A tailored course, built for your situation
Mastering SOC 2 for Senior Software Engineers in High-Trust Infrastructure Roles
A structured path to owning compliance architecture decisions end to end
$199 one-time
24-hour access provisioning
30-day money-back guarantee
Hand-built implementation playbook
12 modules. 12 chapters per module. 144 chapters total.
12 modules, each with 12 chapters (144 chapters total), text-based, plus downloadable templates and a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.
Who this is for
Senior software engineer at a large tech company responsible for systems that require compliance with SOC 2, operating in high-trust environments where infrastructure and auditability intersect.
Who this is not for
Junior engineers, compliance generalists without technical depth, or those outside of engineering roles who don’t ship code into regulated environments.
What you walk away with
- Define and own the control design for SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria without escalation
- Integrate compliance requirements directly into CI/CD pipelines with confidence
- Make final decisions on control boundaries between automation and manual review
- Produce audit-ready artefacts as a natural byproduct of system design
- Lead cross-functional alignment on control implementation without relying on a central compliance gatekeeper
The 12 modules (with all 144 chapters)
Module 1. SOC 2 in Practice for Engineers
Ground SOC 2 in real system ownership, not abstract policy. Understand how engineers at top-tier companies embed control logic into infrastructure design.
12 chapters in this module
- Why SOC 2 matters for ICs today
- Control ownership vs policy delegation
- Mapping systems to Trust Services Criteria
- How controls live in services not spreadsheets
- Real-world example from Meta infrastructure
- Designing for auditability from day one
- Control evidence as a product feature
- When to escalate vs when to decide
- Integrating SOC 2 into sprint planning
- The engineer’s role in audit prep
- Translating controls into testable code
- Common misconceptions to avoid
Module 2. Control Design Without Policy Teams
Build confidence to make final decisions on control structure, especially around access, change management, and monitoring.
12 chapters in this module
- Ownership thresholds for engineers
- When you don’t need a compliance ticket
- Designing access reviews natively
- Thresholds for privileged access
- Automated vs manual control balance
- Change management in CI/CD
- Logging as control evidence
- Defining 'normal' system behavior
- Escalation triggers that actually work
- Documenting control logic for auditors
- Peer review workflows for controls
- Final call on control exceptions
Module 3. SOC 2 and CI/CD Integration
Turn compliance into a continuous process by baking controls into pipelines, not retrofitting them later.
12 chapters in this module
- CI/CD as compliance engine
- Automated evidence generation
- Gate conditions in deployment flows
- Testing controls in staging
- Version-controlled control logic
- Alerting on control drift
- Pipeline ownership models
- Rollback protocols for control failures
- Audit trail generation in code
- Integrating with monitoring tools
- Handling false positives gracefully
- Control updates without downtime
Module 4. Evidence Architecture
Design systems so evidence is inherent, not extracted. Eliminate last-minute audit sprints.
12 chapters in this module
- Evidence as a system output
- Log structure for auditability
- Timestamp integrity and chain of custody
- Storing logs securely and accessibly
- Retention policies in code
- Querying logs for auditors
- Sampling strategies for testing
- Evidence packaging automation
- Human-in-the-loop checks
- Versioning evidence artefacts
- Avoiding evidence gaps
- Building auditor-friendly outputs
Module 5. Access Control Boundaries
Make final decisions on separation of duties, privileged access, and emergency access without review.
12 chapters in this module
- Privileged access design patterns
- Just-in-time access workflows
- Break-glass access controls
- Review frequency thresholds
- Automated access revocation
- Role-based vs attribute-based
- Sudo access in production
- Emergency override protocols
- Logging access change events
- Peer approval patterns
- Time-boxed permissions
- Final sign-off on access design
Module 6. Change Management in Distributed Systems
Own change control logic for services you maintain, including rollback, review, and approval workflows.
12 chapters in this module
- Defining what counts as a change
- Automated change detection
- Approval workflows in code
- Peer review thresholds
- Rollback on control failure
- Change windows and blackout periods
- Emergency change protocols
- Audit trail for changes
- Versioning control configurations
- Change tracking in microservices
- Ownership across service boundaries
- Final approval on change process
Module 7. Monitoring and Alerting as Control
Treat monitoring as a compliance control, not just an ops function. Define what constitutes effective detection.
12 chapters in this module
- Monitoring as a control requirement
- Defining critical system events
- Alert fatigue and signal quality
- False positive thresholds
- Escalation paths for alerts
- Automated response workflows
- Downtime and maintenance windows
- Logging alert handling
- Alert review cycles
- Ownership of alert thresholds
- Final say on alert sensitivity
- Integrating with incident response
Module 8. Vendor and Third-Party Dependencies
Decide how SOC 2 applies to external services and APIs you integrate, without relying on security teams.
12 chapters in this module
- Third-party risk from code
- API security as control boundary
- Contractual obligations in architecture
- Subservice organization mapping
- Audit evidence from vendors
- Monitoring third-party uptime
- Fallback logic for outages
- Logging third-party interactions
- Defining SAQ scope boundaries
- Final say on vendor integration
- Documenting control dependencies
- Ownership of composite evidence
Module 9. Incident Response and Controls
Define how incidents impact compliance and how your systems respond without waiting for directives.
12 chapters in this module
- Incident classification thresholds
- Automated containment workflows
- Logging incident actions
- Compliance impact assessment
- Communication protocols
- Post-mortem as evidence
- Root cause and control failure
- Final review of incident reports
- Retention of incident logs
- Auditability of response steps
- Integration with SOC 2 controls
- Final say on incident process
Module 10. Documentation as Code
Treat compliance documentation like software, versioned, testable, and owned by engineers.
12 chapters in this module
- Writing policies in markdown
- Versioning control narratives
- Automated policy validation
- Living documentation workflows
- Review cycles in pull requests
- Ownership of policy updates
- Linking controls to code
- Generating SoA from code
- Template reuse across services
- Final approval on doc structure
- Auditor access to documentation
- Documentation as testable artefact
Module 11. Auditor Engagement Strategies
Lead interactions with auditors confidently, providing evidence and rationale without deferring.
12 chapters in this module
- Preparing for audit requests
- Evidence delivery workflows
- Rationale for control decisions
- Handling follow-up questions
- Scheduling audit coordination
- Auditor access to systems
- Minimizing audit burden
- Feedback loops from auditors
- Improving controls post-audit
- Final say on audit responses
- Building auditor trust
- Own the audit narrative
Module 12. Scaling Compliance Ownership
Replicate your approach across teams, creating playbooks others adopt.
12 chapters in this module
- Mentoring other engineers
- Creating internal templates
- Standardizing control patterns
- Cross-team alignment
- Leadership communication
- Measuring compliance health
- Reducing audit prep time
- Sharing ownership models
- Documenting lessons learned
- Final say on rollout scope
- Becoming the reference engineer
- Sustainable compliance at scale
How this maps to your situation
- When SOC 2 requirements hit your backlog
- During incident post-mortems with compliance impact
- When designing new services with regulated data
- Before audit season begins
Before vs. after
Before
Compliance feels like a downstream checkpoint requiring approvals and policy interpretation.
After
You make and document control decisions directly in system design, reducing rework and increasing ownership.
What's included with your purchase
- 12 modules with 12 chapters each (144 chapters)
- Downloadable templates and worked examples for every module
- Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Delivery and format
- Course and learning environment access provisioned within 24 hours of purchase
- Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
Format: Text-based modules and chapters in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every chapter, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.
Time investment: Approximately 3 hours per module, or 36 hours total, designed to be completed over 6-8 weeks with practical integration into current work.
If nothing changes
Without clarity on control ownership, engineers remain in reactive mode, deferring decisions that slow delivery and dilute accountability.
How this compares to the alternatives
Unlike generic compliance courses, this is built specifically for senior software engineers who ship systems requiring SOC 2 compliance, focusing on real control decisions you can own without escalation.
Frequently asked
Is this course only for engineers at large tech companies?
No, but it’s designed for engineers in roles where compliance and infrastructure intersect, regardless of company size.
How is the course structured?
12 modules, each containing 12 chapters (144 chapters total).
Will I get practical templates I can use at work?
Yes, every module includes downloadable templates and real-world examples you can adapt immediately.
$199 one-time. Approximately 3 hours per module, or 36 hours total, designed to be completed over 6-8 weeks with practical integration into current work..
Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.
30-day money-back guarantee·
144 chapters·
Hand-built playbook included·
Account access within 24 hours