Lead Cybersecurity Architect

Insight Global is seeking a Lead Cybersecurity Architect to join a global, Toronto-based Insurance/Financial Institution. This is equally a hands‑on, technical role as it is strategic. Superior technical skills, particularly within the Microsoft stack and Palo Alto security tools, are a necessity. Excellent executive communication is required.

This role is based in downtown Toronto and requires up to three days per week on‑site, Tuesday to Thursday.

We may use artificial intelligence tools to assist with the screening, assessment, or selection of potential applicants for this position.

Position Responsibilities

• Architectural Design: Lead the design and development of robust security frameworks, standards, and best practices for global systems, data, and networks, including reference architectures and implementation patterns.
• Strategic Planning: Translate business, technology, and threat drivers into practical security roadmaps aligned with broader organizational goals.
• Financial Analysis: Conduct financial evaluations of security technologies, including purchasing and licensing options, labor costs, and total cost of ownership (TCO) calculations.
• Project Management: Draft project plans for security service and technology deployments and coordinate with stakeholders across the organization to ensure successful implementation.
• Collaboration & Integration: Work closely with enterprise architecture, development, and risk management teams to seamlessly integrate security throughout the entire project lifecycle.
• Risk Management: Conduct comprehensive risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities and define necessary controls, partnering with global information risk management teams to prioritize and mitigate risks effectively.
• Security Evaluation: Continuously evaluate the security of new and emerging technologies and recommend innovative solutions.
• Mentorship & Communication: Act as a security subject‑matter expert, coaching and mentoring development teams, and communicate complex security standards to both technical staff and senior management with clarity and influence.
• AI Security: Design and implement security frameworks for machine learning, generative AI, and agentic AI systems, evaluate AI‑powered security tools, and integrate AI capabilities into security operations and threat detection.

Domain‑Specific Accountabilities

• Application Security: Assess solution architectures for compliance with security standards and provide guidance on threat modeling and secure software development methodologies.
• Cloud Security: Provide deep expertise in securing multi‑cloud environments (SaaS, IaaS, PaaS) with a strong focus on Microsoft Azure and AWS platforms.

Skills and Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, information systems, cybersecurity, or a related field.
• Industry certifications such as CISSP or CCSP.
• At least 10 years of experience in senior information security architecture roles with demonstrated progression in responsibility and complexity.
• Strong, hands‑on experience with Palo Alto Prism, ZScaler, Sentinel, Microsoft Azure or other cloud platforms.
• Proven experience in the financial services industry with understanding of regulatory requirements, compliance frameworks, and industry‑specific security challenges.
• Experience using architecture methodologies such as SABSA, Zachman, and/or TOGAF.
• Direct, hands‑on experience managing security infrastructure—firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, web application firewalls, endpoint protection, SIEM, and log management technology.
• Verifiable experience reviewing application code for security vulnerabilities.
• Experience securing CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience with vulnerability management tools.
• Documented experience and strong knowledge of threat‑modeling exercises on new applications and services.
• Experience designing the deployment of applications and infrastructure into public cloud services.
• Experience designing IAM technologies and services, including Active Directory, LDAP, and AWS IAM.

We are a company committed to creating diverse and inclusive environments where people can bring their full, authentic selves to work every day. We are an equal‑opportunity/affirmative‑action employer that believes everyone matters. Qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment regardless of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, genetic factors, age, disability, protected veteran status, military or uniformed service member status, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to View email address on ca.talent.com. To learn more about how we collect, keep, and process your private information, please review Insight Global's Workforce Privacy Policy: