HPC Virtual CSO (Chief Security Officer)

As an HPC Virtual CSO at Qvelo, you will serve as the primary security leader for clients relying on high-performance computing (HPC) systems, ensuring that their infrastructure and data are secure from evolving cyber threats. You will be responsible for developing and executing comprehensive security strategies for HPC environments, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid systems. Your role is to ensure that clients’ HPC operations comply with the highest security standards while enabling the scalability, performance, and innovation needed to support their mission-critical workloads.

Key Responsibilities:

• Act as the chief security advisor for clients, providing strategic guidance on securing HPC infrastructures and related data assets.
• Develop and implement comprehensive security frameworks for HPC environments, ensuring protection from cyber threats, data breaches, and insider risks.
• Lead the design and deployment of security protocols that cover the entire HPC infrastructure, including compute nodes, storage systems, networks, and cloud-based resources.
• Assess and manage cybersecurity risks across client HPC environments, identifying vulnerabilities, threat vectors, and mitigation strategies.
• Implement and maintain data encryption, identity and access management (IAM), and multi-factor authentication (MFA) across the HPC infrastructure to protect sensitive data.
• Oversee the integration of Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) principles within HPC systems to enforce continuous verification of identities, devices, and access requests.
• Collaborate with clients to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, and ITAR, especially in industries like healthcare, finance, defense, and research.
• Ensure that security monitoring systems are in place to detect, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks, leveraging advanced threat detection and AI-driven security solutions.
• Establish disaster recovery and incident response plans, ensuring that HPC systems are resilient against attacks and can recover quickly from security incidents.
• Conduct security audits and vulnerability assessments, recommending necessary improvements and helping clients maintain an up-to-date security posture.
• Advise on the implementation of security measures for hybrid and cloud-based HPC environments, including cloud-native security tools and best practices.
• Provide ongoing training and awareness programs to client personnel on cybersecurity best practices specific to HPC environments.
• Engage with vendors and industry partners to stay ahead of the latest cybersecurity trends and ensure that clients’ systems incorporate the most advanced security technologies.

Requirements:

• 10+ years of experience in cybersecurity, with proven expertise in managing security for high-performance computing (HPC) environments or large-scale IT infrastructures.
• In-depth understanding of HPC systems and security challenges unique to parallel computing, data-intensive applications, and distributed computing architectures.
• Experience in designing and implementing security frameworks for on-premises and cloud-based HPC systems, with a strong understanding of hybrid cloud security.
• Proficiency in network security, encryption technologies, and secure HPC storage solutions.
• Proven experience with cyber risk assessment, vulnerability management, and incident response in HPC or IT infrastructure environments.
• Expertise in security compliance and regulatory standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, ITAR, and FISMA, particularly as they relate to data protection in HPC environments.
• Familiarity with Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) and AI-driven security tools for real-time threat detection and mitigation in HPC.
• Strong knowledge of identity and access management (IAM), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and data encryption technologies in high-security environments.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to present complex security concepts to senior executives and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience in working with cloud security frameworks, including security best practices for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud in the context of HPC environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CEH, or CISA.
• Experience in AI/ML security and its integration into HPC systems for real-time threat detection and anomaly detection.
• Knowledge of quantum-safe encryption and its implications for securing next-generation HPC systems.
• Experience in DevSecOps practices, integrating security protocols into the development and deployment pipelines of HPC systems.
• Background in scientific research environments or industries with high-security requirements such as defense, government, or healthcare.