Lead Security Architect

Government Recruitment; Glasgow; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A government agency is seeking a Lead Security Architect to oversee the security architecture across significant portfolios. You will analyze threats, advise on security measures, and ensure compliance with industry standards while promoting best practices within agile teams. This role requires strong communication skills to convey complex security concepts to various stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Expertise in secure architecture and risk analysis.
• Experience in working with security frameworks.
• Strong communication skills for diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Ensure services conform to security standards.
• Advise on security threats and mitigations.
• Champion secure practices in development pipelines.

Skills

Risk modelling

Threat analysis

Cloud security

Agile methodologies

Tools

ISO27005

NIST

STRIDE

Job description

Overview

As a Lead Security Architect, you will directly secure architecture across a portfolio worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Working with product owners, delivery managers and enterprise architects, you will ensure every new or changed service conforms to Home Office and NCSC standards while enabling rapid, user-centred delivery.

You will analyse emerging threats, advise on proportional mitigations, and produce or tailor reference patterns covering identity, network segmentation, container security, data protection, and monitoring.

By modelling risks with frameworks such as ISO27005, NIST, or STRIDE, you will rationalise design choices to technical and non-technical audiences and document them for reuse.

You will champion “secure by default” in agile pipelines embedding IaC scanning, SAST/DAST, SBOM and cloud native guardrails so security becomes a quality attribute owned by delivery teams.

Through communities of practice and one-to-one coaching, you will nurture architects and engineers, acting as escalation point for complex design decisions. Finally, you will cultivate relationships with external suppliers, government peers and industry forums to import good practice and influence future standards, ensuring Home Office services remain resilient, cost-effective and compliant.