Remote Cloud Security Lead: Architect & Defender

Placements24; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-first environment

Competitive salary

Medical aid

Life insurance

Retirement savings plan

Budget for training & certifications

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Lead Cloud Security Engineer to architect, implement, and govern secure cloud infrastructures across AWS, Azure, and GCP in a remote-first organization. You will guide a distributed security team, set strategic direction, and drive security across the SDLC.

You will create policy, enforce best practices, and lead incident response while mentoring engineers and collaborating with product and operations to embed security at every stage of development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related field; Master's degree preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in cybersecurity, with at least 4 years focused on cloud security engineering.
• Deep expertise in securing AWS, Azure, and GCP across IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS security models.
• Proven experience with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools like Terraform or CloudFormation for security automation.
• Strong understanding of container security (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience with SIEM and security analytics tools in a cloud context.
• Familiarity with DevSecOps principles and practices.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and collaboration skills, with remote-team experience.
• Relevant cloud security certifications (e.g., AWS Security Specialty, Azure Security Engineer) are a strong plus.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain secure cloud infrastructure across AWS, Azure, and GCP.
• Develop and enforce cloud security policies, standards, and best practices.
• Implement and manage cloud-native security tools and services (WAFs, encryption, key management).
• Conduct regular security audits and penetration tests of cloud environments.
• Lead incident response for cloud-based security incidents.
• Develop and automate security controls and compliance checks within CI/CD pipelines.
• Mentor and guide junior security engineers and cloud engineers on security best practices.
• Collaborate with development and operations teams to embed security in the SDLC.
• Stay updated on the latest cloud security threats, vulnerabilities, and compliance requirements.
• Develop and maintain documentation for cloud security architecture and procedures.

Skills

Cloud security engineering

Leadership

DevSecOps

Terraform

CloudFormation

Docker

Kubernetes

SIEM

Security analytics

Remote team management

Education

Bachelor's in Computer Science or related

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Terraform

CloudFormation

Docker

Kubernetes

SIEM tools

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Lead Cloud Security Engineer to architect, implement, and govern secure cloud infrastructures across AWS, Azure, and GCP in a remote-first organization. You will guide a distributed security team, set strategic direction, and drive security across the SDLC.

You will create policy, enforce best practices, and lead incident response while mentoring engineers and collaborating with product and operations to embed security at every stage of development.