Principal Enterprise Security & AI Engineering Architect

Delta Dental of Missouri is seeking a Principal Enterprise Security & AI Engineering Architect who will be responsible for defining the future of software engineering and AI-enabled development. This role provides enterprise-wide technical leadership and requires broad expertise in software engineering, architecture, cybersecurity, and AI engineering disciplines.

Responsibilities:

• Define and lead the organization's AI-enabled Software Development Life Cycle (AI-SDLC)
• Lead strategic enterprise AI engineering transformation initiative that establish and validate standards, automation, governance, and operating models for AI-enabled SDLC
• Develop reusable engineering frameworks, reference architectures, governance models, automation capabilities, and best practices that become the standard for software delivery across the organization
• Establish standards for AI-assisted software development including code generation, intelligent code reviews, automated testing, documentation, developer productivity, and AI-enabled engineering workflows
• Evaluate, implement, and govern enterprise AI engineering platforms, coding assistants, agentic development capabilities, and intelligent developer productivity solutions
• Define responsible AI engineering standards and governance that balance innovation, quality, security, compliance, and operational excellence
• Continuously evaluate emerging AI technologies and integrate them into enterprise engineering practices
• Define enterprise software engineering standards and development methodologies
• Modernize engineering practices across application development teams
• Establish reusable engineering frameworks, development accelerators, and engineering patterns
• Improve software quality through standardized engineering practices, automation, and engineering metrics
• Champion engineering excellence, developer productivity, and continuous improvement across the software development lifecycle
• Define enterprise secure software engineering standards and integrate security throughout every phase of the SDLC
• Establish secure-by-design engineering practices that enable developers to build secure applications by default
• Define standards for:
• Secure Coding
• Threat Modeling
• Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
• Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
• Software Composition Analysis (SCA)
• Software Supply Chain Security
• Secrets Management
• Infrastructure as Code Security
• Container and Kubernetes Security
• Vulnerability Management
• Partner closely with Cybersecurity to mature the enterprise Application Security Engineering program
• Promote a developer-first security culture that balances speed, productivity, and security
• Define and oversee secure adoption standards for AI-assisted development, including protection of source code, intellectual property, sensitive data, and model governance controls
• Define cloud-native engineering standards and modernization strategies
• Establish engineering standards for scalable, resilient, cloud-first applications
• Drive modernization across:
• CI/CD Pipelines
• Infrastructure as Code
• Platform Engineering
• Containers & Kubernetes
• API Management
• Event-Driven Architectures
• Observability
• Operational Automation
• Develop reusable engineering platforms that accelerate software delivery
• Collaborate with Enterprise Architecture to align engineering practices with enterprise technology strategy
• Define application architecture standards that improve scalability, interoperability, maintainability, resiliency, and performance
• Chair or participate in enterprise architecture review committees and governance processes related to software engineering standards, modernization initiatives, and AI Adoption
• Provide architectural leadership for modernization and digital transformation initiatives
• Bridge Enterprise Architecture, Application Architecture, Software Engineering, Infrastructure Engineering, Platform Engineering, and Cybersecurity disciplines
• Serve as the organization's principal technical authority for AI-enabled software engineering, secure software delivery, and engineering modernization
• Influence engineering strategy across software engineering, architecture, infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud engineering, platform engineering, and product organizations
• Mentor engineers, architects, security professionals, and technical leaders
• Lead proof-of-concepts and reference implementations for emerging technologies
• Participate directly in architecture reviews, engineering innovation, and complex technical problem solving
• Remain hands-on in software architecture, engineering, automation, prototyping, and AI implementation

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field; Master's degree preferred
• 15+ years of progressive experience designing, developing, securing, and modernizing enterprise technology solutions
• Demonstrated success operating as a senior technical leader (e.g., Principal Engineer, Distinguished Engineer, Architect, Director, or equivalent) within a large and complex organization
• Deep expertise across multiple domains of enterprise technology, including software engineering, application architecture, cloud platforms, infrastructure engineering, DevOps/DevSecOps, and platform engineering
• Experience establishing enterprise standards, reference architectures, governance models, and software engineering practices adopted across multiple teams or business units
• Strong understanding of modern software engineering, cloud-native architectures, distributed systems, automation, and developer productivity platforms
• Experience integrating security into software development through secure-by-design principles, DevSecOps practices, application security engineering, and software supply chain security
• Experience implementing or governing AI-assisted software development, AI engineering capabilities, or enterprise AI adoption initiatives
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise technology transformation initiatives and influencing organizational change through technical leadership rather than direct authority
• Exceptional communication, stakeholder management, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Experience in healthcare, insurance, financial services, or another highly regulated industry
• Experience with public cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or GCP
• Experience with Kubernetes, platform engineering, and internal developer platforms
• Experience working with distributed, offshore, or vendor-supported teams
• Experience developing AI governance frameworks or enterprise AI engineering strategies
• Professional certifications such as CISSP, TOGAF, Azure Solutions Architect, AWS Solutions Architect, CKA, or equivalent