Senior Information Security Architect

The mission of the Security Architecture Team is to define and advance secure, resilient architecture across Verisign’s systems, networks, applications, cloud platforms, data environments, and emerging technologies. The team combines deep technical expertise with enterprise strategy to reduce risk, enable innovation, and establish security patterns that scale across the organization.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Information Security Architect. This senior individual-contributor role shapes enterprise security strategy, reference architectures, standards, and technical requirements across the entire company. The architect will lead high-impact design decisions, resolve complex cross-domain security challenges, and advise engineering and executive leaders on risk, tradeoffs, and long-term technology direction.

Working across security engineering, infrastructure, application development, cloud, data, and AI teams, this role ensures security is built into critical services from concept through implementation in production. The Senior Information Security Architect will authoritatively guide the defense of a diverse hybrid technology ecosystem - safeguarding mission essential on-premises architecture, modern cloud platforms, secure application pipelines, and emerging enterprise AI workloads.

Key Responsibilities

• Define enterprise security architecture strategy, principles, reference architectures, reusable patterns, and multi-year roadmaps across network, endpoint, identity, application, cloud, container, data, and detection and response domains
• Lead security architecture engagement for complex, high-risk, and cross-functional programs; translate business objectives, threat intelligence, and risk appetite into scalable technical controls and design requirements
• Establish architecture and security requirements for AI/ML systems, including secure MLOps, model and data lifecycle protection, identity and authorization, platform isolation, model provenance, monitoring, privacy, and responsible-use guardrails
• Review generative and agentic AI designs—including retrieval-augmented generation, vector databases, third-party models, APIs, plugins, tools, and autonomous actions—and address controls to mitigate the risks of prompt injection, data leakage, excessive agency, insecure output handling, and AI supply-chain compromise
• Perform threat modeling, architecture reviews, and security design assessments for critical systems and emerging technologies; document risk decisions and guide remediation or compensating controls
• Identify systemic gaps in the security posture, develop prioritized recommendations and investment roadmaps, and communicate technical risk and tradeoffs clearly to executive leadership
• Evaluate security technologies and vendors, guide proofs of concept, and ensure proposed solutions are interoperable, supportable, measurable, and aligned with strategic architecture

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, cybersecurity, engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• 10+ years of broad information security experience, including significant experience with security architecture and design for complex enterprise environments
• Demonstrated expertise across security architecture and secure networking, cloud, identity (both on premises and cloud), endpoint, application security, data protection, and detection and response
• Proven ability to lead threat modeling and architecture reviews, and to make consequential technical decisions for high-value or high-availability systems
• Working knowledge of AI/ML architecture and security, including secure MLOps, model and data governance, generative AI, RAG, AI agents, prompt injection, model supply-chain risk, sensitive-data exposure, access controls, and monitoring
• Ability to translate complex technical risk into clear recommendations for engineering teams, business stakeholders, and executive leaders
• Strong cross-functional leadership, facilitation, written communication, and mentoring skills, with a record of influencing decisions without direct authority

Preferred:

• Advanced experience with vulnerability assessment, security risk analysis, and risk-based prioritization
• Expertise in application security, secure software development, and the OWASP Top 10 and OWASP Top 10 for Large Language Model Applications
• Experience designing security for public cloud, hybrid environments, infrastructure as code, and CI/CD pipelines
• Familiarity with frameworks such as NIST CSF, NIST AI RMF, MITRE ATT&CK, or MITRE ATLAS
• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, SABSA, or equivalent

This position is based in our Reston, VA office and offers a hybrid work schedule.

The pay range is $164,300 - $222,300.

The anticipated annual base salary range for this position is noted above, however, base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience. Verisign offers a discretionary bonus which is based on individual and company performance, and certain roles may be eligible for discretionary stock awards.