Senior Cloud Security Assessor

Experienced assessor sought to lead rigorous, evidence-based security assessments of cloud and hybrid systems supporting federal missions. Who we are looking for: Spry Methods is seeking an experienced Senior Cloud Security Assessor to join our team in the Washington, DC area. The successful candidate will bring extensive hands-on experience conducting independent security control assessments of cloud and hybrid systems, with particular depth in federal cloud environments.

This role requires sound professional judgment, strong analytical skills, and a practical, common-sense approach to applying security requirements to system data, technical evidence, mission context, and actual risk. Key Responsibilities: •  Lead full-cycle Security Assessment and Authorization (SA&A) activities for cloud, hybrid, and enterprise systems as an independent assessor.

•  Assess Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) environments, including the implementation and operating effectiveness of administrative, operational, and technical security controls. •  Retrieve and review FedRAMP authorization packages and supporting documentation, then analyze the package for applicability, control inheritance, residual risk, gaps, and customer responsibilities.

•  Conduct detailed analysis of assessment artifacts, including system security plans, policies, procedures, architecture and data-flow diagrams, inventories, configurations, logs, scan results, test outputs, and other supporting evidence. •  Develop Security Assessment Plans (SAPs), Security Assessment Reports (SARs), Risk Assessment Reports (RARs), Required Evidence Lists, and Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms).

•  Perform network, system, application, and NIST security control testing from administrative, operational, and technical perspectives. •  Analyze vulnerability scan results, interpret risk, and use manual validation and corroborating evidence to distinguish actionable findings from false positives or unsupported conclusions. •  Apply security requirements using practical judgment and data context rather than relying solely on checklist compliance.

Evaluate whether evidence is relevant, reliable, sufficient, and representative of the assessed environment. •  Clearly communicate findings, risk, root cause, and feasible mitigation options to technical teams, system owners, executives, and other assessment stakeholders. •  Coordinate evidence requests, interviews, test activities, and assessment schedules with customer personnel and Information Systems Security Analysts.

•  Support security assessment program operations and contribute to consistent assessment methods, quality reviews, and defensible reporting. Minimum Qualifications •  Active Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification is required. •  At least eight years of demonstrated, hands-on experience conducting security control assessments, including substantial experience serving as an independent assessor for cloud and hybrid systems.

•  Extensive experience conducting independent security assessments of federal systems hosted in Microsoft Azure and AWS environments, including evaluation of security controls, architecture, inherited controls, customer-configured controls, and cloud-specific risks. •  Demonstrated experience retrieving, navigating, and analyzing FedRAMP authorization packages and associated security artifacts.

•  Strong knowledge of federal Risk Management Framework (RMF) processes and NIST security control assessment practices. •  Ability to analyze large volumes of technical and governance evidence, connect information across artifacts, identify inconsistencies, and reach clear, supportable conclusions. •  Strong understanding of IT security requirements, technical countermeasures, vulnerability management, risk management, contingency planning, secure data communications, and sy