Head of Security Engineering

Leap29; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 99,000 - 121,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working with a London office

Family-friendly leave and wellbeing, +

Salary-sacrifice benefits

Inclusive hiring process withAdjust...

Job summary

Leap29 is seeking a Head of Security Engineering in London on a hybrid basis to lead a team of security engineers and shape the security platform strategy.

You will drive automation, IaC and policy-as-code, while remaining hands-on to design and deliver secure cloud-native solutions across a modern cloud-first estate.

Qualifications

• Senior security engineering leader with a track record developing engineers.
• Deep experience securing cloud-native environments, ideally Azure.
• Strong Terraform and Infrastructure as Code skills, plus CI/CD and secure development practice.
• Grounding in IAM, vulnerability management and defensive security controls.
• Experience building and running security platforms, and working in Agile, product-led teams.
• Clear communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Microsoft security stack experience (Defender, Sentinel, Entra).
• Secure-by-design and security architecture knowledge.
• Regulated-sector experience.
• Certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, GIAC or an Azure security qualification.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a team of security engineers, setting priorities and managing the delivery backlog
• Drive an automation-first culture, with Infrastructure as Code, policy-as-code and CI/CD as the default
• Stay hands-on in design and delivery of key security solutions
• Keep core security platforms reliable, secure and fit for purpose
• Connect security tools and workflows into a coherent, integrated whole
• Build self-service capabilities that make secure choices easy for engineering teams
• Use threat intelligence, risk insight and service metrics to decide what to improve next
• Advise senior leaders on technology direction and investment
• Support compliance activity, including ISO 27001

Skills

Security leadership

Cloud security

Azure

Terraform

IaC

CI/CD

IAM

Vulnerability management

Defensive security

Security platforms

Agile

Product-led teams

Stakeholder communication

Microsoft Defender

Sentinel

Entra

Security architecture

Regulated sector

CISSP

CCSP

GIAC

Azure security qualification

Tools

Terraform

Azure

CI/CD

Job description

Head of Security Engineering | Health Data & Life Sciences | London (Hybrid)

The opportunity

A well-funded, data-driven life sciences organisation is hiring a senior engineering leader to own its security engineering function. This is a player-coach role: you’ll set the direction for security platforms and automation, and stay close enough to the work to build alongside your team.

The organisation runs a modern, cloud-first estate and handles large volumes of sensitive data. Your job is to make sure the security tooling underneath it is dependable, scalable and built as code.

Your remit

• Lead and grow a team of security engineers, setting priorities and managing the delivery backlog
• Drive an automation-first culture, with Infrastructure as Code, policy-as-code and CI/CD as the default
• Stay hands-on in design and delivery of key security solutions
• Keep core security platforms reliable, secure and fit for purpose
• Connect security tools and workflows into a coherent, integrated whole
• Build self-service capabilities that make secure choices easy for engineering teams
• Use threat intelligence, risk insight and service metrics to decide what to improve next
• Advise senior leaders on technology direction and investment
• Support compliance activity, including ISO 27001

Your Profile:

• A security engineering leader with a strong technical background and a record of developing engineers
• Deep experience securing cloud-native environments, ideally Azure
• Strong Terraform and Infrastructure as Code skills, plus CI/CD and secure development practice
• Solid grounding in IAM, vulnerability management and defensive security controls
• Experience building and running security platforms, and working in Agile, product-led teams
• Clear communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Microsoft security stack experience (Defender, Sentinel, Entra)
• Secure-by-design and security architecture knowledge
• Regulated-sector experience
• Certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, GIAC or an Azure security qualification

Package

• Salary of £110,000+, depending on experience
• Family-friendly leave and wellbeing support
• A range of salary-sacrifice benefits
• Hybrid working with a London office
• An inclusive hiring process, with adjustments available on request