Reference Architect

About the Role

As a Reference Architect on the Principal Engineering team, you will be responsible for designing, validating, and publishing reference architectures and solution blueprints that demonstrate how the Wiz Platform addresses complex cloud, hybrid, and on-premises security challenges. This role blends deep technical expertise with strong storytelling skills and external engagement. You will work closely with engineering, product, PMM, and customers—interviewing stakeholders from CISOs to technical practitioners—to capture real-world patterns and industry trends.

Your deliverables will guide adoption across the Wiz ecosystem, spanning our full portfolio: on-prem sensors, code security, Wiz OS, and the core Wiz cloud security platform.

Core Responsibilities

Develop Reference Architectures & Blueprints

• Build comprehensive frameworks and repeatable patterns that show how Wiz integrates with public cloud, hybrid, and on-prem environments to address security, compliance, and operational needs.
  
  
• Cover the breadth of Wiz offerings: on-prem sensors, code security, Wiz OS, and multi-cloud security.
  
  
• Ensure deliverables are actionable, reproducible, and aligned with Wiz best practices and industry standards.
  
  

Research & Discovery

• Meet with PMM and product managers to understand roadmap direction, new features, and adoption patterns.
  
  
• Interview customers to document how Wiz is deployed and used in enterprise environments.
  
  
• Engage CISOs and senior security leaders to capture emerging industry trends, regulatory drivers, and architectural shifts.
  
  

Collaborate with Engineering & Product Teams

• Partner with engineering to align architectures with product capabilities and roadmap.
  
  
• Provide field-driven feedback to influence product direction.
  
  
• Validate reference designs with Principal Engineers, solution architects, and customer deployments.
  
  

Design & Operate Validation Labs

• Build and maintain hands-on validation environments across AWS, Azure, GCP, and hybrid environments.
  
  
• Test integrations, validate patterns, and ensure scenarios are grounded in real-world use.
  
  
• Provide guidance for replicating these labs internally and externally.
  
  

Publish High-Impact Technical Content

• Create reference guides, architecture diagrams, design documents, and deployment playbooks modeled after industry frameworks.
  
  
• Publish materials that scale adoption across customers, partners, and the Wiz field.
  
  
• Drive consistency, clarity, and quality across technical documentation.
  
  

Enable and Educate

• Deliver workshops, training, and enablement sessions for sales engineers, partners, and customers.
  
  
• Act as a subject-matter expert for internal and external stakeholders.
  
  

Support Strategic Initiatives

• Collaborate with PMM and product to refine messaging and assets.
  
  
• Align reference architectures to customer use cases and emerging security practices.
  
  

Qualifications & Technical Expertise

Experience

• 10+ years in enterprise security architecture, cloud security, or consulting roles.
  
  
• Deep hands-on experience with at least two major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and hybrid/on-prem security.
  
  
• Track record of creating reference architectures, frameworks, or widely adopted whitepapers.
  
  
• Proven ability to build validation labs or proof-of-concept environments.
  
  

Cloud & Automation Skills

• Strong understanding of identity, workload, network, and data security.
  
  
• Familiarity with cloud-native services, security models, and hybrid patterns.
  
  
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Ansible, Python) for automation and lab orchestration.
  
  

Soft Skills & Strategic Traits

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to distill complexity into clear, repeatable patterns.
  
  
• Exceptional communication and storytelling ability for C-level, engineering, and field audiences.
  
  
• Comfortable conducting executive interviews (CISOs) and technical deep dives.
  
  
• Self-starter with proven cross-functional influence.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous customer-facing technical experience (Solutions Architect, Consulting Engineer, Technical Evangelist, or Principal Engineer).
  
  
• Relevant certifications (cloud provider security certifications, advanced security credentials).
  
  

What Success Looks Like

• Publication of high-quality, repeatable reference architectures that become the standard for Wiz adoption.
  
  
• Demonstrated alignment of Wiz blueprints with customer needs and real-world deployments.
  
  
• Increased adoption of Wiz best practices across customers, partners, and internal teams.
  
  
• Recognized influence on both Wiz product direction and broader industry security architecture.