Application deadline: May 17, 2026
This position is part of the AWS Specialist and Partner Organization (ASP). Specialists own the end-to-end go-to-market strategy for their respective technology domains, providing the business and technical expertise to help our customers succeed. Partner teams own the strategy, recruiting, development, and growth of our key technology and consulting partners. Together they provide our customers with the expertise and scale needed to build innovative solutions for their most complex challenges.
AWS Specialist Solutions Architects (SSAs) are technologists with deep domain-specific expertise in critical security domains. As part of the AWS sales organization, SSAs work with customers facing complex data protection challenges that require expert-level knowledge to solve. SSAs craft secure, scalable, and resilient technical architectures that address these challenges while maintaining the highest security standards. Do you enjoy solving novel and unique technical challenges for customers? Become an AWS Specialist SA!
Customers trust AWS with their most sensitive workloads, and data protection is where that trust is built. Whether they are managing encryption across thousands of accounts, migrating to new cryptographic standards, or extending security controls into generative AI and agentic architectures, they need expert guidance to do it confidently and at scale. This role exists to provide that guidance.
As a Principal Specialist Solutions Architect for Data Protection, you will lead complex customer engagements across encryption, key management, secrets management, and certificate services at scale. You will develop and scale technical expertise across the AWS field community, and work closely with AWS service teams to translate what you learn from customers into product improvements that make our data protection services better for everyone. This position is part of the AWS Specialist and Partner Organization (ASP). Specialists own the end-to-end go-to-market strategy for their respective technology domains, providing the business and technical expertise to help our customers and partners succeed. Together, specialists and partners provide our customers with the expertise and scale needed to build innovative solutions for their most complex challenges.
Key job responsibilities
- Lead complex data protection engagements with enterprise customers, guiding their adoption of AWS data protection services including AWS KMS, AWS Private CA, AWS Secrets Manager, AWS Payment Cryptography, and AWS CloudHSM
- Lead technical strategy for encryption and key management architectures, including hybrid, multi-cloud, and post-quantum cryptography migration planning
- Help customers secure their generative AI and agentic workloads by designing data protection architectures that maintain confidentiality, integrity, and access control as data flows through AI pipelines
- Amplify voice of the customer back to AWS data protection product teams, surface field patterns, identify gaps, and translate feedback into clear requirements that shape the roadmap
- Provide security expertise and support for customers implementing AI technologies, ensuring secure, compliant, and trustworthy deployments
- Stay current with evolving AI security threats, post-quantum cryptography standards, and data sovereignty regulations to continuously improve guidance to customers
- Create and deliver internal/external training, workshops, and conference presentations on data protection best practices
- Collaborate with service teams, security specialists, and the Data Protection AWS community to capture and share technical insights at scale
- Author data protection best practices, reference architectures, and prescriptive guidance
- Build and maintain relationships with AWS Partners to design and deliver architectures that combine AWS-native data protection services with partner solutions
- Design and implement scalable programs and automation tools that amplify data protection best practices across the field
About the team Diverse Experiences
AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred 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 AWS?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.
Inclusive Team Culture
AWS values curiosity and connection. Our employee-led and company-sponsored affinity groups promote inclusion and empower our people to take pride in what makes us unique. Our inclusion events foster stronger, more collaborative teams. Our continual innovation is fueled by the bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and passionate voices our teams bring to everything we do.
Mentorship & 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, mentorship 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 we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve.
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, mathematics or equivalent
- Experience communicating across technical and non-technical audiences and at C-level, including training, workshops, publications
- 8+ years of specific technology domain areas (e.g. software development, cloud computing, systems engineering, infrastructure, security, networking, data & analytics) experience
- 6+ years of design, implementation, or consulting in applications and infrastructures experience
- 5+ years of data or data protection solution architecture experience
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in design, implementation, support, and evaluation of security-focused tools and services
- Experience writing high-quality technical content for technical audiences (e.g., engineers, developers, scientists)
- Deep technical expertise with AWS KMS (key policies, grants, multi-region keys, key hierarchy design), AWS Private CA, and AWS Secrets Manager
- Experience with cryptographic architectures including HSM integration and certificate lifecycle management
- Familiarity with post-quantum cryptography standards and migration strategies
- Experience securing generative AI or agentic workloads, or a strong point of view on how data protection models need to evolve for AI-native architectures
- Experience with data sovereignty, compliance frameworks (FedRAMP, PCI DSS, HIPAA), and regulatory requirements related to encryption and key management
- Strong background in security architecture and AWS Well-Architected Framework
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, CO, Denver - 182,800.00 - 247,300.00 USD annually USA, GA, Atlanta - 182,800.00 - 247,300.00 USD annually USA, IL, Chicago - 182,800.00 - 247,300.00 USD annually USA, TX, Dallas - 182,800.00 - 247,300.00 USD annually USA, TX, Houston - 182,800.00 - 247,300.00 USD annually USA, WA, Seattle - 182,800.00 - 247,300.00 USD annually