Director, Principal Cybersecurity Architect

Department

Information Security

Revision Date

September 9, 2025

FLSA Status

Exempt

Eeo-1

3 - Professionals

New Job

Current Job Revisions

Director, Principal Cybersecurity Architect

Position Summary

The Director, Principal Cybersecurity Architect is responsible for leading the development, implementation, and management of technical systems and controls necessary to safeguard the company's information and assets. The position will work directly with technical and non-technical staff to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive data and systems. This role combines strategic architecture direction with hands-on technical execution and mentorship of engineers.

This position will be involved in a wide range of issues and projects, including the development of secure software, architectures, tools, and controls utilizing security best practices and industry standards, with an underlying focus on compliance with major governance and regulatory standards such as SOX, SOC 2, PCI, HITRUST, & HIPAA.

Essential Functions

Leadership & Architecture

• Drive the strategic development of cybersecurity initiatives to align with organizational goals
• Collaborate with executive leadership to ensure the cybersecurity program aligns with business strategy
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to cybersecurity engineers and analysts white heavily influencing other technology teams throughout the organization, always fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and innovation
• Design and validate secure, scalable, and resilient cybersecurity architectures that align with enterprise technology strategies and regulatory requirements
• Translate business and technical requirements into reference architectures, solution patterns, and integration frameworks that guide secure system implementations
• Evaluate emerging technologies and threat models to define forward-looking security architectures, ensuring interoperability and defense-in-depth across hybrid cloud and on-prem environments
• Design, develop, implement, and maintain security systems and technologies while managing multiple simultaneous complex technical projects with limited guidance from security leadership
• Lead incident response activities, tabletop exercises, IR planning, etc.
• Drive team's execution of all assigned OKRs
• Track and report on KPIs
• Serve as ultimate technical escalation point for internal Cybersecurity Analysts as well as the MSSPs, such as the MDR & SOC teams
• Provide thought leadership to influence the direction of the information security program
  
  

Core Engineering

• Design, deploy, manage, enhance, tune, and expand enterprise-wide security systems, including enterprise encryption, SWG, ZTNA, NGFW, XDR, large scale security event logging and correlation systems, WAF, DLP, PAM, MFA, IDAM, SCA/SAST/DAST, CNAPP, decoy systems, central config control systems such as Intune, Tanium, etc.
• Evaluate and advise on the applicability, effectiveness, and/or necessity of new and existing security tools
• Build and manage code security testing processes and systems, and advise and assist developers with secure coding practices, applying modern security technologies to the design and integration of internally developed applications
• Work with application and infrastructure teams to ensure the safe and security-integrated development and deployment of COTS, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, etc.
• Secure M365, AWS, & other cloud environment designs & configurations, and ensure integration with core security systems and controls
• Develop software and/or configure system automation framework tools (e.g. SOAR, API integration, etc.) to automate repetitive tasks
  
  

SecOps & IR

• Function as the security technical SME during incident response, and perform forensic analysis of security incidents
• Lead efforts to mitigate and investigate security threats, and support other IT organizations in the diagnosis of potential security incidents
  
  

Support

• Interface with both technical and non-technical individuals and groups to assist with security issues and identify new security opportunities arising from advancements in security and newly defined security best practices.
• Partner with other teams in the design and implementation of systems, applications, processes, and/or other related technologies to adhere to security and compliance best practices, regulations, laws, and/or company programs, procedures, policies, and guidelines
  
  

Reporting & Documentation

• Work with SecOps to develop routine (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, & yearly) reporting on our security events, trends, and system hygiene & posture, such as on our IaaS environments & critical SaaS environments
• Regularly report on security program and project status, performance, and gaps
• Develop and maintain security documentation including diagrams, security standards, and disaster recovery manuals, and support the security strategy by outlining the requirements and benefits of specific security tools and/or solutions
  
  

Governance, Risk, & Compliance

• Manage penetration tests, perform enterprise-wide vulnerability assessments, and perform and/or assist with remediation efforts
• Assist Risk Management with the identification and documentation of risks throughout the environment, including the evaluation of incoming systems
• Support internal, customer, and independent audits, as necessary
• Draft, implement, maintain, and monitor enterprise security procedures, policies, & controls
• Develop, implement, and maintain solutions and security architecture to address identified risks
• Assist in the development of solutions to address defined security remediation action plans, including POAMs and Risk Treatments
  
  

Other Duties

• Design, implement, and support physical security access management and monitoring solutions
• Work with management and technology leads within the organization to ensure alignment with shared goals and strategies
• Maintain current knowledge of industry trends in security and compliance
  
  

Education And Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Information Security / Cyber Security required
• Equivalent combination of education, training, and experience considered in lieu of bachelor's degree
• 7 years of experience in a full-time Information Security role or other technical role that lends itself to skills needed for Information Security, such as infrastructure or software engineering required
• Technical security certificates preferred - e.g., SANS GIAC, vendor-specific security certs, top non-security certs, such as CCIE, etc.
• Non-technical security certificates preferred- e.g., ISC(2) CISSP, ISACA CRISC, etc.
  

Technical Skills Needed

• Extensive experience developing with programming languages to interact with, and manipulate data from, systems such as AD, MS Graph API, etc.
• Deep experience building-out and managing enterprise-wide logging environments using both legacy (syslog-based) and advanced (API-based) logging methods
• Security-relevant expertise around Active Directory & GPOs, Azure AD (Entra), Linux, and Windows Server & Workstation OSs
• Experience developing software using modern OOP languages such as Python, Go, etc. & using Git for SCM
• Extensive experience with standard ITIL methodologies, such as incident, problem, request, & change management
• Experience working within an ITSM, such as ServiceNow, JIRA, etc.
• Experience implementing AWS or Azure security controls
• Very strong experience with MS Office tools & web-based collaboration tools
• Extensive knowledge of core security systems, such as XDR, SWG, decoy systems, SIEM, WAF, DLP, vuln scanners, whole disk encryption, PAM, IDAM, MFA, etc.
• Experience developing advanced security-specific automation, such as with SOAR or vendor/application-specific security automation
• Networking expertise, including application-aware NGFWs, TCP/IP core tenets, packet analysis, core routing & switching, wireless network security, advanced remote access systems, such as ZTNA, network-based decoy techniques, and 802.1x.
• Strong knowledge of, or experience with, Microsoft 365 security & compliance controls
• Understanding of MITRE ATT&CK Framework and associated threat actor techniques
  
  

Competencies

• Collaboration - Outstanding team player, sociable, and able to operate easily in cross-functional and cross-departmental roles
• Project Management - Can fully manage a security project independently, as well as develop solution proposals
• Adaptability - Must be able to react to shifting priorities and multitask
• Analytical Skills - Strong ability to use thinking and reasoning to solve a problem
• Communication, Oral - Excellent ability to communicate effectively with others using the spoken word
• Communication, Written - Excellent ability to communicate in writing, clearly and concisely
• Customer Oriented - Excellent ability to address the customers’ needs while following company procedures
• Decision Making - Ability to make critical decisions while following company procedures
• Interpersonal - Ability to get along well with a variety of personalities and individuals
• Problem Solving - Excellent ability to find a solution for or to deal proactively with work-related problems
• Relationship Building - Ability to effectively build relationships with customers and co-workers
• Working Under Pressure - Driven ability to complete assigned tasks under stressful situations
• Flexibility - Sets priorities and quickly adapts to changes in a professional manner
• Thoroughness - No alert goes uninvestigated
• Pragmatic Strategy - Understands & embraces the idea that security risk is probabilistic, and application of security controls & remediation functions must be practical
• Outcome-oriented - Understands & embraces the fact that outcomes are what matter and are how our performance is measured
• Honesty & Transparency - 100% honesty is expected at all times; this role performs critical functions and has access to sensitive information, so team members must be able to be trusted & all of our actions and motivations must be transparent
  
  

HIPAA & Security Requirements

All Associates must comply with the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) as it pertains to disclosures of protected health information (PHI) as described in the Notice of Privacy Practices and HIPAA Privacy Policies and Procedures. As a component of job roles and responsibilities, Associates may have access to covered information, cardholder data or other confidential customer information which must be protected at all times. As a result, Associates must explicitly adhere to all data security guidelines established within the Company’s Privacy & Security Training Program.

We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all associates and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religious beliefs, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability or history of disability, genetic information, status as a protected veteran or disabled veteran, or any other status protected by Federal, state or local law.

Job description must be reviewed and approved by a Senior HR Leader.

Our purpose is to make healthy vision a reality for everyone by improving access to care and education in the communities we serve. Fueled by our mission to improve members’ lives with easy-to-use vision solutions rooted in choice, value, and care, Versant Health believes that everyone has the power to become anything they set their sights on.

Our team is guided by core Leadership Principles—Perspective, Care, Drive, and Ownership—which shape how we work, lead, and grow together.