Security Specialist Jobs in Arlington, VA

DESCRIPTION

Are you passionate about protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring security compliance at scale? Amazon Leo (previously know as Project Kuiper) is an initiative to increase global broadband access through a constellation of over 3,000 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, bringing fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities worldwide.

We are looking for a creative and collaborative security compliance professional to help deliver governance, risk, and compliance solutions that meet regulatory and external assurance needs. In this role, you will work across business and security teams at Amazon to identify compliance needs, assess the maturity of processes and controls, design and execute high-impact security compliance programs, and coordinate with external auditors and regulators.

Export Control Requirement: Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Security Clearance Requirement: This position requires that the candidate selected be a U.S. citizen and must currently possess and maintain an active Top Secret security clearance.

Key job responsibilities
Independently interpret and apply NIST SP 800-53, Intelligence Community Directives (ICD), Committee on National Security Systems Instructions (CNSSI), and other government compliance requirements to ALG products and services, determining applicability across authorization boundaries and advising product teams on compliance implications during design and development phases
Own the end-to-end security control mapping process across applicable frameworks, defining control intent, evidence expectations, and inherited control dependencies while identifying gaps in control coverage and driving resolution with responsible teams
Author and validate security control narratives and compliance documentation for government authorization packages (SSPs, SCTMs), establishing quality standards and repeatable documentation practices that scale across multiple concurrent authorization efforts
Define evidence requirements across the operational environment, coordinating collection from functional teams, evaluating sufficiency against assessment objectives, and building sustainable evidence pipelines that reduce recurring collection burden on builder teams
Lead assessment readiness activities including package preparation, readiness declarations, and direct engagement with assessors, serving as the primary compliance point of contact during security assessments and independently fielding technical inquiries
Author Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms) for identified findings, establish remediation timelines with control owners, track closure activities, and escalate at-risk items to leadership with recommended courses of action
Communicate assessment results, compliance posture, key risks, and program improvement areas to stakeholders and leadership, framing findings in business context and providing actionable recommendations that inform program-level decisions
Own the response lifecycle for government security inquiries and customer compliance requests, coordinating across internal teams to deliver accurate, timely responses and identifying patterns that inform proactive compliance improvements
Develop and maintain deep technical understanding of the control environment across operational domains, translating complex control activities into clear compliance narratives for assessors, stakeholders, and engineering teams with varying levels of compliance familiarity
Operate and continuously improve a quality rhythm of the business for managing multiple stakeholder expectations, authorization timelines, and compliance domains simultaneously, identifying process bottlenecks and implementing mechanisms that increase throughput and predictability

A day in the life
Your primary focus is ensuring that satellite broadband products and services meet rigorous government security and compliance standards. You will split your time between independent analysis of the control environment — reviewing evidence, drafting authorization documentation, and evaluating framework applicability — and collaborative sessions with engineering, operations, and security partner teams to align on control implementation and remediation priorities. Regular cadences include assessment readiness reviews, stakeholder syncs, and compliance status updates that keep programs on track across multiple authorization timelines.

About the team
Diverse Experiences
Amazon Security values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying.

Why Amazon Security?
At Amazon, security is central to maintaining customer trust and delivering delightful customer experiences. Our organization is responsible for creating and maintaining a high bar for security across all of Amazon’s products and services. We offer talented security professionals the chance to accelerate their careers with opportunities to build experience in a wide variety of areas including cloud, devices, retail, entertainment, healthcare, operations, and physical stores.

Inclusive Team Culture
In Amazon Security, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Ongoing DEI events and learning experiences inspire us to continue learning and to embrace our uniqueness. Addressing the toughest security challenges requires that we seek out and celebrate a diversity of ideas, perspectives, and voices.

Training & Career Growth
We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge-sharing, training, and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.

Work/Life Balance
We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why flexible work hours and arrangements are part of our culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Information Security, Computer Science, Risk Management, Engineering, Math, Statistics, or a related discipline, or equivalent technology experience
• Knowledge of AWS or cloud technologies
• Experience prioritizing and handling multiple assignments at any given time while maintaining commitment to deadlines, or experience in a fast-paced, high-tech company
• 7+ years of information security and compliance experience
• US government security clearance of top secret or above

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• CISSP, CISA, CISM or other security certification
• Experience in working directly with government officials and regulatory bodies
• Familiarity with satellite communications, telecommunications, or aerospace security environments
• Experience authoring or contributing to security assessment packages, POA&Ms, or authorization documentation

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, VA, Arlington - 119,300.00 - 208,900.00 USD annually