Lead, Security Architect
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 6, 2026. First seen by Alion on Nov 5, 2026.
| What we are looking for
Reporting to the Manager, Security Architecture, the Lead, Security Architect is responsible for driving consistent security strategy and contributing to the technology vision through secure-by-design architectural governance. This role provides strategic technical leadership across diverse programs, with a primary focus on ensuring that mission-critical solutions are secure, resilient, and proactive. Operating as a broad security generalist, the Lead Security Architect brings deep expertise in threat modeling and solution security principles to guide teams, assess risk, and align architectural design with business objectives.
Operating as a senior technical contributor, the role collaborates closely with software engineering teams, Security Operations, delivery partners, and IT leadership to integrate robust security frameworks into modern application solutions.
Duties and Responsibilities
Contacts and Communication
Establish and maintain strategic relationships across IT, engineering, and business units to gain buy-in for security architecture standards and principles.
Communicate complex security recommendations, risk evaluations, and architectural trade-offs to senior leadership in clear, business-centric terms.
Collaborate closely with delivery teams, developers, and technical specialists to provide practical security guidance on complex system issues.
Champion security-first design patterns, promoting a culture of secure development across all divisions.
Leadership and Technical Guidance
Provide strategic security guidance to product teams and solution architects, setting a high standard for defensive system engineering.
Lead threat modeling and knowledge-transfer sessions across the enterprise to embed security early in the development lifecycle.
Act as a senior technical contributor, offering security governance, design reviews, and guidance to manage technical security debt.
Mentor staff and foster continuous learning around emerging threats, vulnerabilities, and secure design practices.
Security Architecture Development and Governance
Lead multi-year programs involving internal and external stakeholders.
Lead the establishment and maturation of enterprise security architecture frameworks across infrastructure, cloud, and applications.
Integrate threat modeling into the software development lifecycle (SDLC) to identify, prioritize, and mitigate architectural flaws early.
Define, maintain, and enforce security policies, baseline standards, and secure design patterns.
Develop reusable security reference architectures, data flow diagrams, and threat maps to accelerate secure delivery.
Risk and Compliance
Oversee application security assessments, secure design reviews, and risk analyses for critical systems.
Assess systemic risks and prioritize remediation strategies in ambiguous or rapidly changing environments.
Define risk-based security controls aligned with industry frameworks (e.g., NIST, OWASP, ISO 27001).
Proactively identify architectural risks and software vulnerabilities to safeguard corporate resilience and regulatory compliance.
Architecture Research
Maintain currency with leading Security Architecture frameworks, security capabilities and threat modeling methodologies.
Monitor evolving global threat vectors, vulnerability trends, and security technologies to keep enterprise designs future-ready.
Evaluate security tooling, lead proofs-of-concept for security controls, and drive innovation in automation of security tooling.
Partner with third-party vendors and system integrators to ensure external solutions meet organizational security standards.
| What you need to be successful
Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Information Technology, or a related field.
Minimum seven (7) years of experience in IT/security, including at least five (5) years of progressive experience in security or solution architecture across multiple security domains (network, cloud, app sec, IAM).
Demonstrated experience conducting threat modeling (e.g., STRIDE, PASTA, Mitre Attack) and evaluating application security risks (e.g., OWASP Top 10) in modern software architecture.
Minimum five (5) years of experience in technical leadership, mentoring, and cross-functional collaboration.
Familiarity with enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, SABSA) and recognized security certifications (e.g., CISSP, CISM, CSSLP).
Eligibility to successfully complete enhanced background checks that may be carried out by Payments Canada, including criminal, credit, identity, employment, education, international security, and open-source media checks.
| You will really stand out with
Experience in financial services, regulated environments, or critical infrastructure.
Practical experience architecting and securing cloud environments (GCP, AWS, or Azure).
Hands-on exposure to CI/CD pipelines, container security, and DevSecOps integrations.
Bilingualism (English and French) is considered an asset.
| Salary range
Our target starting rate for this role is $119,850 with flexibility based on your experience and qualifications. The full salary range and benefits package are detailed below.
Please submit your application by November 20, 2026.