[ref. x12415100] Lead Security Architect

The Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) profession enable the Home Office to keep the UK safe and secure. They do this by designing, building, and running the services that help people apply for visas or passports, support policing and counter-terrorism operations, and protect the UK’s borders.

We are recruiting for Lead Security Architects in 2 different portfolios: Data Services and Analytics (DSA) and End User Compute and Collaboration (EUC&C). To find out more about each portfolio, please find attached the Portfolio Summary document in the attachments section below.

Team members have specialised knowledge and a calling to build on it. We want the best people to come to the Home Office and work in the diverse roles and communities they’re passionate about. This is how we produce exceptional outcomes.

Applicants can raise any queries to the email address at the bottom of the advert.

Appointments will be made on merit based on fair and open competition.

A Lead Security Architect is responsible for driving the secure design and development of solutions for one or more major business sectors within the department. They lead the security engagement for all projects within their portfolio ensuring that the department’s security design standards are adhered to.

As a Lead Security Architect, you will provide an ‘out-reach’ service to your business areas to advise on security requirements and solutions to enable technical teams to make security decisions, ensuring the effective use of common tools and products.

You will collaborate with peers both within and outside of your Portfolios to identify new opportunities for exploiting emerging technologies and support the development of architectures, patterns and approaches to support their safe use in accordance with the department’s risk appetites.

At all times your goal is to help ensure delivery of systems that meet the desired business outcomes with security decisions and controls being proportionate to the risk.

You will build effective partnerships with diverse teams across multiple locations and technologies and effectively communicate security and risk implications across technical and non-technical stakeholders.

You will manage other Security Architects, covering critical review architecture referencing NCSC guidelines. You will also be responsible for their training and development.

Your main day to day responsibilities will be:

• Contributing to the vision, principles and strategy set down by the Principal Security Architect ensuring it reflects the needs of your portfolio as well as the wider department.
• Overseeing the security engagement for projects within your business sphere and cooperating with colleagues to find common solutions to similar challenges across all business lines.
• Driving ‘secure by design’ by promoting security as an aspect of quality, ensuring that program, project and service managers own this responsibility.
• Following developments in the security and technology industry to ensure that the technology landscape is kept secure in line with industry standard.
• Recommending security controls and identifying solutions that support a business objective, working out subtle security needs and understanding the impact of decisions, balancing requirements and deciding between approaches.
• Providing specialist advice and recommending approaches, interacting with senior stakeholders across departments and influencing a wide range of people across larger teams and communities to execute security standards, policies and principles. This will include advising on key security related technologies and assessing the risk associated with proposed changes