Principal Data Security Architect

Job at a Glance

• Location: Hybrid position in Allentown, PA OR Providence, RI
• Contract: W2 only, 12 month contract with potential for extension or conversion to full time 
• Pay: $100/hr

Key Responsibilities

• Define and own the data protection strategy across structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data.
• Align with regulatory, legal, and business mandates (e.g., NERC, SOX, CCPA, GDPR).
• Architect and deploy Azure Purview for data classification, and insider risk management policies.
• Lead secure implementation of AI Data Pipelines (RAG, Vector DBs), TDE for SQL workloads, and explore applicability of Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) and Differential Privacy (DP) for AI/LLM pipelines.
• Develop strategies for legacy data de-duplication, archiving, and migration.
• Evaluate long-term retention risk and optimize lifecycle policies.
• Implement and manage DLP rules across email, endpoints, cloud storage, and collaboration platforms (e.g., Microsoft 365, SharePoint).
• Provide architectural guidance to product teams and AI/ML engineers.
• Author security patterns, threat models, and playbooks.
• Evaluate and integrate third-party tools for data discovery, monitoring, and tokenization.
• Drive automation around classification and response.
• Define DSPM Strategy and Architecture.
• Define Data Incident Protocol and Playbook.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Complies with all policies and standards.

Required Skills

• 10+ years of experience in information security and/or data architecture roles within enterprise environments.
• Hands-on or oversight experience with Snowflake, Microsoft Defender, data loss prevention (DLP) tools, and Azure Purview.
• Background in data engineering, with experience operating in an oversight role or supporting large organizations using enterprise data and security platforms.

Required Education

• Bachelor''s Degree in Computer Science, Information Security, and/or a related field or an equivalent level of experience on a year on year basis.

Preferred Skills

• Previous experience with utilities or highly regulated industries.
• Working knowledge of structured data protection in data lakes or Azure Synapse.
• Experience contributing to LLM security or responsible AI design patterns.
• SANS/GIAC, CISSP, or Azure Security certification.
• Experience with legacy data cleanup initiatives, e.g., tape archive migration.
• Experience with DSPM platform.
• Strong understanding of cryptographic primitives and modern data security standards (AES, SHA, TLS, etc.) as well as an understanding of proposed quantum ready cryptography standards.
• Demonstrated ability to assess risk trade-offs between security, usability, and operational efficiency.
• Deep interest in AI safety, responsible data stewardship, and future-proofing sensitive workloads.

About CEI:

As a trusted technology partner, CEI delivers solutions that help our customers transform their business and achieve meaningful results. From strategy and custom application development through application management - our technology and digital experience services are tailored to meet each unique need of our customers. Our staffing solutions bring specialized skills to complement our customers'' workforce and project requirements.

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