Senior Information Systems Security Engineer (ISSE) - Technical Lead

About

Our Cybersecurity Consultants are a team of business integrators with extensive consulting and industry experience who help our clients solve their complex business issues from strategy through execution. A career in an integrated team of developers and consultants provides the opportunity to grow and contribute to our clients' business issues every day, applying a collection of security spectrum capabilities, including security strategy and governance, IT risk, security technologies, and cybercrime and breach response.

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior Information Systems Security Engineer (ISSE) - Technical Lead to support a major federal initiative. The Senior ISSE provides advanced cybersecurity engineering expertise, guiding secure system architecture, integrating NIST security controls, and ensuring secure design across complex hybrid cloud and onpremises systems. This role serves as a technical lead, advising architects, developers, ISSOs, and federal stakeholders on secure system engineering practices, secure configuration management, and RMF engineering requirements.

The Senior ISSE plays a critical role in system modernization, secure architecture reviews, and the engineering decisions that influence a system's security posture across its full lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development, engineering, and review of secure system architectures across cloud, hybrid, and onprem environments.
• Implement and validate NIST 80053 security controls and cloudnative security services (IAM, encryption, segmentation, logging).
• Lead threat modeling, risk assessments, and advanced system security engineering reviews.
• Oversee secure configuration management, including STIGbased hardening, SCAP assessments, and enforcement of security baselines.
• Evaluate and recommend security technologies, tools, and design patterns to support mission needs and modernization efforts.
• Provide engineering leadership during RMF activities, including boundary definition, control inheritance, system architecture documentation, and ATO engineering support.
• Lead or support security functional testing, integration testing, and validation of implemented controls.
• Guide crossfunctional development, engineering, DevSecOps, and operations teams on secure integration practices.
• Mentor junior and midlevel ISSEs and act as a technical escalation point for cloud engineering issues.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, or related technical field.
• Minimum of EIGHT (8) years of cybersecurity or secure systems engineering experience, including cloud architecture.
• An ACTIVE and CURRENT TOP SECRET federal or DOD security clearance.
• Strong understanding of security frameworks and compliance standards (e.g., NIST, RMF SP 800-53 Rev 5, DoD 8570).
• Proven experience in designing and implementing enterprise security tools such as SIEM (e.g., Splunk), vulnerability scanners (e.g., Nessus), and endpoint protection platforms (e.g., Crowdstrike).
• Experience with cloud security practices and technologies (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and complex technical projects.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to convey technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Nice to Have

• Master's Degree in relevant cybersecurity or IT field
• One or more of the following certifications:
  • Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
  • Certified Authorization Professional (CAP) / Certified in Governance, Risk and Compliance (CGRC)
  • IAT Level II (Information Assurance Technical)
  • IAM Level II (Information Assurance Management)
  • AWS Certified Security - Specialty, or Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert.
• Hands-on experience with network security, cryptography, and/or identity management.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) or Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) certification for managing cybersecurity projects in Agile environments

Salary

The annual salary range for this position is $113,000.00-$188,000.00. Compensation decisions depend on a wide range of factors, including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, security clearances, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs.

What We Offer

Guidehouse offers a comprehensive, total rewards package that includes competitive compensation and a flexible benefits package that reflects our commitment to creating a diverse and supportive workplace.

Benefits include:

• Medical, Rx, Dental & Vision Insurance
• Personal and Family Sick Time & Company Paid Holidays
• Parental Leave
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Group Term Life and Travel Assistance
• Voluntary Life and AD&D Insurance
• Health Savings Account, Health Care & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Transit and Parking Commuter Benefits
• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• Tuition Reimbursement, Personal Development, Certifications & Learning Opportunities
• Employee Referral Program
• Corporate Sponsored Events & Community Outreach
• Care.com annual membership
• Employee Assistance Program
• Supplemental Benefits via Corestream (Critical Care, Hospital Indemnity, Accident Insurance, Legal Assistance and ID theft protection, etc.)
• Position may be eligible for a discretionary variable incentive bonus