue to invest in our ActioNeters.
• Commitment to Customers : We are committed to our customers by driving and sustaining Service Delivery Excellence.
• Commitment to Community : We are committed to giving back to our community, helping others, and making the world a better place for our next generation.

ActioNet is proud to be named a Top Workplace for the twelfth year in a row (2014 - 2025). We have a 98% customer retention rate. We are passionate about the inspirational missions of our customers, and we entrust our employees and teams to deliver exceptional performance to enable the safety, security, health, and well-being of our nation.

What's in It For You?

As an ActioNeter, you get to be part of an exceptional team and a corporate culture that nurtures mutual success for our customers, employees, and communities. We give you the tools to be successful; all you need to do is bring your best ideas, your energy, and a desire to develop your skills, experience, and career. Are you ready to make a difference?

ActioNet is an equal-opportunity employer and values inclusion at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Benefits

Full-Time Employees are eligible to participate in our ActioNet’s Benefits Program:

• Medical Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Life and AD&D Insurance
• 401(k) Savings Plan
• Education and Professional Training
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Employee Referral and Merit Recognition Programs
• Employee Assistance and Identity Theft Protection
• Paid Holidays: 11 per year
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Disability Insurance

ActioNet is an equal opportunity employer and value inclusion at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

ActioNet Core Value #1 - Instill Integrity In Everything We Do