Lead Cryptographic Engineer

If you are motivated and believe in the credit union philosophy of "People Helping People," join our team!

Position Overview:

North Carolina State Employees Credit Union is seeking a Lead Cryptographic Engineer to join its Data Protection team. This role owns the design, operation, and continuous improvement of the credit union's cryptographic infrastructure, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of cryptographic services that protect member and enterprise data. The Lead Cryptographic Engineer will serve as a subject matter expert on certificate lifecycle management, key management, and emerging cryptographic standards, partnering closely with Security, Infrastructure, and Compliance teams.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Design and operate key management services across cloud KMS platforms and on-premises HSMs, including key hierarchies, rotation schedules, separation of duties, and BYOK/HYOK arrangements where customer commitments require them.
• Plan and execute key generation and signing ceremonies under split knowledge and dual control, with auditable evidence and witnessed procedures.
• Design, operate, and maintain enterprise Cryptographic infrastructure, including Microsoft Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS) and integrated certificate lifecycle management platforms such as Venafi and DigiCert.
• Own the enterprise PKI end to end: offline root, issuing CA hierarchy, HSM-backed key material, CP/CPS documentation, and the operational runbooks that support them.
• Lead certificate lifecycle automation efforts, reducing manual issuance, renewal, and revocation processes across the enterprise.
• Ensure PKI operations and certificate issuance practices remain compliant with CA/Browser Forum baseline requirements and applicable industry standards.
• Evaluate, plan, and support the organization's transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC), including algorithm agility and migration roadmaps.
• Develop and maintain cryptographic policies, standards, certificate practice statements, and operational runbooks. Set standards for envelope encryption, tokenization, field-level encryption, and data-at-rest and in-transit protection.
• Build and maintain a cryptographic bill of materials (CBOM) covering algorithms, libraries, and dependencies across the estate.
• Partner with Security Engineering, Infrastructure, and Compliance teams to support audits, risk assessments, and incident response involving cryptographic assets.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to the Data Protection team's technical roadmap.

Required Education & Experience (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities):

•  7+ years of experience in information security, with a focus on public key infrastructure and cryptographic systems.
• Demonstrated ownership of a production PKI, including CA hierarchy design and HSM operations (Thales, Entrust nShield, AWS CloudHSM, or equivalent).
• Hands-on experience with Venafi, Cyberark, DigiCert, Microsoft ADCS or other Cryptographic related tooling in a production enterprise environment.
• Working knowledge of HSMs, certificate lifecycle automation tooling, and CA/Browser Forum compliance requirements.
• Practical automation skills in Python, Go, or a comparable language, and comfort working with APIs, infrastructure as code, and CI/CD systems.
• Familiarity with post-quantum cryptography concepts and emerging NIST standards.
• Strong understanding of cryptographic protocols (TLS, S/MIME, code signing) and key management best practices.
• Experience operating cryptographic services in a major cloud environment (AWS, Azure, or GCP) at scale.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to advise technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Education & Experience (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities):

• Associates, Bachelors, or advanced degree in IT Security or related field
• Experience in financial services or another highly regulated industry
• Security certifications such as Security+, GIAC, or CISSP
• Familiarity with building dashboards or metrics reporting for security programs

SECU provides equal employment opportunity to all qualified persons regardless of race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other classification protected by law.

Disclaimer

State Employees' Credit Union reserves the right to fill this role at a higher/lower level based on business need.