Zero Trust Architect - Digital Global Connectors

Zero Trust Architect

Location: Bethesda, MD (Hybrid; On-site as Required)

Clearance: Tier 2 Public Trust (Required)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Position Summary

Digital Global Connectors (DGC) is seeking an experienced Zero Trust Architect to support a Federal information security program. The Zero Trust Architect is responsible for designing, implementing, and maturing enterprise Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) strategies that strengthen organizational cybersecurity through identity-centric, risk-based security principles.

This position provides technical leadership for Zero Trust initiatives across identity, devices, networks, applications, workloads, data, automation, and visibility. The Zero Trust Architect collaborates with Security Architects, Cloud Engineers, Security Engineers, ISSOs, Network Engineers, System Owners, and program leadership to integrate Zero Trust principles into enterprise technology modernization efforts.

The successful candidate will possess extensive experience implementing Zero Trust concepts, cloud security architectures, identity governance, and modern cybersecurity technologies that align with Federal cybersecurity guidance and industry best practices.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Zero Trust Strategy

• Develop and maintain enterprise Zero Trust Architecture roadmaps.
• Design security architectures based on Zero Trust principles.
• Assess existing environments and identify opportunities to improve Zero Trust maturity.
• Recommend phased implementation strategies that minimize operational disruption.
• Align Zero Trust initiatives with organizational business and mission objectives.
• Support long-term cybersecurity modernization efforts.

Enterprise Architecture

• Design secure enterprise architectures that integrate identity, devices, networks, applications, and data protection.
• Develop reference architectures and technical standards supporting Zero Trust implementation.
• Review proposed technologies for architectural alignment.
• Identify architectural risks and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Support secure integration across cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments.
• Ensure security is incorporated throughout the system development lifecycle.

Identity and Access Management

• Design enterprise Identity and Access Management (IAM) architectures.
• Implement least-privilege and just-in-time access models.
• Support deployment of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), and Privileged Access Management (PAM).
• Develop identity governance strategies.
• Support continuous identity verification and adaptive access controls.
• Recommend improvements to authentication and authorization processes.

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