Payments Canada is at the forefront of the Canadian payment ecosystem. Our purpose is to make payments easier, smarter and safer for all Canadians. Every day we are working diligently to ensure your payments are cleared and settled. In 2025 alone, our systems cleared approximately $103 trillion or $411.9 billion every business day If you are passionate about payments and want to help ensure that these financial transactions in Canada are carried out safely and securely, working with us is for you

Who we are

We Are a Public Purpose, Non-profit Organization Situated At The Center Of Canada’s Payment Ecosystem. We Own And Operate Payment Systems That Process Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars’ Worth Of Payment Transactions Every Business Day. We Convene Ecosystem Participants To Discuss Their Multiple And Diverse Interests And Ideas And To Navigate Industry-level Challenges. We Adhere To a Set Of Values That Are Our North Star

Inspire trust, build community and enable change

Payments Canada — where our country connects

Our culture

With our people in mind, we have created a culture that fosters authenticity, collaboration, innovation and development. We empower one another, make meaningful contributions that not only impact the organization, but our country We develop and nurture meaningful connections that drive innovation in our ecosystem. We are Payments Canada

Do you want to make payments easier, smarter and safer for Canada? Join us today

You need to work here if

- You love working with passionate, ambitious and cooperative colleagues.
- You want to be challenged and lead unique initiatives.
- You want to grow, develop and become a subject matter expert in your field.




- You want your work to make an impact in your community and country.

What we are looking for

Reporting to the Manager, Security Architecture, the Lead, Security Architect is responsible for driving consistent security strategy and contributing to the technology vision through secure-by-design architectural governance. This role provides strategic technical leadership across diverse programs, with a primary focus on ensuring that mission-critical solutions are secure, resilient, and proactive. Operating as a broad security generalist, the Lead Security Architect brings deep expertise in threat modeling and solution security principles to guide teams, assess risk, and align architectural design with business objectives.

Operating as a senior technical contributor, the role collaborates closely with software engineering teams, Security Operations, delivery partners, and IT leadership to integrate robust security frameworks into modern application solutions.

Duties and Responsibilities

Contacts and Communication

- Establish and maintain strategic relationships across IT, engineering, and business units to gain buy-in for security architecture standards and principles.
- Communicate complex security recommendations, risk evaluations, and architectural trade-offs to senior leadership in clear, business-centric terms.




- Collaborate closely with delivery teams, developers, and technical specialists to provide practical security guidance on complex system issues.
- Champion security-first design patterns, promoting a culture of secure development across all divisions.

Leadership and Technical Guidance

- Provide strategic security guidance to product teams and solution architects, setting a high standard for defensive system engineering.
- Lead threat modeling and knowledge-transfer sessions across the enterprise to embed security early in the development lifecycle.
- Act as a senior technical contributor, offering security governance, design reviews, and guidance to manage technical security debt.
- Mentor staff and foster continuous learning around emerging threats, vulnerabilities, and secure design practices.

Security Architecture Development and Governance

- Lead multi-year programs involving internal and external stakeholders.
- Lead the establishment and maturation of enterprise security architecture frameworks across infrastructure, cloud, and applications.
- Integrate threat modeling into the software development lifecycle (SDLC) to identify, prioritize, and mitigate architectural flaws early.
- Define, maintain, and enforce security policies, baseline standards, and secure design patterns.
- Develop reusable security reference architectures, data flow diagrams, and threat maps to accelerate secure delivery.

Risk and Compliance

- Oversee application security assessments, secure design reviews, and risk analyses for critical systems.
- Assess systemic risks and prioritize remediation strategies in ambiguous or rapidly changing en

📌 Lead, Security Architect (Ottawa)
🏢 Payments Canada
📍 Ottawa